This week we welcome UCLA Lambda LGBTQ+ Alumni Association Board Co-Chairs Jade Elyssa Rivera '20 (they/we) and Fabian Primera '19 (he/him) who share a message in recognition of Pride month and the thoughtful celebration of the LGBTQ+ community.
Dear Community,
As we begin our Pride celebrations, we do well to remember that our movement for justice is built upon generations of leaders who came before us. Though significant strides have been made over the decades, the obscene developments of anti-trans legislation and spike in hate crimes across the United States remind us how critical our collective activism is.
Our work is rooted in abolition and justice, with emphasis given to the wellbeing of our queer and trans Black, Indigenous and people of color siblings.
This year, and every year, we celebrate who we are, what we do, and one another — on our own terms. Community spaces, such as ours, ground us in the “why” of what we do. In the wise words of Patrisse Cullors '12, "I am forever indebted to the community of friends, family and loved ones I have created over the years to hold one another and call ourselves into our own collective humanity. I value this community, the people that I call my team."
Lambdan Regards,
Jade Elyssa Rivera '20 (they/we) and Fabian Primera '19 (he/him)
UCLA Lambda LGBTQ+ Alumni Association
Board Co-Chairs
Participate
Our collective activism can benefit from our own understanding of our positionality in the movements we support. On June 10, learn from George Chacon '10 as he reflects on his activism and navigating his Latinx identity while serving on the board of directors of the UCLA Pilipino Alumni Association. Register for EmPower Hour.
Learn
According to a report by the UCLA School of Law Williams Institute, LGBT people of color are twice as likely as white non-LGBT people to test positive for COVID-19. Read the full report that includes new data on the impact of COVID-19 on LGBT people.
Watch
Airing from 1992 to 2012, "In the Life" was the first nationally broadcast LGBTQ+ newsmagazine on public television. Today you can watch "In the Life" through the UCLA Library Film & Television Archive, caretakers of the series' 208 episodes encompassing historic moments in LGBTQ+ history.
Read
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the flow of our lives in many ways. For Judah C., a second-year UCLA student, it meant being shoved back into "the closet," being misgendered and called by their deadname. Read about their experience in "Quarantining in the Closet" for Out Write Magazine.
Celebrate
UCLA LGBTQ Campus Resource Center is partnering with the Fowler Museum, UCLA Radio and UCLA Residential Life for an End-of-Year Dance Party featuring Chulita Vinyl Club — a collective of women, gender-non-conforming, non-binary, LGBTQ+ and self-identifying people of color providing a safe space for empowerment, togetherness and use of music on vinyl as a form of resistance against the erasure of culture.
We thank you for your support. Please feel free to reach out to us by email at diversity@alumni.ucla.edu.