The LGBTQIA Resource Center in the new Student Community Center, 2012

Location
Student Community Center
Hours
Monday-Friday: 10:00am-6:00pm
Phone
(530)752-2452
Email
[email protected]
Website
http://lgbtqia.ucdavis.edu

The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Intersex Asexual Resource Center opened on January 31, 1994. Its presence on the UC Davis campus was the result of a recommendation made by the Chancellor's Committee on Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Issues in 1992. In the Fall of 1993, a group of students, staff and faculty convened to prepare the Center for its grand opening. The center has been located in several different spaces on campus over the years, starting out in one of the Temporary Buildings near Engineering III, moving to University House Rm 105 circa 1996, and then to the University House Annex in 2000. Its last move was to the Student Community Center in the winter of 2012. It's a very important part of the Rainbow Community, especially among UC Davis students.

Current Staff (2018-2019)

The LGBTQIARC offers many resources for Lesbian, Gay, BiSexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and ASexual  students and allies. Resources include an extensive library of over 1100 books, a collection of current magazines and newspapers, a growing DVD and VHS video library of both entertaining and educational films, several varieties of organizational and educational pamphlets, and much more! Did we mention that we now have wireless internet access? Yay! Volunteer positions are always available and there are a couple of computers that volunteers can use. The center works closely with the Gender and Sexuality Commission, the WRRC (Women's Center) and the CCC as well as holding meetings for pertinent organizations such as La Familia, APIQ, Woman-Loving, SAME LOVE, BlackOUT and Gender Group.

The LGBTQIARC is responsible for organizing a number of great events throughout the year, most notably, awareness weeks: Pride Week and TransAction Week in the fall and Intersex Awareness Week and "Beyond the Binary" in winter.

Programs

  • Queer Welcome Queer Welcome is the LGBT Resource Center’s first event of the year and takes place on the first day of classes in the fall quarter to kick off the year. Queer Welcome is an opportunity for new and returning students, faculty and staff to get connected to the community and find support and resources. Different student organizations and campus departments set up information booths and hundreds of people come by to enjoy the food and music!
  • Pride Week Pride Week is an annual week of educational, entertaining, and interactive events on LGBTIQ issues, as well as other intersecting identities. During Pride Week, the center hosts events such as Visibility Day, a chance for the queer community to hang out on the quad and participate in a meet and greet; Safe Zone training, a three hour training designed to raise awareness and discuss ways to make the spaces we live and work in more welcoming and safer for LGBTIQ people. Every year we have a keynote speaker who talks about current issues and intersecting identities within the LGBTIQ community.
  • TransAction Week TransAction Week is one of the LGBT Resource Center’s annual weeks and is designed to raise awareness on issues impacting transgender people and to celebrate the transgender community. Some events include a keynote speaker; Trans 101, an educational workshop; TransForming Body Image, a program exploring transgender body image; Genderpalooza, a fun event exploring gender; and Trans Safe Zone, a two-hour training to increase awareness and sensitivity to transgender issues.
  • Beyond the Binary Beyond the Binary is an LGBT Resource Center annual awareness week dedicated to educating about and celebrating non-monosexual, and many other intersecting, identities. Events during this week include a social visibility kickoff, keynote speaker, panels and workshops, Safe-Zone training, and a Bi Visibility Project closed non-monosexual discussion.
  • Intersex Awareness Week Intersex Awareness Week is one of the four educational weeks the LGBT Resource Center plans annually. Intersex Awareness Week events and programs are held on campus to raise awareness about intersex issues to the UC Davis campus.
  • Lavender Grad This annual event recognizes graduating undergrad and grad students’ contributions to UC Davis and the queer community. Lavender Graduation is an opportunity for students, faculty, staff and community members to celebrate the accomplishments of UC Davis lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and ally (LGBTQIA) graduates. Lavender Graduation also provides a space for graduates to recognize significant people in their lives who have helped them achieve their goals (such as family members, a partner or close friend).
  • LGBTQIARC Volunteer Program Volunteers help make many of the programs and services offered by the UC Davis Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center possible. Volunteers assist with various projects including updating resources, compiling program evaluations, advertising events, and supporting existing programs such as TransAction Week and Safe Zone.
  • Queer Leadership Retreat Some of the objectives of the Queer Leadership Retreat include:
    • Empowering LGBTQIA students
    • Building community
    • Providing a safe space for students to develop leadership skills
    • Developing strategies for consciousness-raising within our various communities
    • Setting community goals
    • Educating ourselves and raising awareness about issues w/in the community

The retreat will include workshops and team-building activities, as well as academic resources and an alumni panel. The retreat will provide a unique opportunity for students to network, learn, and share their own knowledge and experiences

 

 

  • Crafternoons Crafternoons is a weekly social and crafting event that runs from 12:30 – 2:00 p.m. on Thursdays. New craft projects are taught each week, and all supplies are provided. We encourage folks to stop in and check out the event. Crafternoons are a great way to meet people and de-stress at the end of the week!

