Four years of watching the growth of campus-based clubs,
programs and courses aimed at the gay community draw to a close
this quarter, as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Bruins
graduate and head into the real world.
Among them is Mark Lawsiripaiboon, a graduating Asian American
studies student who will be going on to the UCLA School of Law.
“College is a really good environment for people to get
out there and try different things and come out,”
Lawsiripaiboon said, adding that queer organizations on campus are
“really good for people trying to learn about themselves and
meet other people.”
But being openly gay is still not easy for many members of the
LGBT community at UCLA ““ several students declined to be
interviewed for this story, not wanting their names used.
Lawsiripaiboon said the relocation of the LGBT Resource Center
this year from a 400 sq. ft. room in Kinsey Hall to a spacious
suite in the Student Activities Center has provided “a better
environment to relax” and spend time with other people.
The expansion of the LGBT resource center is one of many
developments within the community over the last four years. Seniors
from UCLA’s LGBT community have also been witness to a number
of key events in the development of LGBT student programs,
organizations and opportunities.
One example is the initiative students took in changing the Gay
and Lesbian Association over the past two years, a move which
resulted in the creation of UCLA’s Queer Alliance,
“something much more broad and supportive than the old
association,” said Ronni Sanlo, the director of the LGBT
Resource Center.
The Queer Alliance oversees six queer-interest clubs with
specific racial or ethnic groups
Under the alliance, students have created several new LGBT
organizations, such as BlaQue, Mishpacha and QueerXGirl, clubs that
specifically cater to members of the African American, Jewish and
lesbian communities of UCLA, respectively.
Also under the watch of this year’s graduating class,
programs such as the Day of Silence have been implemented.
The Day of Silence first took place at UCLA this May, calling
for remembrance of members of the LGBT community who have been
killed or abused for their sexuality.
Also in the past four years, the course selection within the
LGBT studies department has broadened and enriched with a diversity
of courses and students, said James Schultz, LGBT studies program
director.
More students are graduating this year with a LGBT minor than
ever before, Sanlo said.
After graduation, student activism within the LGBT community
depends on a number of factors, Schultz said, including what job
they have and where they are living.
“LGBT activism is an ongoing thing; there’s always
some issue,” Sanlo said.
An especially pressing issue is the fate of gay marriage in
California, which currently lies in a pending decision by the state
Supreme Court.
The thousands of same-sex marriages performed in San Francisco
in March could be annulled by the courts.