Jakki PadillaThe first Lavender Ceremony commemorates LGBTQ students to celebrate their accomplishments before graduation at Angels Stadium. The Gender Sexuality Alliance club welcomes attendees to the first pitched event which will include drag queen performances, dinner, and a graduation procession ceremony.
The Lavender Graduation will occur on Wednesday, May 24 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Johnson Center room 219.
GSA President Michael Morales, began this initiative this semester after getting inspiration from Cal State Fullerton and community colleges such as Cypress, Long Beach, and Pasadena in SoCal Morales said, “Why can’t we have one?”
The club allocated money for the event from the one-time LGBTQ+ Funding from the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, in AB 132, Section 89.
Morales made the opportunity to make it a campus-wide event and to celebrate others and Morales says it’s important to hold the institution and administration accountable for continuing the efforts for advocating for the LGBTQ+ community at SAC and at large.
“Students have the power to express their needs and make change happen; there just has to be the willingness to stand up and ‘rock the boat’.” says Morales, “I hope that this event sets a precedent to empower our community and inspire others to be leaders for those who are deserving of visibility and celebration.”
Morales hopes that this event sets a precedent to empower our community and inspire others to be leaders for those who are deserving of visibility and celebration.
“The GSA has put tremendous effort into this by creating a petition and collecting the signatures needed for this event to take place,” said Communications professor and GSA adviser, Lance Lockwood. “I hope that community members and allies will join in and celebrate the accomplishments of our hardworking population.”
