A new type of themed housing for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex and allied community might be available for Hill residents in fall 2013, housing officials announced.
A committee of 10 students is currently going through the process of implementing a LGBTQIA-themed community on the Hill, said Juan Espinoza, a member of the committee which is called the Progressive Floor Initiative.
As the only undergraduate school in the University of California system without a gender-neutral or LGBT-themed floor, Espinoza said he believes that UCLA is in need of more diversified housing options.
“A huge part of being at UCLA is being able to nurture and explore all your identities as a whole,” said Espinoza, a second-year political science student.
Housing administrators are hopeful that the plan for gender-neutral housing will be approved by the end of the academic year and be available for residents as soon as next fall, said Dana Pysz, assistant director for the Office of Residential Life. Legal approval is necessary before moving forward with the plan and UCLA’s law representation is reviewing the proposal, Pysz said.
If passed, the LGBTQIA community would be the first added to the Hill since the Afrikan diaspora studies, Chicano/Chicana Latino/Latina studies, sustainable living and global health-themed communities were created in 2008, said Martine Hall, assistant director for the Office of Residential Life.
The residential hall floor would be dedicated to educating residents about sex, gender and social issues.
Before housing can consider the idea for a new themed floor on the Hill, academic departments and the Hill’s student leadership must provide their support, said Hall, who oversees themed housing.
Administrators in the LBGT studies program have already given their approval for the idea, Espinoza said. The Progressive Floor Initiative plans to reach out to other organizations, including Queer Alliance, the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center and various academic departments for support.
The mix of sponsors and advisers would assist with developing different activities on the floor to ensure that residents are being adequately educated about social issues that are relevant to the LGBT community.
“We wouldn’t just focus on the LBGT community,” said Jewel Pereyra, a third-year gender studies student and a member of the committee. “We’re looking at the intersection of everyone’s different identities (with things like race, sexuality and gender). Within those differences we have similarities.”
The committee began presenting its plan for an LGBTQIA-themed floor to the different buildings on the Hill toward the end of winter quarter. After a presentation, the external vice president of each floor must take feedback from their residents and vote on whether to support the idea based on that feedback.
Rieber and Hedrick courts have already voted in approval of the plan, Espinoza said.
Avinoam Baral, external vice president for his floor in Rieber Hall and a first-year biology student, was nervous about supporting the project. He initially feared that separating LGBT students from the rest of the Hill’s population would create tension in the dorms.
He decided to vote for the idea after being assured by committee members that the floor was open to all residents.
The committee’s largest concern is getting students to sign up to live on the floor if the proposal passes. Freshmen coming in for the first time often don’t choose themed housing, and only 25 percent of residents in themed communities return for a second year, Hall said.
Although she ultimately supports the idea, first-year biology student Taylor Carrasco said she has some of the apprehensions that the committee fears.
“I don’t think students should feel like they are being segregated because of their sexual orientation,” Carrasco said.
Once they get responses from every building on the Hill, the committee will seek approval from the Hill’s Policy Review Board, a student group that makes policy decisions on the Hill. From there, the committee will present the proposal to housing administration.