GSA Club Taken Away From Marshall High School-Sign the Petition/Take Action NOW!

In 2002 students at John Marshall High School (Part of the Rochester City School District) approached me and asked me to help them organize events that supported LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Queer) youth. In 2003 we started an official GSA club. The story that follows was written in June 2005. Since then I have been transferred out of Marshall High School, leaving the students with no advisor for the GSA club. Without an advisor, the club no longer exists. I was recently forwarded information about a petition which can be found at http://www.petitiononline.com/RochGSA/petition.html.

The informatin contained in the petition and website was written by an outside party, not by Erica Eaton. The following article, the petition and the URL listed does not represent the policy or opinion of the Rochester City School District.

Please sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/RochGSA/petition.html.

In October of 2002 some students asked me to help them organize an event that supported LGBT (Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Trangendered) youth. I am a social worker. Most of these students knew me because they had been referred to see me due to social/emotional issues identified by staff as stemming from their identifying as LGBT. They came with complaints that they were harassed. If they said anything they were often told that they should "just act normal, what do you expect”. I hear homophobic language in school every day. Though some staff make an effort, it is rare to hear people corrected for using it.

I considered their event. I got more information from GLSEN.org, a national youth advocacy group that works to make schools safe for all students. I took a very, very deep breath and agreed to do it. I felt scared. I knew it would be hard. I had no idea.

LGBT kids are identified as the problem because they "act gay". If we were to look closely it would be interesting to see how many local LGBT students drop out because they can't bear the teasing, how many are labeled emotionally disturbed, how many loose days at school because they "disrupted the educational process" by "acting gay". Why is it that a boy who comes to school in drag is suspended while the students who were threatening to hurt him go without reprimand? How is it that in 2005 I can be asked if I am “encouraging” kids to be gay?

Last year we started a GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) club. 8 to 20 kids attend the weekly meetings. We have LGBT students and straight allies in the group. The kids have kept journals, held events and written books. The club (in conjunction with area agencies) organized a region wide conference to educate students about services available in the community. The students have learned advocacy skills. They express feeling better about themselves, more empowered. As their advisor, I have faced roadblock after roadblock. It is my belief that policy has been invented to keep our club in check. It is my experience that often it is only enforced when the GSA club is involved. For the second year in a row my principal is planning to displace me (have me transferred) on the grounds that he only needs 1 social worker instead of 2. The caseload clearly dictates otherwise. I fought this and maintained some of my hours this year but had to accept a greater workload in order to do it. It is likely that if I leave the GSA club will no longer exist.

Some schools are in better shape than others. We do have some great allies in our school. It is important to recognize that progress has been made. Hope is an important part of working for positive social change. We have to hold on to the fact that things can and do eventually change. These kids give me hope. They are bold and strong survivors in spite of the obstacles they face.

Whether we like it or not identity politics is still a part of what we deal with. We still have to protect those that are read by dominant culture (read white, male. middle/upper class, heterosexual) as "different". Backlash is real. I hope that in my lifetime we no longer need GSA clubs, but right now we do. We know the statistics:

-LGBT youth are twice as likely as their non-gay peers to be threatened or injured at school.

-LGBT youth are more than four times as likely to skip whole days of school out of fear.

-Harassed youth are more than 4X as likely to report having made a serious suicide attempt.

-LGBT students are 3X more likely than non-gay students to drop out of high school to escape harassment, violence and isolation.

As a community it is vital that we make this a larger issue. We need to act together to bring these issues into the public discourse. Being the GSA advisor has been a very isolating experience. It would be easy to start to believe that this is an impossible battle. There is no network for advisors within the RCSD nor is there a consistant network between local districts. Trying to research and act to insure the rights of LGBT students and staff is more than a full time job, and it is an exhausting one. We need to organize and act at multiple levels as a united front.

(Statistics from www.glsen.org)

Erica Eaton, PhD

Erica Eaton is the GSA advisor at Marshall High School in Rochester. The essay above is her opinion and does not represent the policy or opinion of RCSD. Erica Eaton is writing this article as a private citizen.