  • Safe Zone Safe Zone is a three-hour training designed to raise awareness and discuss ways to make the spaces we live and work in more welcoming and safe for LGBTQIA people. After completing the training, you have the option of receiving a sign to designate your space as a Safe Zone. Safe Zone is offered twice a quarter.

    Transgender Safe Zone is a two-hour training created to raise awareness and understanding about gender identity and issues faced by Transgender people. Transgender Safe Zone is offered once a quarter.

  • LGBTQIARC Internship Program
    • Serve as a community liaison for the diverse Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Questioning (LGBTIQQ) community.
    • Work to create an open, safe, inclusive space and community that promotes learning, discovery, and scholarship about gender and sexual identities.
    • Work collaboratively with other community centers (WRRC, SRRC, CCC, etc).
    • Serve as liaison to students, student organizations, faculty, Ethnic Studies Departments, administrators, and staff to maintain communication and flow of information.
    • Work with various campus student interns and leaders (ie: Culture Day Interns, ASUCD, Gender and Sexuality Commission, SRRC Interns, PAC’s, MIP Interns, etc.).
    • Serve as a representative to promote the mission and goals of the LGBT Resource Center.
    • Outreach to campus and community groups through tabling, planning programs, conducting training, etc.
    • Assess, address, educate about, and advocate for the issues and needs of underrepresented and underserved communities.
    • Implement and deliver programs on various community issues and topics that support the mission and goals of the LGBT Resource Center and promote retention of LGBT students.
    • Write reports on programs and activities.
    • Work with the career staff, other interns, and volunteers in planning, implementation, publicity, and evaluation of LGBT Resource Center programs.
    • Opportunities to attend national, regional, and state-wide conferences/meetings.
  • Asexual Awareness Week The 2011 Asexual Awareness Week was from October 23 to 29. It is held annually in late October as a time of education and awareness around asexual, demisexual and grey-asexual issues and experiences. It is a national event that began in 2011.

February 2010 Vandalism

February 26, 2010. Photo by Jay Rodriguez

February 26, 2010: The LGBT Resource Center was vandalized with derogatory and hateful words that target the Queer community. The Center asked that the vandalism be kept up for a time "in order to ensure that this hate crime does not go unnoticed by the campus community" and "to take this opportunity to educate the campus about struggles that our community continues to face."

March 1, 2010: Town hall meeting at 5:30 in the ARC ballroom "for the community to come together and express any concerns [and] to collectively decide what actions should take place in the future."

 

A news crew covering the story a picture of the door a picture of the walkway being cleaned

Comments:

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2004-12-12 23:59:47   isn't it a shame its stuck in an alley back behind voorhies? - JamesDawe

i know. it's almost like the university's closet. —BrentLaabs

2009-01-09 20:06:21   I came in to check out the LGBT Center early last quarter and it was the most uncomfortable experience. There was this unwelcoming, judgmental vibe from the other stagnant people in the room. Ugh. Never again. —strawberry

2009-01-10 20:33:57   I'd like to add to the above comments. I went here once, no one went out of their way to acknowledge that someone completely new had walked in. They are not very welcoming. I've heard the same thing from a TON of friends. I have no interest in going back, but I think that's what the people there want because it's clearly their exclusive hangout. Something should be done about this. —OscarSabino

2009-03-04 11:57:49   Sorry about the negative experiences that some of you have faced. As a current volunteer for the LGBTRC I will notify the staff about these issues. I will work on making the atmosphere of the center more warm and inviting.

Just to point out, there are a lot of organization meetings that take place at the LGBTRC. You could have by chance walked in during a committee meeting which does not excuse unfriendly actions, but it may be a factor. —ThUn

2009-07-11 16:23:09   I went in a couple weeks ago and talked to a really nice person (Angela?) that worked there. She was very inviting and helpful so for those of you who had bad experiences, I would recommend giving it another try. —Pringlessong

2010-03-01 15:00:19   That vandalism is a real shame. That kind of thing makes me pretty upset. —DagonJones

2010-03-06 01:25:41   in solidarity with the lgbtrc for increasing people's awareness on lgbtqi issues. in solidarity against homophobia and bigotry. did the center join in solidarity with the strike? and looking a the history of your locations, i was wondering if you'd try to move the center or if you think you'll stay in that location? —JessicaRockwell

2010-09-08 11:51:04   I feel very uneasy and uncomfortable when I step in here. Some people say 'hey, how's it going?' and most of the time I don't want to answer and have lame smalltalk. These 'hey, how's it going' seem like BS smalltalk. I'm sure if someones totally new and never have been in this center it would be nice to say that and introduce the center, but for someone who stops by often, I go there for a reason, it may to talk to a specific person, use the computer, look at the library, or whatever, I just wanna go in there and do what I have to do and leave. —anonymon

2010-09-09 03:32:53   I guess you're right. I just feel HORRIBLE saying, "thanks. I'm fine" and moving on. I feel like I should ask back. —anonymon

