Social Scienc | Free Full-Text | The GSA Difference: LGBTQ and Ally Experienc High Schools wh and whout Gay-Straight Allianc

Contents:

• THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE WHEN YOUR HIGH SCHOOL CSH MIGHT BE GAY
• WHAT'S LIFE LIKE FOR GAY KIDS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
• THE GSA DIFFERENCE: LGBTQ AND ALLY EXPERIENC HIGH SCHOOLS WH AND WHOUT GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC

THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE WHEN YOUR HIGH SCHOOL CSH MIGHT BE GAY

”Many LGBTQ stunts report that a support system or an ally—whether a fay member, iend, teacher or guidance unselor—is often valuable helpg them navigate their school, pecially given the negative impacts LGBTQ stunts n fact, the Gay, Lbian and Straight Edutn Network (GLSEN) reports their 2017 Natnal School Climate Survey that negative school environments where stunts experience victimizatn and discrimatn bee of their genr or sexualy n adversely affect them. ”El also noted that, while they live Massachetts and their school’s curriculum is not affected by "no promo homo" laws, which prohib teachers om discsg LGBTQ issu, the state's specifilly clive curriculum n vary between teacher to teacher, and those who tght ma them feel validated.

WHAT'S LIFE LIKE FOR GAY KIDS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?

But at home, his relig parents found out that he was gay and told him to move he applied to his dream school, Geetown Universy, the school gave him a fancial aid package that was based on his parents' e even though he was not livg wh them. A lawyer for the school nied the speech was blocked bee Young was gog to e out as gay, but bee he "didn't munite wh school admistrators and his parents and ed appropriate humor , " the Coloradoan LGBTQ advocy group named Out Boulr jumped and offered Young a safe space to give his valedictorian speech. At my school, the very place that I first observed queer cursy, I was sred to e out, fearg my own physil and emotnal wasn’t jt the school locker room where I heard homophobic remarks.

Perhaps was the support of iends, nts, and those around me that ma me not want to feel ashamed about myself anymore, even if that meant God damng me to the begng of senr year, I went om “I’m gay” to whoever asked, to “Can you stop sayg faggot please? A month later, I cid to no longer participate the mentorship program, and every time I was asked why, I ma exc about beg too time, I retreated to my fantasy world, where I was not sixteen and gay a homophobic environment, but a world where I was olr, the future, when I would arrive to a betiful home om a long day at work, and be weled by a hband who lov me and bears my burns on his shoulrs.

THE GSA DIFFERENCE: LGBTQ AND ALLY EXPERIENC HIGH SCHOOLS WH AND WHOUT GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC

I was thrilled to be leavg and movg on, but I uld see that many of my fellow graduat were facg siar hurdl, on that I had enuntered, and had only masked their tth wh homophobia. Worst of all, though, the shame attached to the memori of those first tim marred how I would approach sex for was listeng to Years & Years’ new song “Sanctify, ” and seeg the band’s out gay sger Olly Alexanr talk about how the song was spired his sexual trysts wh straight men, that I realized that the feelgs are way more mon than people let on.

Sure, I know all about gay guys havg sex wh straight guys, but felt reassurg to see him scribe the “sat and sner role” he embodied durg those experienc, and to hear the uncertaty and melancholy weaved to the than anythg though, was the repeated lyril mantra of “I won’t be ashamed.