Director takes control of life

By John Caldwell
Daily Forty-Niner

After surviving some difficult times, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Resource Center at Cal State Long Beach has entered its 10th year and Roshni Chabra has enthusiastically sat down in its driver's seat.

"I felt it was a good fit," Chabra said. "I love to work with people. I like to be there as a resource."

Chabra won the position as director for the center after using it as a refuge and a support system during her first three years at CSULB. The center provides support, education and social programs to students, staff and faculty members.

"In the past year I started to discover my leadership qualities," Chabra said. "Before that I was kind of reserved and shy."

STUDENT FEATURE

Chabra's parents emigrated from India and settled in Monterey Park, the city in which she was born. Chabra attended elementary school there and later went to an all-girl Catholic high school. Chabra said she received an excellent education there, while fighting off a period of heavy depression. She said the myths about Catholic high schools and lesbianism were not a reality, as she found no lesbian support system.

"My sophomore year I met my first girlfriend and that was when I came out to myself," Chabra said, adding that she also came out to some close friends and they immediately accepted her.

Despite her own struggles, she often acted as a support mechanism for those friends.

"I decided I wanted to go into psychology in high school," Chabra said. "I like to listen to people."

Chabra did not face her parents with her sexuality until she was 19, had moved out on her own and had enough money to pay the next month's rent. She suspected it would be difficult for them to accept. But after coming out to them, followed by six months of crying and depression, life returned to normal, Chabra said.

Initially a psychology major at CSULB, Chabra discovered a new passion upon taking a women's studies class. Now she is majoring in psychology and women's studies.

"Being a women, society has given me this message that I'm less," Chabra said. "This class opened my eyes to that."

After graduation, she plans to work as a counselor for women and teach women's studies.

Prior to taking the helm at the center, Chabra facilitated a gay and lesbian speaker's bureau at CSULB. She continues to manage the program, which brings together three- to seven-member volunteer panels from the gay and lesbian community for class discussions and sensitivity workshops.

"I find that the most outreach we do is from the speaker's bureau," Chabra said. "It really breaks down myths and stereotypes."