Lavender graduation ceremony celebrates queer futures
In celebration of Santa Monica College’s LGBTQ+ graduates, graduates, their families and faculty members gathered at the Student Services Center for a lavender graduation celebration. The atmosphere was light as friends and colleagues came together and enjoyed a dinner of Asian dishes in a lounge decorated with colorful accents and swirled cupcakes while pop music played in the background.
Students and guests posed with props such as graduation caps and blue “#1” foam fingers at the photo booth with a green screen. One group of friends picked another up off the ground as they posed with a graduation cap near their head.
The event was hosted by the Pride Center and Student Equity Center. Interim Associate Dean for Student Life Thomas Bui, and the Student Equity Center’s Valeria Garcia, Emily Chavez, Shannon Herbert and Eva Grenier were among the facilitators.
“Moments like this, whether it’s a Pride Center event throughout the year or a culminating celebration is essential to celebrating, really, the perseverance and persistence that these students display to get themselves here,” Bui said.
The graduates were honored in their own commencement ceremony under a multicolored balloon arch. Their names were read, and they were given certificates, lavender stoles and gift bags. The stoles were embroidered with the progress pride flag on one side and the college’s logo on the other.
Dr. Shannon Herbert, the faculty lead of the Gender Equity Center, outlined the history of lavender’s meaning. She referenced the Lavender Scare, when the federal government fired thousands of employees for their sexuality and gender expression. She also spoke about how the mainstream feminist movement did not want to include or be represented by “mannish” lesbians in the 1970s.
They called lesbians the ‘Lavender Menace,’” Herbert said. Lesbians reappropriated the moniker and printed it on T-shirts. In an act of defiance, lesbians wore the printed shirts to a conference to show the feminist movement that they would not be excluded. They were an important part of the movement too.
“Acts like these transformed lavender from an insult to a symbol of pride and community strength,” Herbert said.
She said that the tradition of lavender graduations was started by Dr. Ronni Sanlo. Knowing the marginalization LGBTQ+ students were facing, Sanlo wanted their last days in college to be positive and “let them know their presence mattered.” Sanlo had been excluded from her own children’s graduation for being a lesbian.
Herbert ended her speech saying, “It takes bravery to be authentic in a world that doesn’t make that safe. It takes bravery to be out. Even if it’s only to the people in this room, or if it’s only to yourself. That’s what a lavender graduation celebrates. Certainly, all of your amazing academic successes, but particularly your bravery.”
The evening’s keynote speaker was Cal Calamia, a transgender marathoner, activist, educator and poet. Calamia has advocated for nonbinary divisions in racing and the world’s major marathons and has historic athletic achievements to their name. In their speech, they shared some of their life story as a queer athlete, and discussed the importance of inclusion and queer community.
“I am really proud of us, truly, for threatening the order of the way things were prescribed to us,” Calamia said. “And I’m confident that moving forward with love and authenticity will push us toward the world that we want to see. In a turbulent and uncertain time, our duty is to create possibilities that stretch the limits of peace.”