Latest news with #ParadiseValleyCommunityCollege
NBC News
23-07-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
LGBTQ festival canceled after 16 years due to Trump DEI order, organizers say
The organizers of an LGBTQ film festival in Phoenix have canceled the annual event 'in direct response' to President Donald Trump's executive order seeking to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs at publicly funded institutions. The nonprofit Desperado LGBTQ+ Film Festival is hosted by a student organization at Paradise Valley Community College, which receives federal funds. The festival's mission, according to its website, is to showcase quality films that are related to the experiences of the LGBTQ+ community.' The festival was first held in 2009, and the most recent — which included seven feature films and seven shorts — was held this past January. 'As a publicly funded institution, we must comply with these orders,' the festival's organizers said in a statement shared on its website. 'Failure to do so would jeopardize the district's federal funding, including student financial aid and grants that support over 300 positions across our campuses. The loss of such funding would create a ripple effect, significantly affecting students, faculty, staff, the community, and the educational services we provide.' President Trump's DEI-related executive order called for the termination of diversity, equity and inclusion mandates, policies programs, preferences and activities in the federal government, describing these measures as 'discriminatory.' In its ' Trump Accountability Tracker,' LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD asserts that the DEI-related order is one of more than 300 anti-LGBTQ actions from the second Trump administration. Others on GLAAD's list include the elimination of the 988 suicide hotline for LGBTQ youth, the removal of transgender service members from the military and the renaming of a Navy vessel named for gay civil rights leader Harvey Milk. The Trump administration did not answer specific questions about the cancellation of the Desperado LGBTQ+ Film Festival and GLAAD's anti-LGBTQ action list, but a White House spokesperson said in an email that the president's 'reelection and the overall MAGA movement is a big tent welcome for all and home to a large swath of the American people.' 'The American people voted for a return to common sense, and the President is delivering on every campaign promise supported by 77 million voters and is ushering in our Golden Age,' the spokesperson, Harrison Fields, said in the email. In the statement shared to its website, the film festival organizers said they're 'heartbroken' by the cancellation of their annual event. 'We hope this is not a farewell but a momentary pause,' they said. 'We look forward to the possibility of resuming the festival when conditions allow.'
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arizona wants to allow concealed carry at college games? Bad idea
I'm a 20-year-old student at Paradise Valley Community College and volunteer with Students Demand Action. I urge Gov. Katie Hobbs to veto Senate Bill 1020, which would force Arizona's colleges and universities to allow people with concealed-carry permits to bring guns to our classrooms, dorms and sporting events. This reckless bill would make my campus less safe. The Maricopa Community Colleges Governing Board, which oversees my campus and nine others, has prohibited firearms except in very limited circumstances. Just like the Arizona Board of Regents, they have made this smart choice to protect students, teachers and visitors. This bill would take the choice away from university governing boards and instead mandate allowing concealed carry on campus. As a student, I know that nobody needs a gun to go to school. If this bill becomes law, it would allow guns where they do not belong. Students like me would no longer feel safe at school. The Legislature has again tried to make campuses less safe, but Governor Hobbs can still veto SB 1020. The lives of our students, staff and faculty depend on it. Carmen Rojas, Phoenix What's on your mind? Send us a letter to the editor online or via email at opinions@ This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Concealed carry will make Arizona colleges less safe | Letter
