Organizational Ally to Queer Youth – Awardee:
RAÍCES Y CARIÑO FAMILY CENTER (RC FAM) | Awardee
Established in 2022, the Raíces y Cariño Family Center is an essential part of the Pajaro Valley community, providing a safe space where LGBTQ+ youth and families can feel included and celebrated. From the beginning, the RC Fam has proudly displayed LGBTQ+ signs, offered LGBTQ+ online support in Spanish, and collaborated with organizations like TransFamilies, The Diversity Center, and the Rainbow Defense Coalition (RDC) to host meetings, RDC trainings, and events. The Raíces y Cariño Family Center has also been invited to multiple agencies and schools to educate others about culturally representative LGBTQ+ issues and celebrations. The center has opened their doors to PRISM, a bimonthly GSA community for queer, trans, and ally students as well as the Rainbow Playgroup, a monthly bilingual gathering for LGBTQ+ families with elementary-age children. In 2023, the RC Fam hosted their first Drag Story time, a bilingual event where drag artists read picture books and pose with kids for photos. When an anonymous hate letter was published and protesters targeted the center in response to Drag Story Time, the RC Fam bravely stood with the LGBTQ+ community, modeling how to educate with love and make Watsonville more welcoming to queer youth.
Organizational Ally to Queer Youth – Nominees:
CABRILLO COLLEGE RAINBOW COUNCIL | Nominee
The Cabrillo College Rainbow Council is a group of students, staff, faculty, administrators, and leaders dedicated to advocating for greater LGBTQIA2S+ equity on campus through organizational transparency, collaboration, educational tools, and events. Since its inception in 2020, the Rainbow Council has advocated for historic and contemporary issues in curricula; added to Cabrillo Library’s collection of books, periodicals, and films; created faculty and staff professional development workshops; hosted events like Queer Prom, Lavender Graduation, and Trans Day of Remembrance; and participated in Santa Cruz and Pajaro Valley Prides. They’ve collaborated with Cabrillo’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) Club to sponsor tables at the QYLA ceremony, as well as the Cabrillo Office of Student Equity and the County Office of Education to establish the 2025 Educators Symposium. Most recently, the Rainbow Council worked with Cabrillo’s student-led Printmaking Club at the Queer, Trans, and Allied Student Summit, providing free, custom-printed tote bags filled with swag and lovingly printed by hand with a logo designed by one of the summit youth artists.
QUEER INTERSECTIONAL ALLIANCE (QIA) OF PACIFIC COLLEGIATE SCHOOL (PCS) LEADERSHIP TEAM | Nominee
The QIA of PCS has grown into a vibrant community due to the dedicated leadership of five individuals known as the “QIA Leadership Team.” Hunter Coomes is a veteran leader, acting as a student government liaison and charismatic presenter. Nadia Dribinski serves as the club’s communications officer, noticing small details and fine-tuning their messaging. Vivie Zenack delegates and coordinates QIA tasks, anchoring each project with purpose. Cadence Johnson-Swalve is a quiet yet stalwart leader whose problem solving skills make project goals feasible. And Daphne Robertson is the voice of reason, refocusing the group and candidly pointing out possible improvements. Together, this Dream Team has organized annual events such as National Coming Out Day and “Fall Fabu,” a school-wide queer festival. They’ve also implemented a Winter Market craft fundraiser for the school’s affinity groups, established a monthly group session to discuss topics like “coping over the holidays” and “handling stress” in partnership with Encompass Services, collaborated with The 418 Project and the EDI Film and Cultural Center to organize the county-wide “Ready, Set, Glow!” dance, and hosted weekly QIA “Good Queer News” meetings to combat frightening current events.
RENEGADE THEATER CO. | Nominee
Former QYLA awardee, Kyle Vasquez, founded The Renegade Theater Co. in 2023 to provide an accepting and safe environment for marginalized groups including queer, trans, neurodivergent, and low-income theater kids to thrive. Renegade fosters collaboration, empathy, and education through experimental art that pushes audiences to think in new ways and step outside their comfort zones. In addition to hosting workshops, theater camps, and performing at least one annual LGBTQ+ fundraising show, Renegade has also collaborated with the Seven Directions Creative Learning Center to establish Friday Night LGBTQIA+ Teen Hangouts, and the Rainbow Choir, a mixed-voice choral ensemble for teen singers who self identify as intersex, genderqueer, non-binary, or LGBTQIA+. When non-binary, Oklahoma teen Nex Benedict died, Renegade took the initiative to perform a reading of “The Laramie Project” to raise funds for Nex’s family and the TransFamilies’ Understanding Gender Summit. Renegade prioritizes crew and performers’ mental health, ensuring the theater is a supportive and creative collaboration where everyone can be themselves.
SAN LORENZO VALLEY MIDDLE SCHOOL (SLVMS) GENDER AND SEXUALITY ALLIANCE (GSA) CLUB | Nominee
The SLVMS GSA Club is dedicated to promoting inclusivity, spreading awareness, and supporting students in the school and broader community. Every Friday at lunch, the GSA Club meets to work on projects, discuss important issues and empower each other, providing a safe haven for LGBTQ+ and allied students. They’ve also hosted lunch events to include and educate those outside the club. GSA students lead and participate in various community outreach events such as the Queer, Trans, and Allied Student Summit. For the annual winter carnival last year, the GSA petitioned their advisor and principal to act as targets in a water balloon fundraising event for LGBTQ+ charities and The Trevor Project. This year, a club member initiated a “Love is Love” awareness campaign in which students and their families gathered at the intersection of Highway 9 and Graham Hill Road to stand in solidarity for inclusion, acceptance, and love for all individuals, regardless of identity. Their advocacy and passion is not only inspiring but also essential in building a more inclusive and accepting future for all students.
SANTA CRUZ MUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORY (MAH) | Nominee
The Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History collaborated with The Diversity Center to create a Queer Santa Cruz exhibit featuring archival photos, flyers, testimonials, and ephemera vital to local LGBTQ+ history. The MAH has also presented the Trailblazers Oral History Project, a collection of oral histories documenting and honoring the people who championed the LGBTQ+ movement and courageously laid the groundwork for queer advocacy. When asked to collaborate with a Kirby class studying queer literature, the MAH enthusiastically accepted and planned a custom field trip so students could visit the exhibit, ask questions, and get exclusive access to primary sources like local lesbian magazines. In turn, the MAH team reached out to ask LGBTQ+ youth in the class to speak at events centered around queer women and locals. The MAH team is an incredible collaborator that goes above and beyond to recognize local LGBTQ+ history and progress, engage with the queer community, and inspire positive change with diverse historical representation.
