Should you go back into the closet during Peace Corps? – Lizzie Pelz, Ethiopia 2012-2014 (Rebroadcast)
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This episode is a rebroadcast of Ep #016: Lizzie Pelz, Ethiopia 2012-2014, in celebration of Pride Month.
On this Episode:
- Working as a health volunteer to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission
- Serving as an LGBTQ volunteer
- The view of homosexuality in Ethiopia
Lizzie’s Peace Corps Story
“Before I say anything else, I want to make the point that my queer experience as a Peace Corps volunteer is mine alone and does is not the same experience as all queer volunteers. We have similarities but we also have differences and I did come into my experiences with some privileges, such as straight-passing or being,
white female and also not being homosexual, so I did have access to physical intimacy while many others did not or because of gender roles where they served, they were not straight passing. So I was able to in some instant move around undetected while other volunteers cannot.
[I had self-identified as being queer for about a decade before Peace Corps] but I had not lived unapologetically as queer and actually I haven’t been unapologetic about it until very recently, actually until moving to DC.” – Lizzie Pelz
More from Lizzie’s Story:
- Her new podcast, Sex Intersectional: https://soundcloud.com/sexintersectional
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Returned Peace Corps Volunteers