About

The Queer Student Union (QSU) provides Santa Cruz county high school students with the opportunity to explore LGBTQ+ issues, and build their leadership skills through advocacy and service to their local community. Through student-led projects and events, QSU members can expand their networks, hone their communication and organizational skills, and create a habit of civic engagement that prepares them to become the torch bearers of tomorrow’s LGBTQ+ community. 

The QSU also provides input and speakers for other queer related groups and events in the county including the Santa Cruz COE LGBTQ+ Task Force, Santa Cruz Pride, the Diversity Center, and the Safe Schools Project. 

This year, in honor of the 50th anniversary of Santa Cruz Pride, QSU members are working to create a podcast that documents the LGBTQ+ history in Santa Cruz county. Students will conduct a series of interviews with current and former LGBTQ+ leaders in the community to hear their stories, struggles and advice.

The Queer Student Union is a part of the Santa Cruz County Youth Led Leadership Alliance, which also includes the Countywide Black Student Union, Youth Artists Taking Action, Youth for Environmental Action, Multilingual Youth Taking Action, the Youth Mental Health Leadership Council, and Youth Empowerment through Technology and Innovation. 

You can follow the Youth Led Leadership Alliance on Instagram at @sccstudentleadership. 

Application

If you would like to be part of the QSU, please click below to fill out the short application. If you have any questions, please contact Student Leadership & Engagement Coordinator, Andres Ortiz at anortiz@santacruzcoe.org or 831-466-5713. 

Meetings

* Our orientation and first meeting of the 2024-25 school year will be on Saturday, September 21, 2024 from 11am-2pm at Seabright State Beach/Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History (1305 E Cliff Dr. Santa Cruz, CA 95062). At this meeting we will confirm our weekly meeting times and location. We will also take part in a beach cleanup facilitated by Save Our Shores!

Weekly Meetings - Weekly meetings will be held after school. Location and times coming soon. Please bring your Chromebook!

YLLA Monthly Meetings - Generally the third Saturday of the month 11am-2pm with the other YLLA groups (In person only):

• *September 21st - Seabright State Beach/Museum of Natural History, 1305 E Cliff Dr. Santa Cruz, CA

• October 19th - Sequoia High Schools, 229 Green Valley  Freedom, CA

• November 16th - County Office of Education, 400 Encinal St.  Santa Cruz, CA

• February 1st - Sequoia High Schools, 229 Green Valley  Freedom, CA

• March 15th - County Office of Education, 400 Encinal St.  Santa Cruz, CA

• April 19th - Sequoia High Schools, 229 Green Valley  Freedom, CA

• May 17th - County Office of Education, 400 Encinal St.  Santa Cruz, CA

Past Projects

2023 - The Queer Agenda Zine 

The 2023 Queer & Trans Youth Council designed, created and printed a zine featuring resources, information and art by and for queer youth and their allies. The entire process from concept to completion was lead by our high school QTYC members Sion Erkiletian and Nico Olmstead.  They did research, wrote articles created the graphics, and hand assembled over 300 hard copies for distribution the Queer Youth Leadership Awards in May.

Check out this article from Lookout Santa Cruz! 

2022 - All-Gender High School Bathrooms Student Survey

The mission of the 2022 Queer & Trans Youth Council was to support public high school students in Santa Cruz County in having reliable and safe access to all-gender bathrooms at school. To do this, they created and distributed a survey to collect information from Santa Cruz County high school students on the current state of school all-gender bathrooms. Their survey received over 800 responses from high school students across the county. They organized and processed the data to compile the issues that needed to be addressed in order to contact school administrators and offer direct assistance and funding.

2021 - Resources Website for Closeted LGBTQIA+ Youth

The 2021 Queer & Trans Youth Council created the Cryptids in the Closet website to provide closeted LGBTQIA+ youth with informational resources. They chose a URL that wouldn’t alert guardians to the LGBTQIA+ content of the website (CryptidsInTheCloset.com) and the cover page is about cryptids. As part of the design, there is a built in Safety Exit which can be used as a discrete way to leave the LGBTQIA+ site quickly and go back to the cryptid page. There is also an art gallery where they continue to accept art submissions, and there is a gallery of coming out stories that you can also contribute to. Their intent with building this website was to provide a safe place for closeted youth.

2020 - LGBTQIA+ Students' Rights Training for School Staff

The 2020 Queer & Trans Youth Council created and presented a training for school staff in Santa Cruz County about LGBTQIA+ students' rights and how to support LGBTQIA+ them, and when shelter-in-place went into effect, they converted the training to a virtual platform to ensure educators still had access to the information.

Facilitator