The Queer Straight Alliance Club on campus makes everybody that walks into its meetings feel welcomed and loved for who they are, regardless if they’re straight, gay, bi or any other orientation.
The QSA Club is composed of both women and men with different sexual orientations.
This club has anywhere from 20 to 25 involved students, if not more, each time it meets, some being part of the LGBT community and some who are not.
Vice President of QSA Aldemar Sanchez describes what his ultimate goal for the QSA Club this school year is.
“My ultimate goal for the QSA Club this year is to make us reach out to the outside community rather than just on campus, I want to reach out to close high schools and go to LGBT events.”
Aldemar wants to reach out to high school students who are looking for an LGBT friendly college.
“I want for high school students that are part of the LGBT community to know that the QSA Club here on campus is very involved and feel like if this school is safe.”
The QSA Club focuses a lot on shining the light on confidence and self-acceptance for those who have recently come out of the closet.
Austin Garrido, psychology major, said he believes that the LGBT community should be loving to those who judge them instead of being judgemental.
“Everyone is equal. Obviously things have changed; over the years we have been becoming more accepting, not like it was before in the 80’s and 90’s. I feel that everyone should just love everyone, like us being part of the LGBT community, shouldn’t get aggressive of those who judge us because as long as we are showing love to everyone we look positive.
“I just want to be respected and then also I want us all to be openly and civil with one another instead of hiding in the closet because people are not going to accept us,” he added.
While a lot of people are afraid to come out of the closet based on getting a negative response from others, the QSA on campus wants to make everyone who joins the club feel understood and not deemed different.
Diamond Bracamontes, psychology major, said she wants the group to be seen as a support group and a second family for all those that are having trouble with their identity.
“I always get looks, I always get people confusing me just because of the way I dress and the way I look, since I don’t appear to be feminine, but the truth is I just want to be proud of who I am.
“I want to make a difference and I just want to show who I am without being embarrassed because we already have a lot of set backs of who we are, we just need to accept each other.”
Bracamontes just recently presented a new project that she has in mind to her fellow QSA team members, which is called the “No Label Project.”
She said, “I feel as if I can’t be successful because I get looked down on so much, we were not put on this Earth to judge one another. Behind those labels and preconceptions of one another we are all the same, just don’t judge me, and be more accepting.”
Bracamontes said this was inspiration behind the “No Label Project.”
She feels passionate about the labels that are being put on people by others, whether it be because they are a part of the LGBT community or not.
The “No Label Project” is a project that encourages students to break away from labels; the project will be demonstrating that it’s not what the labels that others have put on them, but instead that they are normal human beings with imperfections like everyone else.
The date for the project is undetermined.
