Maricopa County Community College Disbands LGBTQ+, Other Affinity Groups

The nation’s largest community college system, Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD), announced on Friday that Equality Maricopa, the college’s largest affinity group for LGBTQ+ staff, students, and teachers, is being disbanded to comply with an end-of-the-day deadline to enforce new priorities from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

“As of right now, we are an affinity group and affinity groups as per the email will be discontinued under the current guidance,” said one Equality Maricopa group member who wanted to not be named. 

The new guidance, sent out by MCCCD Chancellor Steven Gonzalez in an email, said the college would no longer provide financial support for a number of activities including: provide funding for teacher or staff-led groups to attend conferences related to race, gender, or national original; disbanding all affinity groups related to diversity, equity, and inclusion; removing all groups focused on expanding diversity or equity among the college campuses; and removing all language associated with race, gender, or sexuality from the website. 

You can read the letter below:

The new guidance around diversity means that Equality Maricopa will not be able to use district funds to appear at community events including Rainbows Fest, Phoenix Pride, and fundraising for their Prism Scholarships to students, according to the source.

This year alone, 10 students received scholarships through Equality Maricopa. 

“My understanding is that the scholarships are frozen,” said the source inside Equality Maricopa. 

Already, the effects have started to take place: Equality Maricopa's former landing page, hosted on the MCCCD website, can no longer be accessed. 

"I don’t have words to express the emotions I’m feeling," said the source. "I went over the letter with some of my students, we had to go get tissues because one of my students started crying, which is not a good thing to see. "

In a statement to LOOKOUT, a spokesperson for Equality Maricopa said that, the group was still "fully committed to supporting our LGBTQIA+ students and community. While we are saddened by recent federal guidance that has required MCCCD to make specific changes, we look forward to working with our campus leaders to reimagine what is possible as we support all of our students."

"While the structure of our group may look different in the future, we still plan to be involved in community events and help raise critical funds to help our students remove barriers so they can finish their education," the statement from the spokesperson read.

Gonzalez's letter said that failure to comply with the order would mean federal investigation and loss of funds: “Based on the current state of affairs and as a public institution, we must comply with the law and enforcement guidance issued by regulatory agencies.”

According to the memo, “gender identity-related signage,” including pronouns cannot be used in email signatures, business cards and other Maricopa County Community College District contact materials going forward. Bathroom and facility labels, specifically those for gender-neutral or all-gender restrooms, are starting to be updated, it reads.

“DEI-related positions, whether volunteer or paid, will need to be reevaluated, which may result in shifts to existing work,” Gonzalez said. The district’s diversity advisory council, similar college-based councils and their awards are also required to disband.

In a statement from MCCCD, a district spokesperson write that the institution "must comply with all local, state, and federal laws, including recently issued guidance from the federal government. In response to this guidance, the District was obligated to conduct an internal audit. Some programs, such as convocation ceremonies and Employee Affinity Group events and activities at MCCCD have been impacted."

The statement said that the changes "may be disappointing to some of our students and employees," and that the situation is evolving and "additional information will be shared when available."