The Gay-Straight Alliance, or the GSA, held its first meeting in sponsor Martha Noone’s room on Sept. 17. Seniors and co-presidents Jasper Mancebo and Heather Dunbar started the meeting off with name and pronoun introductions among the tables as ice-breakers before delving into the goals for GSA.
“This year we’re trying to work on having more visibility for LGBT students within the school […] I think for the last Friday of every month [we want to] pretty much open up to the school to ask any thing about GSA or LGBT issues,” Mancebo said.
GSA meetings are to be held every Thursday during learn in Noone’s classroom, in D204. Another point of emphasis of these meetings to bring awareness to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) social events occurring in the area.
“I know when I was in GSA in either freshman or sophomore year a group of people got together to go to the pride parade; I think it would be really great if we could do that for youth pride,” Mancebo said. “Madison sometimes has a GSA dance that they invite us to.”
This is a significant change to the structure of GSA from last year. According to Dunbar, the club was diminished at the end of the last school year with no real conclusion or election of new officers. Mancebo and Dunbar were contacted over the summer by former president and graduate Ellen Rank and were unofficially made leaders of the organization.They are now taking it upon themselves to revive the club.
“When I attempted to attend a [club] meeting a couple years ago I didn’t feel as comfortable as I would’ve liked, which is why I’m trying to join again this year,” senior Bailey Land said.
The focus on this year is to create a comfortable social space for LGBT youth to interact with each other. Additionally, members want to promote education school-wide about outside and marginalized gender identities and sexualities.
“The fact that I can be part of [the GSA] here means a lot. It shows a level of progression that is still missing from certain parts of the world and it’s great to be involved and to support everyone,” junior and first-time GSA member Quinton Koernig said.
The goal for the future is to start doing LGBT history days, where members would wear buttons that say, “Ask me about LGBT history,” as a more interactive way of education. Similarly, instead of making “Hate-Free Zone” posters, the GSA members plan on making informational posters about the wide spectrum of gender identity, expression, and sexuality.
“I think here at Marshall we are much more accepting than a lot of places, so while the GSA is community-centered for LGBT people, it’s not the only safe place in the school,” Land said.