Madam Vice President
Makayla Pedroza, 22 years old, Psychology major at Citrus College is currently finishing her term as an Associated Students of Citrus College Senator where she has made it her goal to fight for the equality of LGBTQ community on campus. She hopes to continue this passion as she steps into her new role as ASCC Vice President.
Pedroza sees a future where the word transgender is just a normal word all around the world and no one questions if she’s a she or a he. “Equality is the most important quality a campus can possess and I will not stop until this is fully met on Citrus College’s campus.” Pedroza said.
Pedroza grew up in Tahiti with her mother and father and has a vivid memory of her mother leaving the family around the age of five. She left no note, no explanation, just walked out. Pedroza at the moment did not understand why but later discovered that this would be the first instance of people walking away because they disagreed with her identity.
Within her developing years Pedroza struggled with inner conflict of who she was. She didn’t fit into her body the way other people did and her peers made that apparent. She started to voice her opinion in hopes that she would find help and discover herself but was quickly shot down by her father and her step-mother who desperately wanted a strong boy to lead the family.
Discouraged and disowned by family and friends in Tahiti, Pedroza set out to find other ways to express herself. She moved into her grandmother’s house in California for high school knowing that the United States would be a better platform for expression.
“In high school I came out as a gay but it wasn’t me, it was just the closest thing I could be to a girl and it didn’t feel right.” adds Pedroza.
As years passed, Pedroza noticed little advancement from where she started and decided to head back to Tahiti for a second chance with her family. In Tahiti, she started her transition with hormonal treatments. However, her family still did not approve and she lacked financial and moral support, two things she said she definitely needed.
Pedroza found herself homeless, couch surfing and crashing at friends places until she finally was able to move in with her boyfriend and his parents for a year.
“Makayla is the sweetest and most determined girl I know. She knows what she wants and she’s going to fight until she gets that. Nothing will discourage her”, says Camila Pedroza, Pedroza’s grandmother.
Pedroza now resides in Monrovia with her grandmother who she says supports her in every way possible and is the only family member that is still by her side.
“My parents don’t accept me for being transgender so we don’t have a relationship” Pedroza said when talking about her family back in Tahiti.
She says that’s okay though because everyone has a right to there ideology and if her choice wasn’t right for them she understands it is not for everyone.
She prides herself on living off one rule, her eyes gleamed as she spoke of the way she loved to live “I live by the golden rule, treat others the way you’d like to be treated, I will always treat someone good it’s what they deserve.”
Pedroza believes that no matter who you are or what you have done you deserve the upmost respect and that is a belief that is fueling her into her position as Vice President of ASCC.
ASCC Advisor Rosario Garcia says “Makayla has been an excellent leader both on and off campus, she helps our students with their needs whenever she has a chance to especially those in the LGBTQ community.”
Pedroza says that her goal is to make transgender women and men become more active on the campus as well as the community that surrounds them.
“Having a transgender person on the board of ASCC is just a normal thing, student government helps someone achieve higher goals and I could bring awareness to trans individuals and say hey we’re here too.” Pedroza said. “I want to plan an event for fall semester for trans pride. It’s good to have the time for our LBTQ+ individuals to have a time to shine and be unapologetic about it”
That is something Pedroza has already strived and achieved to do on and off campus. She is a Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Center Trans Ambassador for Trans individuals and gender nonconforming individuals. Here she goes to conferences speaks about her experiences and help those who are thinking about or going through transitions. Pedroza takes everything she learns from those events and brings it back to the college community.
She spoke about how transgender ambassadors aren’t doing enough for the community and that is a driving force of her advocacy and involvement. She believes that she can inspire more individuals to become ambassadors or active members in the community so that everyone can feel comfortable and normal coming out as a trans individual.
“My gender identity doesn’t have anything to do with my identity.” said Pedroza “My identity is what I make of myself and what I do to further that”
She stresses this message when she talks about who she is, ““To me transgender is not my identity it is just something I have to go through to be happy.”
Pedroza believes that one should not be seen by the outside but rather who they are on the inside in other words, don’t judge a book by it’s cover.
Inter-Club Council Secretary and Black Student Union President Britney Andrews agrees to that, “A lot of people meet Makayla and automatically see the process she’s in not the heart she has” with a big smile she continues “Makayla is an inspiration to us all.”
When reflecting on her life Pedroza says, “I have been around many many many different obstacles and even though it took me a very long to time to process everything that was happening I still lived by the rule I have to cling on to the ideology of the golden rule.”
