Impact of the LGBTQ Resource Center

I wholeheartedly believe that if this center were not on campus, I would have already dropped out of college after my first semester at the University of Arizona. I don't think it has saved my life necessarily, but it has definitely saved my future.

- Junior, Public Health/ Gender & Women's Studies Major

The LGBTQ Resource Center is the most supportive place on the whole campus. It let me know that being different was okay and has helped me get closer to discovering my identity.

-Sophomore, Political Science Major

For first year students, like me, who are new to Tucson, the LGBTQ Resource Center is a perfect place to find your footing. I see other freshmen who are still struggling to make friends and get into the swing of things and I feel really fortunate that I have a second home where I can go to hang out, meet people, and do homework. Thanks to the Center, I have an unlimited supply of friends and a deep sense of community.

-“First Year Gender & Women's Studies Major

The LGBTQ Resource Center has increased our visibility on the UA campus by creating a space that is not only clearly marked, but more importantly, accessible. As someone who has used the space for the last three years, I think having our very own private space has definitely made a difference to those who may have been scared to enter because of the intimidation of the previous space in the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership. Most of the cultural centers have their own spaces, so the creation of this space for the queer and allied students of the University of Arizona was, in my eyes, like the university finally legitimizing us.

-Senior, Public Health Major

The Impact of the LGBTQ Support Group

Walking through the door to the UA LGBTQ support group was one of the biggest steps I ever had to make. I was so terrified of what I might find in that room…what I might find out about myself. My Midwestern upbringing didn’t include many lessons about sexuality and especially didn’t address feelings outside the heterosexual expectation. We had ideas about gay people (even though no one really knew any gay people), they were simple: you did not want to be one of them. The LGBTQ support group was the first time that I reached out to other people my age regarding this topic. It took several months before I had the courage to contribute to the group topics, and then an additional year before I could come out to myself and to the group. I’m so very glad I went because it helped me become a more ‘complete me.’ I now live my life as a proud gay male and I’m so grateful to the support group for helping me through this tough phase in my life.

-MFA Grad Student

The Impact of Safe Zone Training Program

I consider the UA Safe Zone workshops to be the best, most directly applicable workshops I have ever attended on the UA campus. LGBTQ leadership is outstanding here at the U, and a source of great pride for me and many of my classmates.

-UA Student, from Impact of Safe Zone Survey, spring 2011

Ever notice those small plaques with pink triangles that some professors have on their office doors? I’ve got one, too. I had the honor of participating in a Safe Zone training presented by LGBTQ Affairs tonight. Students, faculty, RAs, everyone: if you’ve been looking for a way to help out your friends, family, coworkers, residents, students, and about ten percent of the population, check out Safe Zone. The workshop gave me a rollercoaster of emotions and helped me understand and reflect upon so many issues that I and many others have faced for years. If everyone cared enough to learn how to help others, imagine what we could do with the world.

-First Year Biology/Math Major; Submitted to the Daily Wildcat after attending a Safe Zone Training

I have a Safe Zone placard on my wall, and in my position working and mentoring students I have had clear and open communication with LGBTQ students regarding their personal struggles and relationships. I think the placard was the key that let the students know they could open up to me about all of the challenges they were facing in their lives.

-UA Staff, from Impact of Safe Zone Survey, spring 2011

The impact of LGBTQ Affairs & Pride Alliance Internship Program

My internship was a great experience and it taught me a lot. The most important thing I learned is that leadership is not about giving orders, it’s about taking a group of people who all have different strengths and guiding them to a common goal, while they learn from and work with each other. A good leader uses everyone’s strengths to make the vision come alive. There is not one thing I would change about my experience as an intern, I learned so much about myself and about the real world.

-Sophomore Business Major

I started the semester refusing to label myself an activist, but throughout the semester I have learned to be proud of the time I committed and all we accomplished. I am a proud dress-wearing feminist, femme, dyke, homosexual, gay, same-sex loving, equal rights, top, bottom, trans, queer, self-identified, true to yourself, vagina warrior, intersex ALLY. I am sure I am forgetting a few, but I learned I shouldn’t be quiet and ashamed about it. I am starting to understand what the work is really about. It’s about not staying in the background; it’s about about doing something and reminding yourself why you fight the fight. I ended the semester feeling like I had walked into a room of strangers and was leaving knowing they were family.

-Sophomore English Major

This experience has changed me and changed the way I think and feel about activism. I have seen work actually get accomplished. I have been able to experience proactive activism rather than reactive activism, and that gives me hope for future change on this campus and possibly in the greater Tucson area. More than anything, my internship experience has given me the confidence and support to continue growing and learning.

-Senior, Deaf Studies

I learned plenty more beyond the regular clichés of teamwork and the need to educate. I’ve been able to read climate surveys and news articles that I probably wouldn’t have been able to find before. I’ve had access to a wealth of resources that I wouldn’t have even thought about before. All of this information has led directly to me trying to share it with as many people as I can possibly reach. Everything needs at least one vector: the person who sorts through everything we have and finds the facts so that everyone else is inspired to finally take action. My job is to make people realize that these numbers include people and everyone is part of a statistic—whether they are the 90% affected by something, or the 10% removed from the issue. I now consider it my job to work on the apathetic people out there.

-Senior Freshman, Biology/Math Major

The Impact of Rainbow Graduation

This ceremony was absolutely beautiful. My favorite moments were when couples were presenting each other…it definitely reminded me why I put in so much hard work as an advocate for the LGBTQ community…there was just so much love and support present in that room, I loved it.

-Rainbow Graduation Participant, 2013

Rainbow Graduation is the only graduation ceremony that I did for myself. It gave me this really great feeling of being embraced by the LGBT community, which was really special. I was reminded of the huge role that organizations such as Pride Alliance played in shaping my experience here at the U of A. I feel as though I'm walking away from this chapter of my life with a nice sense of closure.

-Rainbow Graduation Participant, 2013