The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Resource Center at Cal State Long Beach will host LGBT Diversity Week for the first time on campus April 16 through 19.
LGBT Diversity Week will include many different types of events, including the National Day of Silence, book signings and several panels. Scheduled guest speakers include Christine Chavez (granddaughter of Cesar Chavez), author Noel Alumit and Jake Finney of Dot Magazine, according to a press release sent out from the center.
A majority of the students who use the center are also ethnic minorities, said Kirstyn Yuk Sim Chun, faculty co-advisor for the center.
“Many felt they had to choose between their ethnic and sexual identity,” Chun said.
She said the center has been very active on campus by doing outreach and work on spreading information. She said that they felt it was time to branch out with the information they share. According to Chun, the main goal of the week is to help people learn more about diversity issues.
“[The goal] is to help people understand and dialogue more about how different diversity issues overlap,” she said.
According to the LGBT Resource Center’s Web site, some of the specific issues covered will be gender identity, sexism, people of color, families, marriage equality, heterosexism and immigration.
Chun said she thinks a lot of people try to categorize themselves and others into separate categories (e.g. black or white, male or female, heterosexual or homosexual) that do not work in real life.
“People don’t live in separate categories,” Chun said. “They live in several at once.”
“It’s easy to get overwhelmed trying to understand complex issues,” Chun said. She also said it is important to remember that “everyone is learning and growing.”
