Students interact at the newly opened Pride Center. Photo by Kat Russell/Daily Sundial.

As the number of LBGTQ (Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgender, Queer) students rise at universities across the country, there has been a movement to create more outlets for expression on college campuses. Hearing that call from a section of the CSUN crowd, students banded together to petition and fight for an outlet. Two years after their fight began, their work has finally paid off.

Those students have succeeded in opening The Pride Center, a space on the CSUN campus where LBGTQ students can go talk, get information and connect with other students and peer counselors. It’s located where the Living Well Lounge used to be, near the Student Recreation Center, one of the most visible — in terms of size and talk — buildings on campus. There, students will have a number of resources available to them, and the group is excited that their dream has come to fruition.

“I feel really great and proud to be a part of the process, from an idea to the physical space,” said Diego Flores, a senior psychology major and LGBTQ peer mentor who helped in sit-ins and with petitions. The Peer Mentors provide help to not only the Pride Center’s regular constituents but also those who are having trouble with the coming out process. CSUN will join local CSU campuses Long Beach and Los Angeles in creating a resource center for LBGTQ students.

The Pride Center is a “step in the right direction for us to be seen and heard on campus more than we already have,” said Flores.

For more: Newly Opened Pride Center Provides Resources, Support and Mentorship to LGBTQ Students [Daily Sundial]

LBGTQ