Araceli Berry (she/her/hers)
Araceli is born and raised in the Bay Area and received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the California State University of Long Beach. From her psychology background, she has a great interest in what psychology can teach us about sexual behaviors, interests and functions.
At San Francisco State University, Araceli hopes to receive her Masters’ degree in Sexuality Studies to pursue a career in sex education and research. She looks to use intersectionality as the basis of work that broadens discussions within sex research and sex education. Araceli’s long-term research goals focus on the preventative and proactive effects of sex education within different communities/issues.
A fun fact about Araceli is that she loves animals. She has grown up with six dogs with many more to come. In her free time, you will catch her playing hide and seek with her puppy, Ube. She also enjoys getting creative through different activities such as painting, embroidery, making funny movies with her siblings, baking and writing.
Lily Esquivel Cauich (she/her/hers)
Lily was born and raised in Mexico City where she got a bachelor’s in Psychology and worked in different fields in this area. Then, she decided to move to the U.S. to work in childcare. Her journey in the United States has led her to San Francisco State University where she wants to build on her Psychology background and develop the skills to specialize in Comprehensive Sex Education. In particular, Lily wants to demystify many of the different discourses that are built around sexuality and provide accurate, helpful and truthful information to minorities and marginalized populations in Mexico and the United States. Lily is curious, insightful and interested in gaining knowledge in a lot of areas within the sexuality field.
Helen Everbach (all pronouns)
Originally from the Philadelphia suburbs, Helen has lived in California for five years and received bachelor’s degrees in Feminist Studies and Literature from UC Santa Cruz in 2021. Helen is researching asexual representation in media, and using her background as a playwright to construct a theatrical script about asexuality for her culminating experience project. Helen has a long history with sex education, and currently serves as the director of San Francisco State University’s Education and Referral Organization for Sexuality (EROS), providing the campus community with inclusive sex education and safer sex resources. Helen has enjoyed her time working as a sex educator and hopes to eventually become a practicing sex therapist. She is particularly interested in working with queer, kinky, and non-monogamous populations. In addition to her academic interests, Helen has a deep love of fashion and fashion history, literature, theater, and of course her two cats Peanut and Raisin.
Caitlin Gear (she/they)
Caitlin received their bachelor’s degree in Women and Gender Studies from California State University, Sacramento where she focused on feminist of color theory, feminist disability studies, and LGBTQ studies. Caitlin’s thesis project will focus on intervening against the discourses and structures that shame and silence children’s sexuality, and how people’s experiences and intersecting identities can help dismantle these structures and ideas. Caitlin’s project also works to intervene against the anti-queer and anti-trans bills and laws that are affecting children and public-school environments. Caitlin has spent several years working in the K-12 public schools and works to advocate for gender and sexual affirming education that also reflects cultural and historical contexts for all children. Caitlin is currently trying to get involved in organizations and non-profits that work to educate and support children and students about topics involving gender and sexuality. Caitlin loves her cat, living in the Bay Area, and supporting women and queer artists!
Malia Hatico-Byrne (she/they)
Malia’s background is primarily in dance, choreography, and community-based art practice. They have spent six years working on Ohlone land (the San Francisco Bay Area) as a freelance dance artist and with the Tenderloin-based community performance ensemble, Skywatchers. Their creative work and personal study are centered around ancestral lineage, body reclamation, storytelling, and revolutionary organizing, and she looks forward to expanding her exploration of these themes throughout the Sexuality Studies M.A. program.
Hinako Ishikawa (she/her/hers)
Hinako grew up as a queer woman in rural Japan, where she faced and witnessed discrimination and the exclusion of LGBTQ people, which made her passionate about creating a hate-free environment. As an undergraduate, Hinako worked as a member of Diversity Club which advocates for LGBTQ rights and as a gender/sexuality lecturer to teach Japanese students the concept of SOGIE. She also became certificated as a suicide prevention supporter in her hometown. Hinako is devoted to education. She has been part of the Teacher’s License Program, learned education psychology and teaching methods, and worked as a tutor for three years. Utilizing her Teacher’s License, Hinako is passionate about creating inclusive and safer learning spaces for LGBTQ students. She is particularly interested in changing gender-divided sexual education classes and gender-biased career education in Japan. Hinako is also doing research on Asian sexuality, exploring dominant ideas of Asian masculinity/femininity, traditional familial ties among Asian communities, and Japanese unique traditional sexual behaviors. Hinako is currently an intern for the Education and Referral Organization for Sexuality (EROS) at Associated Students, SF State. In this role, she works to provide sexuality education, safer sex resources, and peer education to prevent STIs, and promote Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Belonging. Hinako’s long-term goals are to contribute to the establishment of the first university sexuality department in Japan and promote comprehensive sex education.
