For many of the world’s LGBTQIA+ individuals, the road to acceptance is difficult enough by itself; many face rejection by their peers or the disapproval of their families.

But EvCC has resources to ensure that its LGBTQIA+ students never have to face their struggles alone.

On December 28^th, Leelah Alcorn, a young transgender woman from Ohio, committed suicide following years of mistreatment at the hands of her parents.

In a suicide note posted on Tumblr, she explained how she felt “like a girl trapped in a boy’s body” since the age of four, and of how she “cried of happiness” after learning what “transgender” meant at the age of 14. She chronicles her parents’ refusal of her identity, their decision to withdraw her from public school, take away her means of communicating with her friends, and submit her to conversion therapy.

According to the Williams Institute, 41% of transgender individuals attempt suicide every year.

For many LGBTQIA+ individuals, the struggle for acceptance is difficult and heartbreaking; many, like Leelah, risk having their families and friends mistreat them or reject them.

But here at EvCC, those same individuals have what many others don’t: a place to feel accepted, opportunities to make new friends and an environment where they can be themselves, free of judgment.

14 years ago, EvCC implemented a new plan to help make the campus more accepting and friendly towards its LGBTQIA+ students. This plan involved the creation of Safe Zones; areas where students can go to talk about whatever is troubling them and receive advice.

The co-chair of the Safe-Zone Committee and advisor for Triangle Alliance, Richele Blair, explained that the spaces make sure that “a student can walk into that space and not have to leave their identity at the door”.

Richele added that students can also visit the Diversity and Equity Center on the third floor of the Parks Student Union or the Counseling, Advising, and Career Center (also on the third floor of the PSU), which provides both personal and urgent counseling for students in