Graduate Peer Profile: RCSGD's Alex Eleazar

The Resource Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity (RCSGD) at UC Santa Barbara facilitates the intersectional inclusion and representation of the identities, experiences, and concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community members. RCSGD staff and volunteers, in collaboration with campus partners, promote the celebration, development, scholarship, and success of the LGBTQIA+ community through advocacy, education, programming, and resource creation and referral. The RCSGD uses intersectional and social justice lenses to work toward trans justice, queer justice, racial justice, and other forms of justice by examining and combating oppressive systems, including white supremacy, heterosexism, misogyny, patriarchy, and xenophobia.

ALEX'S STORY Hello! My name is Alex Eleazar (pronouns: they/she) and I am a second-year Ph.D. student in the Sociology Department. My research is centered on the experiences of LGBTQ+ immigrants and how they negotiate connections to home countries, families, and culture. Prior to UCSB, I was raised in Guatemala and upstate New York before heading to Smith College in Massachusetts for my Bachelor's degree in Sociology and Gender Studies!

THEIR ROLE AS GRADUATE STUDENT ASSISTANT On campus, I work as the RCSGD's Graduate Student Assistant, where I help organize social, professional, and educational events for LGBTQ+ graduate students across UCSB. My goal for events is to create a sense of community for LGBTQ+ grads through programming, so please reach out to me at aeleazar@ucsb.edu if you want to get connected to the RCSGD or want to pitch an event!

Thanks for your work, Alex!