OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KGTV) - MiraCosta College will become the first in the country to offer a scholarship to transgender students, the college announced Thursday.
MiraCosta College said the Trans Pride Scholarship will be offered every school year to a student who identifies with the transgender community.
"While members of the LGBT community experience marginalization, this marginalization is experienced most greatly by members of the transgender and gender nonconforming communities," Gender Sexuality Alliance Faculty Co-Adviser Steven Deineh said in a statement. "Scholarships and visible support for members of this at-risk community are critical right now as states like Indiana and North Carolina and highly visible government officials are disavowing the civil rights of transgender people under the auspices of religious freedom."
The scholarship will provide $1,000 to a student every year.
Funds were raised from members of the MiraCosta College Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, students, and community supporters. Fundraising efforts were led in part by The Gender Sexuality Alliance student club.
Efforts to raise money began in 2015, according to the college. The endowment was created by a coalition of staff, faculty, and students concerned with "traditional and historic barriers to higher education for transgender and gender nonconforming students."
Anyone interested in donating to the scholarship can do so online here or by phone at 760-795-6777.
