By Giovanni M. Ravalli
LGBTQ+ Correspondent
The LGBTQ+ Resource Center held an open house waffle-making event Tuesday, Sept 10. Welcoming new and familiar BC students for the fall semester, the center held the open house to introduce those to all that the Center provides.
The social event was not only fun, but tasty. The attendees enjoyed waffles they got to customize themselves. There was an assortment of goodies like berries, fruits, nuts, spreads like nutella, syrups, and whipped cream.
The Center is “a welcoming space and supportive network for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual, and other LGBTQIA+ identities, and allied students, staff, and faculty at Brooklyn College,” according to its mission statement. The Center provides educational workshops, professional development for students, along with other activities.
To staff at the Center, the goal of the event was “to raise awareness so people know that it’s here and so that they know where it is. It’s a great place to hang out, lots of people come in and just chat between classes or do their homework or take advantage of a lot of the free things we have here to enjoy. It’s just a chill place,” said Bee Friedman, a graduate student that works at the Center.
New and transfer students were among the many attendees, giving them the chance to become oriented with the Center’s activities with a safe space for people to be themselves.
“I love it. It’s honestly really fun. I feel it’s a nice place to be gay and everything,” said Gaer Nicolas, a freshman at BC who recently discovered the Center. “If you’re queer totally come, we’re not going to judge you. You can be queer here.”
LGBTQ+ students can sometimes find it difficult to find each other or feel safe to be themselves. A study released by The Trevor Project, a leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization geared toward LGBTQ+ youth, reported that LGBTQ+ youth have high rates of reported mental health difficulties, higher suicide risk, and face anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination and bullying.
“I feel like it gives room. It makes people feel safe. It’s a safe space,” Jaila Sims, a first year education major at BC, told The Vanguard.
The turnout gave the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance (LGBTA) Club, a separate club supported by the LGBTQ+ Resource Center and run exclusively by BC undergrad students, a chance to gain exposure as well. The club is in need of members and volunteers for operations, activities, and events to run smoothly.
“I’m excited because there’s more people than we anticipated. A lot of people are new faces so I’m glad that we’re reaching new people and more people. Everyone here is really approachable and nice. They’re really mindful,” Massiel Matute, secretary of the LGBTA club and a psychology major, told The Vanguard. “It’s nice to have volunteers and nice to have people involved. Outside of that, you could just join the club and socialize.”
Finding safe spaces to express their authentic selves can be a challenge both on and off campus. The LGBTQ+ Resource Center provides this vital lifeline for many BC Students who otherwise might never connect.
“I think it went fantastic, everyone had fun. We had a great variety of toppings and waffles so all around huge success, lots of people came to the center. It was great. The point was just to get people to come to the student center, specifically the LGBTQ+ Resource Center, which a lot of people don’t know where it is or even that it’s there,” said Friedman.
The event gave many new and returning students the ability to affirm their queer identity at BC, showing that they are part of the broader BC community too.
“We’re here,” said Isabelle Williams, a freshman international business major. “We exist.”
For more information and ways to get involved, visit the LGBTQ+ Resource Center’s website https://www.brooklyn.edu/lgbtq-center/ or their Instagram @lgbtqcenter_bc