A storage room in the Laney College Student Center has been transformed into a comfortable oasis for LGBTQ+ students.

Entering into Laney’s brand new Queer Community Center, students will immediately be met by natural light filtering in through the large windows, and the comfortable seating gathered around a low coffee table. The walls are decorated with colorful flyers advertising upcoming events, a bright pride flag, and a framed photo 1986 Gay Games, an alternative to the Olympics started by LGBTQ+ activists, where athletes prepare to leap into Laney’s pool for the swimming and diving event. Visitors can also find a shelf decorated with posters, flyers, and cards with vital resource information for queer students.

Located on the third floor of the Student Center, the space hosts events and offers resources to LGBTQ+ members of the Laney college community. Students can come to the center for information on where students can access vital services including counseling and academic assistance, or for a safe and quiet place to study. Services are available Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Tuesday from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Queer Community Center Coordinator Yih Ren focuses on creating outings, community building events for students, and communicating student needs to faculty and administration.

“I also work for the University of San Francisco, for their cultural centers,” Ren said. “I see the difference between the community college versus the private institution and I think we’re doing some groundbreaking work and I don’t think we have anything like that here at Laney.”

In an interview with The Citizen, Laney College President Rudy Besikof stated that the Queer Community Center was an idea that began with the Lavender Project, an organization at Laney College composed of faculty and administrators who wanted to create an open and accepting environment for LGBTQ+ people at Peralta. Amy Bohorquez, a biology instructor and former member of the Lavender Project, wrote in an email to The Citizen that because the Lavender Project was an ad-hoc group, it was not an institutionalized part of Laney, and that it was always a goal to have a more permanent fixture at Laney.

In the 2024-2025 Fiscal Year, the California State Legislature dispersed $10 million in funding to California Community Colleges, to be used for supporting LGBTQ+ students. These funds could be put towards housing insecurity services, mental health services, Lavender Graduations, workshops and speakers, and LGBTQ+ student centers. Of the $10 million grant, Laney received $68,765. The California Community Colleges Budget Compendium urges colleges to keep the one-time nature of the grant in mind, and to prioritize investing the funds into programs that will be sustainable and supportive.

Laney’s former Vice President of Student Services, Marlon Hall, posted a Faculty Reassignment Opportunity for a Lavender Project Student Outreach Planner/Coordinator, shortly after Laney received the funding from the state. The goal of the position was to establish a coordinator who would make a proposal to the college about the best ways to use the funding to benefit students.

After Ren was selected, he noticed that one of the items listed in the language of the grant mentions “LGBTQ+ centers.” Ren also works at University of San Francisco, as the Graduate Student Coordinator for the Gender & Sexuality Cultural Center and realized that this would be an opportunity to begin a similar program at Laney.

The name of the position was later changed to Queer Student Center Coordinator, when Ren suggested that the word queer be included in the title.

“Oftentimes queer is understood as an umbrella term for LGBTQ, but at the same time queer is also an idea, a concept and a theory,” Ren said. “It really stands for people who feel different, who are creating new expressions of love, of community.”

After the proposal was accepted, he would head much of the development of the new center, and now works on event programs.

Hannah Sealine, a sociology major at Laney College, attended the queer center’s grand opening on Sep. 11. She said she was excited about the center’s potential.

“Community networking and knowing other queer people is really important,” Sealine said.

She looked forward to seeing how the center would evolve over time, and hopes that more students will keep attending.

Ren is assisted by Joee Segovia, the Student Assistant to the Coordinator, who uses they/them and she/her pronouns. Segovia focuses on creating programs for physical and mental health.

Ren and Segovia are still developing the community center. Segovia is creating a booklet containing information about clinics, housing options, and even legal assistance for LGBTQ+ students.

“I think it’s really important to have something like this on campus, and some people look to programs in schools to reach out and be among their own community members,” said Segovia, tearing up slightly while recalling their own time attending the Pacific Center for Human Growth, the first ever LGBTQIA+ center in the Bay Area. “For me it’s very affirming because I didn’t have that growing up, in junior and high school. I think having this focus on different groups just lets the city and the rest of the world know that we’re here, we’re in school. We have dreams.”

For students seeking help with mental health resources, the center held their first Mindful Monday therapy discussion group on Monday Nov. 11 but will follow up with another date on Monday Nov. 18 between 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. The theme for both sessions will be discussing depression and how it affects LGBTQ+ students.

The center is also aiming to address systemic issues for LGBTQ+ students and will be holding anti-discrimination gatherings every Tuesday between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. This gathering will aim to discuss issues of queer discrimination on campus and help students to create solutions. The center will also host a workshop aimed at teaching students to advocate for themselves and their needs in the classroom on Dec. 9.

The grant from the State Legislature is one-time funding and is not guaranteed in future fiscal budgets. When asked if Laney had a plan to continue the Queer Community Center should funding not be provided again by the state, President Besikof stated that Laney “remains committed” to supporting LGBTQ+ students.