There were greasy plates and hot topics in a room of about 30 people Monday night at the LSU Women’s Center for Pizza and Policy, where representatives from progressive student organizations joined community leaders on a panel to discuss progressive reform in Louisiana.
The event addressed bills currently in the state legislature, including restrictive abortion legislation, sex education and Medicaid expansion. Representatives from Feminists in Action, Spectrum, Equality for HER, LSU Democrats, the Student Equality Project and the Progressive Student Alliance joined community leaders with Planned Parenthood and the Democratic party.
Terrebonne Parish Councilwoman Arlanda Williams said the state of sexual education in Louisiana is not meeting the needs of the people. She said much of the opposition to sexual education in public schools is because of religious biases.
“This is a religious state that bases its ideas off of hypocritical thoughts,” Williams said.
Raegan Carter, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood Louisiana, said she has seen no progress in terms of policy from administration to administration on the issue of sexual education.
Panelists discussed the need for substantive action from college students to effect legislative reform. Carter said students should be active in keeping their representatives accountable through whatever means.
Armand Link, interdisciplinary studies senior, said students need to organize as a community to address problems. Too often the same students end up doing everything, he said.
“Those of us who know better should be doing better,” Link said.
Blair Brown, communication studies junior and event organizer, said she thought the event was a great success. She said it was difficult to get all of the groups represented together because of some differing viewpoints.
“We were able to work toward a common goal,” she said.