The Pride Lounge hosted the Pride Month Send-Off on June 2nd. Staff, faculty, and students gathered around to learn about the origins of Pride and eat pasta.
While people ate and bonded over school and their lived experiences, the main focus landed on a short documentary video that explained the history of Pride and the movement towards equality for everyone in the queer community.
The documentary delved into the history of Stonewall and how it led to the celebration of Pride as a whole, the historic inn that patrons and members of the LGBTQIA community fought in against a discriminatory police raid on June 28, 1969, in Greenwich Village, New York City.
Many at the gathering had ideas of what pride meant to them and how the school has made efforts to try to celebrate pride.
During LBCC’s Pride Month Send-Off event held at the Liberal Arts campus’ Pride Lounge on June 2. A resource table featuring an abundance of information, including event calendars and LGBTQ+ support materials. (Dezaray Jimenez)
Doris May, a Lesbian custodian who’s worked at LBCC for the past 20 years, commented on how she’s seen a shift in school and even society since her youth up until now.
“When I was in high school, I could not have held hands with a girl. So I love when I see the girls holding hands, or the boys holding hands. I’m like- Oh, that’s so cute! Because I couldn’t do that. So I liked that this generation is more able to be visible than my generation was. It makes me happy,” said May.
The Pride Lounge is a new addition to LBCC that is trying to create a safe and welcoming space for anyone, but mostly for members of the LGBTQIA community.
Student Affairs Program Coordinator Chris Garcia, and the host of the event, made an effort to try to create this safe space.
“As a queer person myself, I know what it’s like to have to put up a shield. So I wanted to make sure we had a space where students can find ways for them to lower that shield, right? And feel more comfortable expressing their identities, and expressing who they are,” said Garcia.
He created the Pride Lounge to help build a safe learning space for the queer community and to also be able to find more people with those types of commonalities in their lives.
LBCC students attending LBCC’s Pride Month Send Off celebration at the Pride Lounge at the Liberal Arts campus on June 2. The event highlighted resources, opportunities for networking and community reflection. (Dezaray Jimenez)
Superintendent President Mike Munoz elaborated on the importance of highlighting and celebrating aspects of yourself that will always be significant to who you are.
“We try to be intentional about not just celebrating our LGBTQ+ students during Pride Month but year-round. I think it can be important that we recognize the intersectionality of our own identities and try to highlight that because that’s what creates our lived experiences,” Munoz commented.
The Pride Month send-off intends to be an annual event that the Pride Lounge will host to start Pride Month as students leave the academic year.
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