Coming from a small, conservative community in the Midwest, I never imagined a mandatory part of my freshman writing class to be listening to a radical feminist give a lecture on gay rights.

Bettina Apatheker, the University of California's Co-Chair for Feminist Critical Race and Ethnic Studies spoke at a plenary session for Kresge College on Tuesday, September 29. Prior to her speech, I had never before heard of Apatheker, and though we were told feminism was the topic of the discussion, no one truly knew what to expect. As she began to talk about the history of the LGBTQ community in the 50's, a real light was shown on a subject that had been all but hidden away for me in high school. She spoke candidly of how lesbian women were targeted by cops in ways such as being stopped and asked for three feminine things on their person-- this could be a bra, tampon, what have you-- with the goal being to target butch women and arrest them in the name of anti-homosexuality.

Gay rights of the 50's is a rarely touched on subject, but lesbian rights is truly unspoken of. As Apatheker went on, it occurred to me that I was actually learning new and significant information that had never before crossed my mind. Though it's not far fetched to me now, I had never fully realized that being arrested for your sexuality was once a real and serious threat. With all the progress we have made, it's hard to swallow that only a few decades ago LGBTQ people in this country were living in the shadows shrouded by fear.

At some point through the lecture I had the epiphany that this experience has to be unique to UC Santa Cruz. I know that back home in Michigan such subjects would never be touched on in a mandatory lecture for the freshman class. Kids around me weren't feminist or gender studies majors, but future engineers, doctors, architects and educators - yet they were all subject to the same teachings that I was. This is profoundly important information that should be talked about across all disciplines and I am so proud to go to a school that isn't afraid to recognize that. Issues of gender, sexuality, feminism and civil rights aren't considered radical here; they're just what's important.

In the words of Apatheker, " I just want human beings to live their lives as fully as possible and create an culture that's accepting of that, and do away with all these systems of domination and oppression. That'd be a good start."