NYU’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students who may be feeling stifled have an opportunity for a breath of fresh air.

Approximately 20 students gathered Wednesday evening in the LGBTQ Student Center, located in room 602 of the Kimmel Center for University Life, for Breathing Room, a program for students to discuss issues pertinent to the LGBTQ community at NYU. Conversation focused on this week’s theme, Coming Out Strategies and Stories.

“The reason why we decide to make the theme of the first week’s Breathing Room ‘Coming Out Strategies and Stories’ is because we feel that it is important for us to create a space for students to be able to talk about this topic in a safer environment,” program administrator Chris Woods said.

“Students come to college at different stages of their LGBTQ identity development,” Woods continued. “And we would like to support students wherever they may be, including if they are thinking about coming out, looking to hear from others about their experiences, and looking to brainstorm strategies that may work in their situation.”

Breathing Room meets in the LGBTQ Student Center from 7 to 8 p.m. every Tuesday evening. The program has existed as a support service for NYU’s LGBTQ students for over seven years, and most recently it has been facilitated by Steinhardt master’s student Christopher Griffin.

“This program serves to create a space for peer-to-peer advice in an environment that is laid back and safe so that students can be comfortable,” Griffin said. “The [NYU] administration ensures that students have multiple ways to seek advice from and interact with their peers, and Breathing Room is one of those avenues.”

While NYU’s LGBTQ Student Center sponsors six official student clubs, the Breathing Room support program serves as a more relaxed, discussion-based program that opens a space for students to converse with their peers about specific issues rather than as a club.

“It really exists because students need room to breathe, or a place to talk about what they went through that day,” Griffin said. “It’s rare to find a program like this on campus.”

While Wednesday’s discussion focused on the theme of coming out, subsequent weeks will include various aspects of LGBTQ life.

“Some of the topics we’ll include are relationships, gender and sexuality issues, intersectionality, perspectives on sexuality, and maybe even topics like drag,” Griffin said. “Topics can vary based on what those who attend want to talk about.”

Griffin typically sees a group of regular attendees to the weekly sessions but notes that some students choose to stop by occasionally.

“We appreciate seeing the regulars, but we also love to see new faces,” he said. “There is no commitment to attend and anyone is welcome to attend whenever they’d like.”

One of the goals of Breathing Room is to share perspectives from students of different identities, so students of any sexual orientation are welcome.

Kaidia Pickels is a contributing writer. Email her at [email protected].