All across California, but especially in rural areas and small cities scattered across the Central Coast, the Central Valley, and the Far North, community college leaders push back at the notion that California is an easy place to be queer.

Cecil Dexter, a member of the Lavender Initiative at Bakersfield College, stands at the entrance of the Campus Center on June 14, 2023. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local
