USN Gay-Straight Alliance launches new resource

 
The High School Gay-Straight Alliance seeks to build an atmosphere of support and understanding through its online portal.
A year ago, members of the High School Gay-Straight Alliance sought to address a challenge: they wanted to find a way for students to ask questions about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer identity and support without fear of backlash or judgment; and, they wanted to respond to those questions in a manner accessible to everyone in the USN community.
 
In early October, after months of brainstorming, research, meetings with High School administrators, design, mock-ups, and testing, GSA launched its solution: a web-based resource that it calls GSA Q&A.
 
The concept is straightforward: Early in October each USN High School student and faculty member received an email message from GSA; in it was a link to the GSA Q&A website. If a student has a question about LGBTQ+ identity or support for themselves, friends, or family members, they simply follow the link to the Q&A website and submit their question.
 
Teachers, administrators, coaches, and staff can submit questions that help them to support LGBTQ+ students both in and out of the classroom.
 
The website is set up for questions to be submitted anonymously. All questions are screened by the GSA faculty sponsor, who forwards questions asked in the spirit of understanding and support to the students in GSA. The students collaborate on a response, which they post to the GSA’s own dedicated page on the USN High School Resources website. Both the questions and the answers are available for anyone in the USN community to see.
 
The project was conceived by Zoe Bauer ’16, who, in addition to being the GSA president in her senior year, was also the 2016 recipient of the Stanford Moore Award, USN’s highest academic honor.
 
“When I was trying to figure out who I was and how I identified, I had a lot of questions that I couldn’t comfortably ask,” Bauer said from Claremont, Calif., where she is a freshman at Pomona College. “I wished that I had had a place where I could anonymously ask the questions that were important to me and receive answers from real, supportive members of my community. The GSA Q&A is a safe place to ask questions related to sexual orientation or gender identity and receive answers without fear of outing yourself or drawing unwanted attention. It is a safe, welcoming way to get answers to all of your questions, making USN an even more open and accepting place for everyone.”
 
The GSA Q&A signals the growing impact the club has had on school culture in recent years.  USN GSA stickers and magnets decorate laptops, water bottles, and lockers on every floor of High School, and at this year’s club fair, 105 students signed up to participate. This number represents approximately 28 percent of the High School student body. Nearly 70 students attended the first organizational meeting, requiring the group to move out of a classroom and into the Payne Library Room for a larger space. Sheer size also necessitated the election of a governing body as well as a cadre of GSA Ambassadors, members who constitute the club’s organizational leadership in conjunction with elected officers.
 
Jack Cahill '18, GSA’s newly-elected treasurer, sees the Q&A initiative as instrumental to improving the quality of life at USN not only for individual students but also for the student body overall.
 
“At a time when I was questioning my sexuality, I know I would have valued a program where I could safely ask questions without the fear of being singled out or judged,” Cahill said. “The environment I faced was not accepting of LGBT individuals, leaving me to believe that there was something terribly wrong going around in my thoughts. I believe that the Q&A initiative can really encourage students to positively investigate their inner character by conveying a message full of empathy and support. Additionally, by expanding our boundaries outward to the entire High School community, I think the program will also strengthen relations between the GSA and the student body as a whole.”
 
Elijah Beyer '19 echoes Cahill’s sentiments.
 
“The first time I started to question my sexuality was in sixth grade. I kept my feelings mostly to myself until I told my mother one day. She really helped me throughout Middle School, and I probably would not feel as comfortable being myself today if she hadn’t been there for me. However, some people aren’t comfortable talking to their parents about these topics, and some parents aren’t as accepting as mine. The GSA Q&A gives students a resource to go to when they have questions or concerns. It is such a wonderful and safe way to be able to get information, and to be able to understand matters of sexual orientation and gender identity,” Beyer said.
 
“Having a platform for people to ask questions and have a dialogue regarding LGBTQ+ topics is a sign of empathy and understanding within our community,” added Zoe Fink '20, who, before beginning life as a ninth-grader, was co-president of the USN Middle School GSA.
 
“Questions are at the root of educating people,” she said. “The fact that USN supports this platform really shows what our school is made of. I personally would have loved to have something like this when I was questioning back in Middle School. I love that now others will have a chance to ask questions and resolve their confusion.”
 
An important part of GSA’s work involves helping heterosexual, cisgender students—allies, as they are collectively known—to support their LGBTQ+ peers to promote a safe and inclusive environment for all students.  Beyer’s sister, Shayna Beyer '18, sees the Q&A project as instrumental to the GSA’s mission to assist allies with information and shared experiences.
 
“I wish I had known how to support my friends who came out to me when I was younger,” Beyer recalled. “I knew that I accepted who they were and that I should support them. However, I often found myself lacking the tools I needed, and additionally, lacking an exposure to openly gay peers. A place where I could ask questions about this would have been so helpful for me, and I’m really glad that it now exists.”
 
With answers to the initial wave of questions already in process, GSA hopes to begin populating the website within the next week. For more information on the Q&A initiative or other GSA activities, contact GSA.
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