Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity as a second home for KU's LGBTQIA+ community
The Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity (SGD) is an organization that advocates for LGBTQIA+ students, faculty and staff within the University of Kansas community, while also providing a safe space for students across campus, said Zach Parker SGD program coordinator.
Located on the fourth floor of the University of Kansas Union, in suite 400, the center is open Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
In addition to being a safe space for LGBT youth, SGD provides information about gender inclusive housing, how to receive a name and gender marker change, where gender-neutral restrooms are located on campus as well as the locations of other KU resources.
“It is a home away from home,” SGD graduate assistant Jesse Gardner said. “When you're dealing with the hustle and bustle of student life, it's a place to come in, wind down and watch a movie, read a book, play a video game, do homework, or eat lunch. It's really a flex space for all LGBTQ students and allies to come in and interact with the staff and other students. It's a place to foster a community for students to thrive.”
The program opened its doors in 2014, with aid from several graduate assistants from the Student Involvement and Leadership Center. The program's current location opened in Feb.
“There are two parallel histories, one of student activism, and then the second one of graduate students taking on extra work,” Parker said. “Even to get us into this space here, it took a lot of activism from students, students senate, faculty, and staff. They all worked together to make sure we have the funds to build this space so that we would have a home on campus.”
Parker has been working for the center since August 2020, but was not given the role of program coordinator until June. While his main responsibilities involve organizing programs and events, he also works to ensure that SGD meets the needs of KU students.
“We are led by what our students need and what our students expect from us,” Parker said. “We always listen to students' ideas and how our center should move in different ways to fit their needs.”
Weekly SGD events include queer coffee hour on Tuesdays, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., “Gaymer Night” on Wednesdays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., along with support groups, sexuality and gender identity celebrations and other events.
With Oct. having been LGBTQ+ History month, SGD hosted the “51 Years Out” event from Oct. 18 to Oct. 29. Throughout the week, SGD hosted book discussions and a dance where previous members of the Lawrence Gay Liberation Front attended.
”It’s really a celebration of the folks who were here in the 70s and how these people live and thrive and where they are now,” Parker said.
The Lawrence Gay Liberation Front was founded in 1969, according to the SGD website. After being denied recognition from former KU Chancellor E. Laurence Chalmers the LGLF filed a lawsuit in 1971 against the university for infringing on their 1st and 14th amendment rights.
Despite their case being denied by the Supreme Court, the program continued to grow throughout the 1970s and received formal recognition as a student organization at KU, according to their website.
“That group, formed here on campus, was trying to become a student group that came up against barriers,” Parker said. “While that organization is separate from SGD, I think its origin really tracks through what some of our student groups are today. There is a strong history that is there, because that history and activism is still very present.”
KU junior Ximena Ibara-Quintana, political science major and student ambassador, said throughout their time at SGD, the program has provided them with a chance to be themselves.
“It is my support system on campus and I think the best part for me personally is that I have a lot of room to grow as a person here,” Ibbara-Quintana said. “I'm supported through all of it. I think that there aren't very many places on campus where you can walk in and rely on a mentor to be there for you.”
Gardner’s main goal is to be foster that system of support for students throughout her time at the SGD Center, she said.
“I wanted to be able to help other students who also feel like they're part of this community,” Gardner said. “I want to not only be able to navigate their student life or relationships, but to really have someone that can listen to them and that they relate to. I want to not only be a staff member that they can rely on, but a friend as well.”