LGBT Friendly Community

          A home is viewed as a place where you can be protected, safe, and secure. Also, a home is a place where you are surrounded by “family” such as a mom, dad, siblings with similar values,beliefs, and ideas. However, a home does not only have to be a home in the traditional sense, it can also be a community, a place, school, etc.; this can be where ever you feel that you can be yourself or protected. A place that I consider home is the LGBT ( Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) community at California State University , Northridge (CSUN) because of the resources, the people,the new Pride Center, and the safe and welcoming environment for a LGBT student.

            The LGBT community at CSUN may not be strong because there is an “estimate”of 3,500 LGBT students. I thought that had an active LGBT community, but I still feel safe to know that there is a community on campus that accepts all students for who they are. More students seem to understand more and be open minded and they do not judge or bully the LGBT students. CSUN is trying to make the campus feel safe,healthy, and a learning environment not only for students but also for staff and faculty. As known in the Huffington Post , Campus Pride had ranked colleges and universities based on LGBT policy inclusion, student life, academic life, as well as other relevant practices. California State University, Northridge fits into their standards because we have LGBT resources, Lesbian Fraternity (Gamma Rho Lambda), and Vote For Equality.

            Additionally, there are many Resources are known to be on campus such as the LGBTA club, LGBT peer mentor program, National Coming Out Day, Day of silence, and especially the new Pride Center. The Pride Center was open in Fall 2012 and its an place where students who are LGBTQ can go and feel safe and secure. The Pride Center mission statement is online and states “ The Pride Center supports lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) and questioning students,faculty and staff through programming and educational outreach to improve the campus climate for LGBTQ individuals as well as advocate for the respect and safety of all members of the campus community.” Also, the LGBTA club is a great environment to go because everything is secure, safe, non-judgmental, and a great way to meet new friends.

              On Thursday ,September 27 ,2012,the Pride Center opened on campus. The opening of the Pride Center is important because it provided a physical space where students can go talk to peers, get information about coming out and same sex health, and be able to speak to peer mentors. As written by a CSUN Student ,Mayra Escobedo,“The Pride Center came into existence after almost two years of students' hard work and petitioning for a new LGBT resource center”(Daily Sundial) . Student in the LGBTA club two years ago had the idea of a newly resource center for LGBT students, so they set up all the paperwork and got petitions started. The Pride Center is believe to be a great resource for LGBT students and community on campus because now students have a place were they can have more resources about coming out, HIV/AIDS, sexual orientation, etc., and also a safe environment to do homework or just hang out.

In addition to the resources available to LGBT students, most CSUN are not judgmental toward LGBT students .Especially, in the LGBTA Club because everybody is just trying to socialize, meet new people, and make new friendships. Everybody who is new to the club is not immediately welcomed. In particular, the LGBTA club board members really help students talk to each other by having icebreakers and getting those to try to talk to each other. A great experience for a new student who does not know much the LGBT community or just need to make new friendships.

               The CSUN staff and faculty plays an important role in helping LGBT students feel safe and protected in the environment of CSUN. There is a peer mentor program where there are student staff, who help other students talk about either how to come out or just every day life or any problems. The university counseling services has a support group for LGBT people called the Gay,Lesbian,and Bi-sexual support . The LGBTA Club has advisers that show up to the meetings once in awhile ,and you can also speak to them if you have any questions. Also, there is an Ally program where they have trainings to show you how you yourself can be a helpful ally to the LGBT community, Today there is also a Queer studies minor in CSUN that students can get into,but they are trying to make it into a major for those who are interested into knowing more about Queer studies.

               Furthermore, CSUN does give an LGBT student a safe and secure environment to be themselves because of all these resources they have around campus. When going around campus people don't look at you nor bully you for just liking the same sex and students are more open minded about LGBT students now than they did in the past. My first year in being at CSUN I was shy and I really didn't know anybody besides my friends from high school. As my first time going to the LGBTA Club table they made me feel like I can talk amongst them and be somewhere safe and meet other LGBT students. I already knew the whole campus because of the Educational Opportunity Program ,and it was a big help to me because I did not feel lost at all like others will. Also, outside of the CSUN campus people do not stare or look at you for being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender at time they might stare, but you should not care because it your lifestyle. It is great to know that there are resources around campus to make any LGBT student feel part of the community and feel like students, staff, and faculty understand that we are also a community.

                 Other college campuses are trying to be a LGBT friendly campus.” Schools such as Stanford University, Minnesota Carleton College, and Georgia Emory University are ranked as the top three

LGBT friendly university/colleges in the United States”(Huffington Post). Campus Pride Executive Director, Shane Windmeyer, states, “ Every student deserves to feel safe on campus, and all of these colleges are committed to creating a more LGBT -friendly campus.”(Huffington Post) I agree that each campus should have an LGBT friendly environment, so each student will feel safe being on campus and feel secure to not be judged. For example, CSUN has the Pride Center where students can go hang out, do their work, or just relax while waiting for class. Inside the Pride center they have other resources to help students understand more of the LGBT community and events. There is a website called Campus Pride were it leads you to find an index of finding LGBT friendly campuses and also the rating that each campus falls in. On the website they set up goals to help campuses and one goal states,“ Offer an ongoing, effective measurement tool to improve the quality of life for LGBT and Ally people on college/university campuses and to assist campuses in becoming more LGBT -Friendly.” (Campus Pride).The website seems to be a good resource for campuses to know how they can also become an LGBT friendly campus.

                In conclusion, a home just does not not have to be a home it can also be an environment, community, place, school, etc. because I feel that the LGBT community in CSUN is my home cause of the resources, the students, faculty and staff, the environment, and other campuses that are LGBT friendly. The resources can be such a great help to LGBT students because it will help them feel more comfortable to be on a campus they are new to and also meet new people thanks to the resources. Also, with the LGBTA club it is a great resource to have because it is where you can meet the board members, other LGBT students, and have fun with the activities and discussions. The campus on CSUN is believe to be LGBT friendly because as a student I feel safe to be on campus and I can just be myself as well as other friends of mines do too. You do not have to hide yourself no more because you might of felt that you could not be who you are at home but now since your independent and free you can be yourself. Along with that there is staff, faculty, and students that you can always talk to so you would not feel alone and get the feeling to feel more comfortable in the CSUN environment. A home does not have to be an actual home it can really just be anywhere where you feel you can call home such as a school, place, environment, etc.