By Sadie Shields
An idea formed by clubs and organizations 25 years ago has finally come into fruition as the LGBTQ+ center opens its doors. The Q Center aims to provide coordinated support, resources and advocacy which was originally unable to be provided.
It all began with one man, Eric Rofes, an openly gay professor at Humboldt who tragically passed in 2006 of a heart attack. Before he passed, Rofes served as director of the Los Angeles LGBT center and as executive director of the Shanti Project, a non profit AIDS service organization.
For many queer representing students, faculty and staff at this institution, his loss was heavy.
“He passed away unexpectedly… and he was a pretty strong presence here,” said Loren Cannon, a professor and author at Cal Poly Humboldt.
In remembrance of Rofes’ work and contribution to the university in 2006, one of the first queer spaces created on campus was named the Eric Rofes Center (ERC) in his honor. After its creation, the ERC became a foundation for queer community-building on campus — but while meaningful, the space was confined.
Efforts to establish a fully funded Queer Center have been ongoing, but repeatedly stalled over the years.
“There have been more than a few attempts to have an actual queer center,” Cannon said. “Most schools have had queer centers for 20 to 30 years.”
Constant administrative turnover was believed to be the main obstacle preventing the center from opening.
“Typically, they stay around for three to six years…and then you’re kind of back to the starting place,” Cannon said.
Another roadblock was the lack of clear data on LGBTQIA students, due to long standing stigma around identity disclosure.
“When I was here in ‘06, I was the only out trans faculty member,” Cannon said. “Now, we have many more students identifying.”
Elias Pence, coordinator at the Q center, also noticed the shift and how more students are openly identifying as LGBTQIA members today.
“People are identifying openly, which helps us get an idea of our population,” Pence said.
Since then, Cal Poly Humboldt has taken steps towards inclusion, including gender-inclusive housing, restrooms and tracking of LGBTQIA student data.
“I think we certainly have a more accepting place,” Cannon said. “But, it’s kind of mixed. Sometimes it feels like the tide’s coming in, sometimes it feels like the tide’s going out.”
Despite this progress, it is very evident that the rising political tensions, especially around transgender rights, have created a major concern within the community. One of these ways is scapegoating, which is a process of blaming a person or group for problems they did not cause.
“What we’ve seen now looks like classic scapegoating,” Cannon said. “You have a relatively small group, and then, you conjure the monster of trans people.”
This type of scapegoating has not decreased the queer population that is now coming out, but has created signs of anxiety.
“I have not seen any decrease; what I have seen is a lot of fear and a lot of distress,” Pence said.
Still, no matter the environment, students will continue to be who they desire to be.
“We’re still gonna transition, we’re still gonna change our names,” Pence said. “We’re gonna do all of it.”
The Queer Center marks the first step on a long journey, and the work is still ongoing.
“We have to realize this is a marathon, it’s not a sprint,” Cannon said. “We might have to be involved in this work for a long time.”
After 25 years of advocacy, setbacks and most importantly persistence, the Queer Center does not just stand as one of the newest resources available for Queer students on this campus, but also as a symbol of a community that, now more than ever, refuses to be invisible.
“Let’s fight back, let’s resist dehumanization, let’s protect each other,” Pence said. “Let’s build beautiful things.”
Sadie is a junior communications major, journalism minor at Cal Poly Humboldt who has an interest in covering and taking photos for sports and wildlife journalism, and a slight interest in breaking news. She can be reached at sls331@humboldt.edu.