Constance Vazquez (she/they)
Constance is a queer femme of color from East Los Angeles. They are a first-generation college student and a proud daughter of Mexican immigrants. As an undergraduate student they studied sociology and psychology with an emphasis on community psychology and LGBT studies. Constance has a passion for cooking and baking and previously worked as a chef in the food service industry for over 10 years. Constance is a Tia (Auntie) to 11 nieces and nephews whom she absolutely adores! She is a family-oriented person, and her favorite person is her dad because they get to DIY (work on projects) their lives away whenever they are together. As a graduate student, Constance has come to realize how important it is to strive for a school/work/life balance and has found solace in reading a good book, doing creative writing, and catching a sunset at the beach. Her research interests currently include queer people of color studies, first-generation college student experiences, queer history, queer archives, queer kinship, queer sexuality, radical relationships, pleasure centered sexuality, queer communities, queer resistance, anti-racism, and the abolishing of just about everything.
Anna Elizabeth Mendoza Weitzman (she/they/he)
Anna was born and raised in the Bay Area. She earned a B.A. in Psychology from San Francisco State in 2016 and is glad to be continuing her education as part of the M.A. Sexuality Studies class of 2023. Their current research focuses on the relationship between social media censorship policies and sexual expression; this research is inspired by the social justice movements of sex worker communities. Anna’s other research interests include queer history, queerness and religion, and the equality movement for 2SLGBTQIA+ education.
Outside of school, Anna works in social work as a coordinator for peer support volunteers. They are also an artist who focuses on themes of queer romance, dyke culture, and kink. Upon graduating from this program, Anna hopes to work with community organizations who support 2SLGBTQIA+ elders, continue research and writing in sexuality studies, and create more art.
Sammie Westelman (they/them)
Sammie is a former biomedical scientist whose primary research interest is mental and sexual health in LGBTQ+ youths, and how healthcare outcomes for these patients can be improved. They hope to better understand what mental and sexual healthcare needs are not being met by providers, and to use that knowledge to guide their education and activism efforts. Sammie is also fascinated by representations and metaphors for queerness in pop culture, and specifically how they affect young queer peoples' self-perception. In their free time, Sammie likes to cook, write comedy and videogames, and watch horror movies.
Alondra Rios (She/Her/Ella)
Alondra Rios is a first-generation Chicana from Los Angeles, California. Her parents, who migrated from Mexico, always emphasized the importance of having an education. This inspired Alondra to move to the Bay Area and pursue a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Ethnic Studies at Mills College, and then a master's degree in Human Sexuality Studies at San Francisco State University. For her culminating thesis project, Alondra is investigating the disparity, experiences, and challenges pole dancing community members face due to their role in the industry, intersectional traits, and effects of capitalism and gentrification.
Throughout her professional career, Alondra has helped marginalized and under-resourced communities obtain behavioral and sexual health services, substance use and abuse prevention resources, social services, case management services, and job readiness trainings. She currently works as a bilingual accreditation specialist for an abuse prevention and risk management firm. In this position, Alondra works with national and international companies across the world, to help reduce the chances of sexual abuse by formulating update to date policy standards and procedures to help keep their members safe. When Alondra finds some free time outside of full-time graduate school and employment, she enjoys coding classes, project management design, recreational soccer, and dance classes, as well as tending to her plant children.
This year, Alondra plans to graduate from the Sexuality Studies master’s program and enroll in a bootcamp that will help her become a certified full stack engineer. She the plans to utilize her educational knowledge, coding skills, and passion for project management to work in tech and help diversify the working population within the industry.
Past Students of the Master's program
Interested in learning more about past students? View their biographies here.