The Rainbow Pride Union (RPU) at Binghamton University, an organization with a goal of providing a safe space for members of the LGBTQ community, hosted “It’s Just a Preference” on Tuesday night to discuss sexual racism on popular dating apps such as Tinder and Grindr.

Brandon Bocanumenth, the marketing director for RPU and a junior majoring in psychology, and Angelina Brooks, an e-board member of RPU and a sophomore majoring in linguistics, led a discussion centered on sexual racism on dating apps. Sexual racism is defined as any form of racial prejudice within dating or any sexual relationship or encounter.

The two argued that although many people believe stating they do not date a specific race is just a personal preference, it is actually a form of sexual racism. The two also mentioned that sexual racism is very prevalent specifically within the LGBTQ community, and the event was held to raise awareness.

“I think it’s definitely important to examine all aspects when you are in a minority group like this,” said Sarah Voegler, an e-board member of RPU and an undeclared freshman. “A lot of people don’t look at racism in the LGBTQ community, so I definitely think it’s vital to reach out to individuals in the community that are feeling marginalized because we’re already a marginalized group, why push that further?”

The event began with an icebreaker game in which everyone picked a printed copy of a Tinder or Grindr profile bio from a jar that stated someone’s racial preferences. Sexual racism is not always explicit, Bocanumenth said, and can also include certain microaggressions such as claiming that someone is attractive for their race or stating specifically that they were not interested in Asian men or black women. Other bios included euphemisms such as “no spice, no rice” in order to exclude certain races.

People shared different instances in which they experienced sexual racism. Brooks stated that according to an OkCupid study, Asian men and black women are two groups that are discriminated against the most. The study stated that Asian men and black women received the worst ratings from other races on the app in 2014.

Other topics discussed the fetishization of different minorities, which is not excluding a particular race, but rather only being interested in one race. Bocanumenth said that this is another form of sexual racism that is at the other end of the spectrum, but can also be harmful.

Christian Garcia, a junior double-majoring in Spanish and sociology, said that he came to the event because of the obscurity of the topic.

“It’s interesting to hear different point of views involving certain LGBTQ topics that aren’t talked about that often, or in pop culture as much as they should be,” Garcia said.

The event ended with ideas about how to help stop sexual racism. People stated that a good place to start is to directly call people out on dating sites if their bio features sexual racism. Others said facilitating a conversation is an important part of spreading awareness.

Christian Arispe, an undeclared freshman, said that he believed the event helped bring light to something that many people don’t know about.

“The thing with sexual racism is that people are uneducated,” Arispe said. “Even though the meeting was kind of small, it does make a difference because now more people know what’s going on, what to expect and how to approach it.”