I volunteered there last quarter, I found the people to be nice. I think one problem is that it is impossible to distinguish the people who work/volunteer there from the people who are just stopping by. Some sort of uniform or even just a simple yarn-necklace nametag thing would be nice. From my experience, everyone I talked to was nice, just remember- this is an established community, so in a way you will be sort of an outsider at first. You may feel a little weird walking in, because it seems like everybody knows everybody else already (and everybody really does know everybody else), but people are accommodating and friendly, though this friendliness maybe be tempered slightly by work we are trying to accomplish (I wasn't very social as I spent most of my time helping put the listserv together). Any stares you get are probably because we don't really know why you're there, or we're waiting to see if anybody else recognizes you. A lot of the volunteers are new, so when somebody walks in it's hard for us (well, I didn't volunteer this quarter so not really 'us' but whatever) to know how to welcome you. Some people just want to become part of the local gay community, some people are part of university staff, others are on a scavenger hunt for some class. We (again with with the inclusiveness :P) deal with an odd mix of official tasks and just being friendly to people who come in, which sometimes leads to official tasks, so sometimes it takes a moment for us to move from one frame of mind to another. Also, coming later in the day helps, there tends to be more people just hanging out around then, rather than earlier in the morning (when I volunteered). If you've never been part of a gay community, haven't been part of the Davis gay community, or have never been to the LGBTRC before, I recommend telling someone that, so that we can realize you're there to meet people and not to just chill and do school work (as people often do). It's not exactly the greatest place to meet people, but it's definitely a place. —AndrewJacobs

  • Based on the graffiti, it is most likely that the person or people responsible for the vandalism do not go to UC Davis. They mention anger towards the Cal Bears. It is most likely the work of underage vandals who don't know that the UC Davis mascot is not a bear. —MaxLucas

    • Sh! People are trying to play the victims here so that students keep paying for diversity-oriented causes on campus! But I agree, looks more like kids being stupid than actual homophobia and intolerance. On a related note, I started seeing more graffiti around campus these days. Correlation with Third and B closing? —hankim

      • What do you mean by people are trying to play the victim to have student pay for diversity-oriented causes? Are you saying that we don't need these events and programs on campus. Because without them, the hate crime would've been way worse than a simple spray painting tag. Someone could've actually been hurt, or assaulted without whatever level of safety we have built up to today. We need to continue our programming that helps to educate the community so that we can prevents acts of hate, and other oppressive acts like this from reoccurring in the future. —ThUn

        • I do not see how having a bunch of events that only people like you go to really keeps people from getting assaulted for the way they are, not that Davis is a place where that is likely to happen. —hankim

          • The purpose of the events is that at each event we have, if even one person from the ally community, or non LGBTQQIA community comes out and educates her/his self, then that message spreads amongst the community. In turn, promoting a better understand of LGBTQQIA issues and struggles. I didn't say that we can make someone less violent, but we can increase visibility and support for our community. Sitting back in silence on causes us to be forgotten, and with that our struggles would be forgotten or meaningless. To say that these events are for people "like you" is to further reinforce an "us vs. them" dynamic. And by saying that you are oppressing our community. Making it clear that there is a majority that does not support us. That majority has privilege, something that we do not have. Abusing privilege only further reinforces the oppression and hate that we've seen in recent events at UCSD, UCR, UCI, and here at UCD. —ThUn

            • So what are the struggles and issues of the LGBT community that need to so desperately be heard? —hankim

          • Thong H. Huynh? Granted, that was racially motivated. But yeah, hate-motivated crimes can happen anywhere, including Davis. —WilliamLewis

            • I know they can happen anywhere, but from what I have seen of Davis, the demographics of the type of people living here makes it an unlikely place to happen, which of course does not mean it will not happen. Anyway, my main point was that the type of people who should probably learn a little more about diversity are not going to go and only the choir would be preached to. —hankim

        • Violent people are violent. While the LGBTRC's programs may promote understanding of LGBT issues, I doubt that they have made anyone less violent. —WilliamLewis

          • Guns don't kill people, violent people kill people. Also, I assume the "GO BEARS" message is actually support for Bear Community. -BL

            • BL, it said "FU Cal Bears". —ThUn

            • It says "FU Cal Bears." —hankim

  • I agree with DagonJones, and will add that it's pretty disgusting to see people come on the DavisWiki and try to minimize and even dismiss the impact of this hate crime on the members of our Davis and campus communities who clearly were the intended targets, and on our community as a whole, and to read cynical accusations that public demonstrations of support for them are some subversive attempt to chisel money out of people. Way to kick someone when they're down. —DukeMcAdow

  • They are probably just trying to be friendly and welcoming. You might try replying, "fine, how are you?" and keep walking. At least then you've acknowledged them — no one says you have to stop and chat if you don't want to. —CovertProfessor

    • "Fine, thanks." acknowledges their comment and ends the small talk in a polite way. Then just do what you have to do and leave.

  • I don't think there is anything wrong with it, and if if there is, I think it is worse to say nothing. Most of the time, "hey, how's it going?" really just means "hi," anyway. People generally don't really want to know how you are. :-) —CovertProfessor

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