by Alaska Woods, staff writer
LGBTQIA+ students can find solace in a new Gender & Sexuality Alliance (GSA), created last semester by Ricardo Perez, Director of Student Life at PPCC. The GSA provides a safe space for LGBTQIA+ students to convene.
In September of 2021 Madeline van Batum saw something new at the club fair: a paper mentioning an LGBTQIA+ club. She said this piece of paper led to the curation of a new resource this year for LGBTQIA+ students: the PPCC Gender & Sexuality Alliance.
The first meeting was in October of 2021. The GSA now hosts over 50 members on the open Discord server. Any PPCC student is welcome to join the Alliance, by joining the Discord server for more information on up-to-date meeting times and locations.
GSAs are an important source of support and community for LGBTQIA+ students. They provide a space where they can meet and convene with other LGBTQIA+ students. They also create a place to go when struggling with sexuality and gender related issues, whether that be struggles with discrimination, finding the right label for themselves, or struggles for acceptance from family and friends.
Charlie Hammes, someone in the PPCC GSA, said, “It’s a safe place to express myself, meet others, and learn about other people without worrying about how they may react to my gender presentation.”
Currently, the club meets from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Wednesdays at the Rampart campus and from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Tuesdays at the Centennial Campus. For more information email Madeline van Batum, the president of the club, at madelinekoreen@gmail.com.
