Amid Protests, Students Gather For Anal Sex Lecture

Several students gathered in front of Kaufman Auditorium last Friday to protest “Anal Sex 101: Everything You Wanted to Know (But Were Afraid to Ask),” an event that was partially funded by the Student Activities Fee. (For video of this event, click here. [1])

“Anal Sex 101” brought sex expert and author Tristan Taormino to discuss the mechanics and safe practice of anal sex. The Cornell Women’s Resource Center, DASH (Direct Action to Stop Homophobia) and the LGBT Resource Center invited Taormino in response to a large number of questions received by the centers about anal sex.

“We decided to do this event because we had so many people — queer and not queer — coming up to us and having so many questions about anal sex,” said Ashwin Iyengar ’09, president of DASH.

About 10 students stood in front of the doors to the lecture, holding signs with statements such as “Any student, any sex act?” and “Pay for your own sex education.”

“We’re protesting the event today because we believe the student activities fee is being used to teach people to engage in a physical act that we believe is not morally right,” said Ahmed Salem ’08, president of the College Republicans. “Our main issue is that even if that’s going to happen, it should not be paid for with our own money.”

The auditorium quickly exceeded capacity and many people were turned away. Campus police warned against a potential safety violation due to overcrowding. During the presentation, some students gathered around the windows outside to catch a glimpse of Taormino’s lecture.

“I’d like to thank [the College Republicans] for helping to publicize this event,” Taormino said at the beginning of her talk.

“I think that people don’t understand how important sex education is — how important it is to be sex positive,” said Liana Mancini ’09. “I don’t really understand fully why they’re here, I guess everyone has a voice and is entitled to that voice. Go ahead! Hold your sign up!”

The event was funded in part by the CWRC, Haven and the SAFC.

For video of this event, click here. [1]