On Thursday, April 7, the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) organization presents the HAVEN – Healthy Relationships 101 event. This event will take place in the Lake Superior Room of The Oakland Center (OC) from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

Cyrelle Wheeler, a speaker from HAVEN, a shelter for domestic violence and sexual assault victims located in Pontiac, will give a presentation on healthy relationships. The presentation will address the difference between healthy, unhealthy and abusive relationships.

President of Gay Straight Alliance Marissa Romund emphasizes having a presentation to cater to the LGBT community.

“It’s really important for people in the LGBT community to have a presentation geared towards them. So they can realize ways that their relationships can be unhealthy because it’s not always taught to us in a different type of relationship dynamic how it can be unhealthy,” Romund said.

This event can help LGBT people form distinctions and realize that their relationships might be unhealthy, Romund mentioned.

“It can help LGBT people kind of form that distinction and realize, ‘Oh, maybe the relationship that I’m in, even though it might not look like what a typically unhealthy relationship might look like, it’s unhealthy in its own way,'” Romund said. “It’s just spreading awareness, specifically in the community, that is lacking awareness in this context.”

Romund mentions that we see unhealthy relationships are often portrayed through media, and they are clear to recognize. At the same time, more minor things aren’t always recognized.

“I think that a lot of times, I think we’re all heavily influenced by the media, and in the media, unhealthy relationships are very clear to recognize,” Romund said. “And so we might miss the smaller things about relationships that make it unhealthy when it’s not completely a violent relationship. It can still be unhealthy in another way.”

It can also be hard to see when you are the individual within the unhealthy relationship versus being on the outside looking in, Romund emphasizes. This meeting aims to have students look at their own relationships.

“I think that we’re mostly taught the extremes of it and not necessarily the little things,” Romund said. “It’s also difficult to identify an unhealthy relationship when you’re the one in it versus when it’s someone you know. It’s much easier to see [when you’re viewing on the outside]. Another goal of this meeting is to have students look inward at their own relationships and be able to recognize signs.”

Through this presentation, students can grow and learn healthy relationship skills. Romund said that relationships can get better over time.

“We can all grow and learn more healthy relationship skills,” Romund said. “I think that relationships are something that could always be improving. So whether or not your relationship is healthy, you still might find something that you can improve on. Learning new communication skills, just learning how to be a better partner.”

Romund highlights wanting everyone to be aware of this topic, and this meeting can provide that.

“As President, my mission is always to educate and help my community grow,” Romund said. “And so I feel like, once again, this is an underrepresented topic that we talk about, and I think it’s very important that everyone has the awareness that this meeting will teach them.”