LOCATION: Amsler Campus Center, Room 324
HOURS: Daily, 7:00 AM – 12:00 AM
MCLA has a rich history of uplifting and empowering it’s queer and women students through safe spaces like the Identity & Gender Equity Resource Center and the Women’s Center. This year, we are proud to bring our efforts into the future, with a new, combined Gender and Sexuality Center! We know that the fights for sexual, romantic, and gender equity are deeply intertwined and rooted in intersectionality. And therefore, our spaces and student groups should be as well!
Located on the 3rd floor of the Amsler Campus Center, the new and spacious Gender and Sexuality Center provides a variety of resources and programs to foster both academic and personal growth for students across the sexual, romantic, and gender identity spectrum. It serves as a safe space for queer and women students to cultivate community, learn, and grow together. We also aim to increase awareness and proficiency around the identities and issues facing women and queer communities both on campus and in our surrounding communities. We know that our work is never finished and that as our communities continue to grow and evolve, so will our fight, our knowledge, and our goals. We are committed to continually learning, growing, and creating a safe and welcoming space that uplifts community members to embrace, show up as, and thrive as their most authentic selves.
The Gender and Sexuality Center is home to a growing array of student-led organizations, including:
The Gender & Sexuality Center has a variety of resources to help students grow and thrive, both personally and academically, including:
The Gender & Sexuality Center puts on a variety of regular programs centered around community building and education, including regular Safe Zone Workshops, sexual violence awareness and prevention, movie & discussion events, body positivity & neutrality workshops, intersectional self-care & wellbeing workshops, LGBTQIA+ identity and issues informational talks and workshops, Pride Week & Ally Week events, and Lavender Graduation.
Check out the current calendars for upcoming events!
February is Black History Month! Be sure to check out our instagram (@MCLAGSC), where we will be sharing plenty of info about this important month, celebrating important humans, and sharing actions steps so that you can show out for the community too! (2/3) We will also have more information coming your way on 2/7 for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day as we acknowledge the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic particularly in the Black community.
2/19-2/25 is Aromantic Spectrum Awareness week! Come check out our table in the marketplace and learn with us during lunchtime on 1/21. And join our Anti-Valentine Celebration in the marketplace beginning at 7:00 PM on 2/24. We will be celebrating all kinds of non-romantic love together with plenty of fun activities.
March kicks off with Zero Discrimination Day and is Women's History Month! Check out our IG (@MCLAGSC) to learn about what you can do to celebrate and take action this Zero Discrimination Day (3/1). Come celebrate FEMPOWER at out Art & Mocktails Night in the GSC at 7:30PM on 3/3. And visit out table in the marketplace on 3/8 to celebrate International Women's Day as we learn together and give shout-outs to the boss women in our lives!
When we return from Spring Break, we will be celebrating LGBT Health Awareness Week (3/20-3/24). Be sure to visit our table in the marketplace on 3/20 and come have fun with us at our Healthy Vibes! Wellbeing & Astrology Mash-Up in the Marketplace at 7:00 PM on 3/24.
3/24 is also International Day of Elimination of Discrimination, so don't forget to check out our IG to learn and act with us!
Finally, March ends with International Transgender Day of Visibility on 3/31. So be sure to check out our table in the marketplace to learn with us and be visible!
April is STI Awareness Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month! Join us as we learn together and empower ourselves and each other by checking out our IG posts (@MCLAGSC) on 4/3 and 4/5, and singing with us at our Love, Sex, & Karaoke Event on 4/7 (in the GSC at 7:00 PM)
April is also Autism Awareness Month and Black Women's History Awareness Month. So be sure to learn with us on instagram on 4/10 and 4/12 as we share plenty of information, uplift some amazing humans, and share some action steps that are accessible for everyone!
GLSEN's National Day of Silence, "where LGBTQ students and allies all around the country—and the world—take a vow of silence to protest the harmful effects of harassment and discrimination of LGBTQ people in schools," takes place on 4/17. Be sure to visit out table in the marketplace to learn more and take your vow of silence!
Finally, we will be closing our year with a chance to leave your mark on this year's new home, the Gender & Sexuality Center as we come together to paint a mural. Join us and be a part of the fun as we do something special for our space!
The Gender and Sexuality Center is run by both professional and student staff who serve as an invaluable resource to the campus community.
Office: Amsler Campus Center, Room 320
Email: ara.phoenixx@mcla.edu
Ara serves as the professional staff leader for the Gender & Sexuality Center, serving as a mentor for all LGBTQIA+ and women students, as an advisor for student-led affinity groups, and as a program coordinator for the GSC. They work closely in collaboration with the rest of the Institution for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging staff and student organizations, including the Multicultural Education Resource Center (MERC) to ensure that students feel seen, safe, and sovereign in all of their intersectional identities.
