The Alliance Club is a student-led club on the SFCC campus located in the Student Union Building, room 17-125 is not only a safe space for members of the LGBTQ community but also for anyone who wants to be a part of something bigger.
The club was founded in 1998, according to Professor Barbara Williamson who also founded the club.
History instructor Brian Stack is the faculty advisor for the club, and his role is in overseeing and facilitating while allowing the club members to make their own creative decisions.
Nova Jennings is the club’s president, and Mars Rochon is its secretary. The club currently averages 10 members per meeting, which Rochon hopes will increase in the near future.
The meeting room is small but has a wide array of furniture and pride decorations, it resembles that of a green room.
The club is currently concerned with overall participation in the events it organizes. The club has weekly meetings on Mondays and is open throughout the week as a safe space for people of all sexualities, creeds, and colors.
“We tend to plan our upcoming events,” Mars Rochon said. “We socialize and help each other study.”
The club has goals for community outreach, revamping its room, providing resources, and more.
“Since I have been here it’s been a goal to build community ties not only with the queer people who join the club,” said Nova Jennings, “but with other clubs like BSU [Black Student Union].”
Apart from the goal of building community, Rochon described that he had plans to make the club deaf-friendly, and work on getting unisex bathrooms dispersed throughout campus, which he plans to implement while in the club. Francisco Salinas Dean of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion is assisting the club in getting new custom-designed furniture and changing the room’s whole design. The club expressed that the room was similar to a doctor’s waiting room; work on that change has started.
Although the club is thriving on the SFCC campus, there are challenges facing the individuals in the club.
“I get misgendered at work all the time by my coworkers and boss,” Jennings said. “It has gotten to the point where I don’t care. I know there’s a lot of people who are in some not-so-accepting environments that are actively dangerous to be in.”
Despite the struggle of each member inwardly, things are looking up for the LGBTQ community according to Rochon.
“It was definitely more difficult to be gay in the past,” he said. “It’s safer to be gay now.”
Instead of hate being manifested in physical hostility, the challenges are now more nuanced and varied. Rochon’s boyfriend Chris Roberts who has been around the club and identifies as bisexual has had a different experience than his boyfriend. Bisexual erasure is a concern of his, the term refers to a disregard or minimizing of bisexuality as a legitimate identity from both the straight and LGBTQ community.
The Alliance Club is easily accessible from all the entrances of the Student Union Building, just across from the cafeteria and down the hall a few steps. If any student wants to integrate themselves on campus, the Alliance Club offers that opportunity.
Both Jennings and Rochon want more students to get involved and jump right in.
“Just come to the meetings,” Rochon said. “Show your support. We are here to listen, and we want to hear your opinions. We want participation from everyone.”