Santa Cruz County LGBTQIA+ High School, Junior High, and Middle School Students
The Safe Schools Project of Santa Cruz County is proud to announce the 2nd Annual Celebration of LGBTQIA+ High School, Junior High, and Middle School Graduates via streaming.
July 11, 2021
2:00 PM
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Watch the LGBTQIA+ Celebration >>
The event is planned as a celebration to honor lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual (LGBTQIA+) and ally students, and to acknowledge their achievements and contributions to their campuses across Santa Cruz County. We honor our LGBTQIA+ and ally students who are graduating, and acknowledge the unique struggles many have faced on their path to graduation.
Creating Safer Spaces in Our Local Universe
Our local communities have been strongly affected by the global pandemic we have been living through the past year. Many youth have been struggling due to unsafe or unaccepting homes. This year we chose the theme “Safer Spaces” to highlight how we as a community have persevered through these trying times. It has been important for everyone to find spaces that give them peace and allow them to express themselves freely and openly while stuck at home with their families. — 2021 Student Planning Committee
Host
- Lucia Umeki-Martinez, they/them, she/her, he/him, Student, Watsonville High School
LGBTQIA+ Keynote Speaker
- Jorge Pacheco Jr.
- he/him/his
- Indigenous Native Studies Teacher, President at California Latino School Boards Association, President at Oak Grove School District Board of Education, and Co-founder of the Digital Equity Coalition
- Read Jorge Pacheco Jr’s op-Ed in the May 2021 National Geographic Creating space to explore identity with students
LGBTQIA+ Guest Speakers
- Adrian Elizalde, he/him/his, Watsonville High School Class of 2021, Yale Class of 2025, Poet
- Dr. Brian Arao, he/him/his, Associate Dean of Students at UC Santa Cruz
- Gaby Preciado M.S., she/her/hers, Program Coordinator, Lionel Cantú Queer Resource Center at UC Santa Cruz
- Jen Salinas-Holz, she/her/ella, Site Technology Support Technician, Pájaro Valley Unified School District | GSA/QSA Advisor | PVUSD LGBTQ Task Force
- Marie Harrison, she/her, they/them, Soquel High School Class of 2021, SHS QSA Vice President, member, Queer and Trans Youth Council
- Melissa S. Bernstein, she/her/ella, Member of the Santa Cruz Dyke Trans March Collective
- Michael Vargas, he/him/his, Senior Associate Attorney, Rimon, P.C. and Lecturer, Santa Clara University School of Law
- Vnes, they/them/she/her, Concierge, Santa Cruz Downtown Association
Performers
- Blue Distefano, they, them, he/him, 10th grade Student, Kirby School
- Gaby Preciado M.S., she/her/hers, Program Coordinator, Lionel Cantú Queer Resource Center at UC Santa Cruz
Meet the 2021 Student Planning Committee
- Camila Snyder-Alaniz
- Pronouns: she/her, they/them
- Student, Santa Cruz High School, class of 2022
- About Camila: Hi my name is Camila, I’m the current president of my schools GSA, and I’m a rising senior. I love making art and playing music!
- Favorite dinosaur: Brontosaurus
- Lucia Umeki-Martinez
- Pronouns: they/them, she/her, he/him
- Student, Watsonville High School, Class of 2022
- About Lucia: As an intern of the Safe Schools Project and ASB Co-President of Watsonville High School, Lucia is passionate about serving their community, they also enjoy playing on their school’s volleyball team as well as a defense attorney on their Mock Trial Team. In their free time they like to make art.
- Favorite dinosaur: Brachiosaurus
- Marie Harrison
- Pronouns: she/her, they/them
- Student, Soquel High School Class of 2021
- About Marie: Marie Harrison is a Soquel High School graduate who participated as the school’s QSA Vice President and a member of the Queer and Trans Youth Council.
- Favorite dinosaur: Brontosaurus
- Reyes Morales Warne
- Pronouns: he/him, they/them
- Student, San Lorenzo Valley High School, Class of 2022
- About Reyes: Two spirit student at San Lorenzo Valley High School, SLVHS Activist, The GSA Network, and Queer and Trans Youth Council of Santa Cruz County (QTYC).
- Favorite dinosaur: Chicken
Video Designer/Editor
- Cho Rae Adolfo
- they/them/theirs
- Student, University of California, Berkeley, 2020 Soquel High School Graduate
The class of 2021 has started and ended their senior year in one of the most difficult circumstances they may ever face. Wildfires, political unrest, and a pandemic that took away proms, senior trips, and so much more.
Thankfully, we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Our 2021 graduates have persevered under extraordinary circumstances these past fourteen months.
We want to commend all the hard work of our LGBTQIA+ students who have been out, proud, and working for safer campuses in our community, and take time to honor them as graduates. While we are seeing the lifting of many restrictions and the reunion of our community, we must also protect our youth who may not have had the opportunity to be vaccinated yet.
With that in mind, we have planned a virtual celebration to honor our 2021 graduates together and allow for all of their family and friends to join us in watching the celebration.
LGBTQIA+ Graduation Ceremony History
Safe Schools Project of Santa Cruz County
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Questions? Contact us at +1 (831) 427-4004 or email us.
Sponsored, in part, by the Santa Cruz County Office of Education (SCCOE) — thank you!
