The Peralta Colleges are gearing up to protect LGBTQ+ students from the impact of executive orders restricting the federal recognition of transgender people. However, the resources available to students at each college are inconsistent.

On Jan. 30, the Trump Administration issued two executive orders restricting transgender and non-binary people from accessing gender affirming care and spaces. One executive order, titled Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government, stated that the federal government only recognizes two sexes: male and female. In another order, the federal government asserted it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the gender transition of anyone under the age of nineteen.

These executive actions have left transgender and non-binary people feeling vulnerable, raising questions within the LGBTQ+ community at Peralta about the impact on their lives and what the colleges are doing to protect their students.

Berkeley City College

“A lot of our members have expressed fear and hesitation to come to any event labeled as a queer event,” Kei Napoli Dorantes, the president of the Berkeley City College LGBTQIA+ club, said. 

Napoli Dorantes is a second year student looking to pursue a degree in music education. They started the club in Fall 2023 to create a social group on campus where queer students could feel less alone. 

“Unfortunately, our club is the only queer-focused and queer-centered organization on our campus,” Napoli Dorantes said. “We’ve become more of a support group, but we do try to keep it a little more light-hearted.” 

These meetings serve as spaces where students can talk and vent, but Napoli Dorantes has noticed that the meetings are also often used as an opportunity for students to speak about support that they need on campus.

“It can be a little hard for students to find these resources because they can be very spread out and oftentimes a bit unofficial,” they said. The club is compiling a booklet for students that will list places and people on campus that queer students can turn to in times of need.

The club is run by four officers who are all second-year college students, according to Napoli Dorantes. All officers follow an open-door policy, making themselves available to their communities through Discord and Instagram to offer moral support and links to LGBTQ+ mental health services.

Napoli Dorantes says that the club is welcome to anyone looking for a safe space, but also lists the BCC Wellness Center as a good resource for students looking for support.

The LGBTQIA+ club meets Thursdays from 12:20 p.m. to 1:20 p.m., but does not provide the location of their meeting place on the college website. Instead, the club takes email inquiries for meeting room details at [email protected]. 

Laney College

The Laney Queer Community Center (QCC) is a dedicated physical location where students can meet, seek support, or vent frustrations. Since opening in Fall 2024, the Laney QCC has welcomed Peralta students from any college into the space.

Yih Ren has been the Queer Community Center Coordinator at Laney College since April 2024. Over the past year, he said he has focused on creating a safe space for the queer community at Laney. Last semester, the center hosted community events like “Mindful Monday” therapy groups, an observance of Transgender Day of Remembrance, and a free trip to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Arts.

This semester, Ren has shifted his focus to providing students with an outlet for their concerns as well as for their pride. The center now hosts “Feel Good Mondays,” providing board games and crafts for students. Ren has also posted flyers with information for students on legally changing their names and securing passports.

“I really want to resonate with the elements of resilience, because sometimes we don’t even know what that word entails. Even I am still grappling with it.” Ren said. 

The center is open to the public on weekdays starting at 11 a.m., though closing times vary.

Merritt College

Merritt College President David Johnson shared that his college is hoping to welcome its own Queer Community Center soon, using Laney’s center as a model. 

“What we’re trying to do, really, is just create a sense of safety – even as we work toward building a community and aspirationally, working towards something similar to what Laney has,” Johnson said. “This population of students confronts their sense of security and well-being being imperiled by people’s perceptions, and now, formal legislation.”

Johnson plans to create the space using funds allocated to the California Community Colleges through Prop. 98 state apportionments during the 2024-2025 fiscal year. This is the same allocation that sponsored the creation of Laney’s center. These funds are not subject to any federal policies at this time, according to Peralta’s Chief Operating Officer Greg Nelson.

Johnson has not hired a Queer Center Coordinator yet. He said he hopes to develop the center with “substantive student input.”

However, he fears that queer Merritt students may not be aware of the currently available resources at the college. Johnson shared a “sobering assessment” from a recent meeting with a consultant over Merritt’s website.

“She said if you looked at Merritt’s website, and you were an alien, you probably wouldn’t know that LGBTQ+ students even exist,” he said. 

At time of publication, Merritt’s website lists a Gay Straight Alliance Club with a contact email, but the club did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. 

College of Alameda

College of Alameda (CoA) currently lacks a club or a dedicated resource center for queer students.

CoA’s Student Life and Activities Director, Natalie Rodriguez, said that there had not been an active LGBTQ+ club on the campus “since before 2020.” She said she created the LGBTQ+ Task Force during the pandemic to fill the void that was left behind.

“I think at this point the Task Force is really focused on creating visibility and raising awareness,” Rodriguez said. “We are at College of Alameda and we want to hear the student voice.”

Rodriguez hopes to get signage up around bathrooms on campus that would discourage “bathroom policing,” referring to how transgender and nonbinary students often face interrogation and physical attacks when using the bathrooms that align with their gender. 

She said CoA’s Task Force sends out communication to the campus community about other LGBTQ+ events at Peralta, such as the Lavender Graduation which will be hosted at CoA this year.

Rodriguez said that moving the college forward following these executive orders is “really about education at this point, for me and for my colleagues.”

CoA has access to the same California state grant that funded the Laney QCC. Last year, CoA recieved $50,117 from the state to support LGBTQ+ students. When asked about how these funds have been utilized, Rodriguez said, “We haven’t done any events in a few years, not since the conception of the Task Force.” 

The Citizen emailed Rodriguez on Feb. 27 to confirm whether any funds from the grant had been used, and how much has been spent to date. She did not respond in time for publication.

A changing political landscape

While California is largely considered to be a safe zone for the LGBTQ+ community, that could change in the future. Governor Gavin Newsom has increasingly voiced his opposition to certain guaranteed protections for transgender Californians, like athletes and transitioning minors.

When it comes to Peralta’s LGBTQ+ students, QCC Coordinator Ren recognizes all the physical, mental, societal trauma that the community has endured — and ultimately, he believes that queer people will survive this political moment.

“Definitely we are suffering a lot, but at the same time, we are resilient,” Ren said.