UTM’s Sexual Education and Peer Counselling Centre hosted their annual Sex Pub last Thursday at the Blind Duck Pub to raise money for a non-profit counselling organization.
SEC sold a total of 500 tickets for Sex Pub and raised around $5,000 for donation to Family Service Toronto, according to James Boutilier, the external education coordinator of SEC.
Family Service Toronto is a non-profit organization that assists families and individuals through counselling, community development, advocacy, and public education programs in Toronto, according to their website.
The goal of Sex Pub was to create an environment in which students could be who they are and show their love for their bodies, culture, religion, or anything through what they wear, said Senka Zahirovich, the head coordinator of SEC.
“This event supports who you are, but in a way that also supports the community through Family Service Toronto,” said Zahirovich.
“In the past, SEC has been [about] charity, and then somewhere along the line it stopped. But we need to bring back the spirit of giving to community,” Zahirovich continued. “Resiliency [comes] from helping one another.”
Students wore costumes—some dressed up for the event, and others down. Attendees took pictures in a photo booth set up in the Presentation Room, participated in three rounds of “jello fighting” on the pub stage, and were automatically entered in a draw to win a vibrator.
Campus Police stationed two personnel around the pub until 2:30 a.m. By 3 a.m., they had received three reports of public intoxication, including one where a person was escorted home in a Campus Police vehicle, and two medical assistance calls for ECSpeRT staff, including one for a person who fell in the bathroom and required an ambulance.
Three Peel Region police cruisers were also present outside the pub close to the end of the event.