As an openly gay man who came out more than 40 years ago, Michael Losquadro clearly remembers the days when same-sex couples wouldn’t dare hold hands in public because “you were likely to get bashed.”
Losquadro, who graduated from Cal State Fullerton in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration management, has spent decades on the front lines of the fight for equal rights and has been an active supporter of LGBTQ causes, including Orange County’s first Gay Pride event in 1989, the fight against AIDS in the 1980s and the national march on Washington for gay rights in 1993.
Motivated by a desire to ease the burden and provide more resources for current and future CSUF students, Losquadro and his husband, Brian Keller, pledged a $1.5 million gift to the university to benefit the LGBT Queer Resource Center and student scholarships in the College of Business and Economics.
In a March 25 naming and ribbon-cutting ceremony, the center was renamed the Losquadro Keller LGBTQ Resource Center.
With CSUF President Sylvia Alva and other university leaders present, along with the couple’s family and friends, Losquadro said the university “has stepped up to meet the important social needs of its rainbow students.”
“From the leadership training and opportunities to the simple, safe place for Titans, this center is vital to vulnerable students as they pursue their degrees and their dreams,” said Losquadro, who spent his career in university fundraising. “Brian and I have each served our community for decades in the ongoing fight for LGBT equality, and we’re humbled by this great honor that my alma mater is bestowing on us both.”
The naming ceremony, and the center’s presence, publicly affirms the importance of inclusivity and affirmation, which is so much a “part of the Cal State Fullerton identity and way,” Alva said.
“To me, that concept, as simple as it is, is so meaningful to ensuring that people feel included, that they…
Read the full article here
