Safe Zone Resources
UTC Campus Resources
Prism Center- The mission of the Prism Center at UTC is to provide education, services, and training to LGBTQ+ community members and the larger UTC community to improve recruitment, retention, academic progress towards graduation and continued involvement as alumni. The Prism Centers mission is to engage and support the UTC community through the following values:
- Resilience: Providing a toolkit for the LGBTQ+ community to overcome and thrive in the face of adversity
- Community Wellness: Fostering a sense of safety and acceptance through continuous understanding of intersectional identity, history, and culture
- Progress: Developing allyship through education for and about the LGBTQ+ community
- Pride (identity): Building an empathetic space to experience and celebrate queer joy
Phone: 423-425-5648
Location: Lupton Hall 106
Prism Center
Spectrum-UTC's Queer Collective Student Organization
Instagram:@spectrumutc
Center for Women and Gender Equity– is committed to creating a community of diverse and empowered students through their core values of awareness and education on gender and social issues; activism and advocacy to engage our community in addressing issues of gender equity and social justice; collaboration through support for social justice organizations and causes; leadership and creating a community of acceptance and celebration of diversity.
Phone: 423-425-5648
Location: Lupton Hall 118
Center for Women and Gender Equity Website
The Office of Multicultural Affairs - is committed to enhancing the academic, social, personal, and professional development of all students through support and activities. OMA also offers a vibrant student focused center located on the 3rd floor of the University Center. Valuing diversity is an integral part of the college experience and the office works in partnership with faculty and staff to create an environment.
Phone: 423-425-5648
Location: Lupton Hall 119
Office of Multicultural Affairs Website
Counseling Center - is a place where students can go to receive services designed to help handle day-to-day challenges while encouraging their personal growth and development. Services provided by the Center include personal, career, and academic counseling as well as crisis intervention. Services are confidential and offered by professionally trained counselors and psychologists. Most services are free of charge; however, there is a minimal charge for testing. Please call if you have any questions, or come by to see us.
Phone: 423-425-4438
Location: University Center 338
Counseling Center Website
Dean of Students Office -The mission of the Dean of Students Office is to advance the mission of UTC and the Division of Student Affairs. We seek to enhance the collegiate experience through intentional programs and services that promotes student learning, character development, and leadership. The Dean of Students office supports the institution’s values and traditions while placing students first in all endeavors.
Phone:423-425-4761
Location: University Center 399
Dean of Students Website
Chattanooga Community Resources
(Below are resources related to LGBTQ+ communities that may be helpful. If there are additional resources that may please let us know by emailing Sara Peters.)
Tennessee Valley Pride: https://www.chattanoogapride.com/
Tennessee Valley Pride, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Corporation designed to celebrate diversity in Chattanooga, TN and surrounding cities. Our goal is to combine the wonderful resources of the LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender] people of our area and reach out to the community with dignity and respect. The Board is committed to raising awareness, educating and strengthening the community, creating a safe environment and improving the human condition.
PFLAG Chattanooga: https://www.pflag.org/chapter/pflag-chattanooga
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) is a national non-profit organization with over 200,000 members and supporters and over 350 affiliates in the United States. This vast grassroots network is cultivated, resourced and serviced by the PFLAG National Office, located in Washington, D.C., the national Board of Directors and 13 Regional Directors.
National Resources
(Below are resources related to LGBTQ+ communities that may be helpful. If there are additional resources that may please let us know by emailing Sara Peters.)
Adapted from American University’s website
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): https://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights
Nonpartisan organization which brings lawsuits on such topics as discrimination, parenting, etc. designed to impact civil rights and constitutional law in order to achieve GLBT equality.
Bisexual Resource Center: www.biresource.org
Provides education about and support for bisexual issues
The Consortium of Higher Education Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Professionals: http://lgbtcampus.org
The Consortium of Higher Education Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resources Professionals was officially born at the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force's Creating Change Conference in San Diego (November, 1997) but the consortium had actually been working together on an informal basis for several years prior to that. The combined vision and mission on the Consortium is to achieve higher education environments in which lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students, faculty, staff, administrators, and alumni have equity in every respect. Our goals are to support colleagues and develop curriculum to professionally enhance this work; to seek climate improvement on campuses; and to advocate for policy change, program development, and establishment of LGBT Office/Centers.
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD): www.glad.org
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate, and inclusive representation of individuals and events in all media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN): www.glsen.org
GLSEN strives to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected, regardless of sexual orientation. We welcome as members any and all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation or occupation, who share this philosophy.
Human Rights Campaign (HRC): www.hrc.org
The Human Rights Campaign, the largest national lesbian and gay political organization, envisions an America where lesbian and gay people are ensured of their basic equal rights -- and can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community. HRC has more than 360,000 members, both gay and non-gay -- all committed to making this vision a reality.
With a national staff, volunteers and members throughout the country, HRC lobbies the federal government on gay, lesbian and AIDS issues; educates the public; participates in election campaigns; organizes volunteers; and provides expertise and training at the state and local level.
Founded in 1980, HRC maintains the largest full-time lobbying team in the nation devoted to issues of fairness for lesbian and gay Americans.
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund (Lambda Legal): www.lambdalegal.org
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, and people with HIV/AIDS through impact litigation, education, and public policy work.
Lambda carries out its legal work principally through test cases selected for the likelihood of their success in establishing positive legal precedents that will affect lesbians, gay men, and people with HIV/AIDS. From our offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Atlanta, Lambda's legal staff of attorneys works on a wide range of cases, with our docket averaging over 50 cases at any given time.
National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE): http://transequality.org/
NCTE is a social justice organization dedicated to advancing the equality of transgender people through advocacy, collaboration and empowerment. NCTE was founded in 2003 by transgender activists who saw the urgent need for a consistent voice in Washington DC for transgender people.
NCTE provides this presence by monitoring federal activity and communicating this activity to its members around the country, providing congressional education, and establishing a center of expertise on transgender issues. NCTE also works to strengthen the transgender movement and individual investment in this movement by highlighting opportunities for coalition building, promoting available resources, and providing technical assistance and training to transpeople and their allies. NCTE also maintains a federal transgender activists’ network. They understand that there are many individuals and organizations working to increase the civil rights of transgender people and providing needed resources and efforts. By maintaining a network of these activists they can connect people who are looking for transgender-related information with the individual or organization that can best assist them.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (The Task Force): www.thetaskforce.org
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is the oldest national LGBT social justice organization in the country. The Task Force has worked to eliminate prejudice, violence and injustice against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people at the local, state and national level since its inception in 1973. As part of a broader social justice movement for freedom, justice and equality, the Task Force is creating a world that respects and celebrates the diversity of human expression and identity where all people may fully participate in society.
The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from the ground up. The Task Force does this by training activists, organizing broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislation, and by building the organizational capacity of our movement. The Policy Institute, the movement’s premier think tank, provides research and policy analysis to support the struggle for complete equality and to counter right-wing lies. As part of a broader social justice movement, they work to create a nation that respects the diversity of human expression and identity and creates opportunity for all.
National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC): www.nyacyouth.org/
The mission of National Youth Advocacy Coalition is to advocate for and with young people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender in an effort to end discrimination against these youth and to ensure their physical and emotional well-being.
The National Youth Advocacy Coalition takes a comprehensive approach to improving the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. The Coalition strongly believes that to be effective in creating change at the National level, we must work with and support local community based work as well. The Coalition stresses that the expertise required to strengthen the LGBT youth services movement can be found among both youth and adults from around the country.
The Transgender Law & Policy Institute (TLPI): www.transgenderlaw.org
The Transgender Law & Policy Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to engaging in effective advocacy for transgender people in our society. The TLPI brings experts and advocates together to work on law and policy initiatives designed to advance transgender equality.
Trevor Project: www.thetrevorproject.org
The Trevor Project provides crisis and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ youth through their hotline, online chat spaces, and working on policy and research.
Trikone: http://www.trikone.org/
Trikone is the leading group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender South Asians. Based in San Francisco, Trikone publishes a regular magazine.