There are many ways to unite people into an alliance and a community of support, safety and togetherness. How did GSA do that this month? Simple. They used the one thing that everybody likes – candy.
“There’s so many people here that it’s hard to find a community that relates to you, so to have the club that has the LGBT community, it’s easier to connect,” sophomore Molly Bessmer said.
GSA or the Gay Straight Alliance, is based on the qualities of safety, acceptance unification and awareness of the LGBT community. Whether someone is gay, transgender, bisexual, asexual or just a straight ally, everyone is welcome in the GSA.
“I believe it gives a safe place for all students and it promotes acceptance of all of our student population,” club sponsor John Barreca said.
To promote these things, money is a necessity. That’s what candy grams are for.
“We were going to sell t-shirts, but we didn’t have enough money to start out with, so we decided on candy grams because we can get candy really cheap at Costco and it’s just fun for Halloween,” freshman Katie Morriss said.
From October 20 to October 29, GSA sold candy grams in the cafeteria. These candy grams were one dollar and consisted of M&M’s, Skittles and LifeSavers. Candy grams were delivered to students during the week of October 26. They could be purchased for a friend or for oneself.
“We are selling candy grams because it’s around Halloween time and everyone loves candy. We just want to spread positivity about other sexualities that aren’t known amongst our peers,” Morriss said.
Candy grams were a way of giving the people here at LHS a reminder that LGBT youth exist and that the atmosphere of acceptance needs to be prominent at LHS.
“Our goal is to raise money so we can spread positivity about unique people at our school,” Morriss said.
The money from candy gram sales goes to other activities related to LGBT awareness.
“It’s just for us to have possible field trips so that we can go places like the equality house,” junior Cameron Prater said.
The GSA has been an important part of LHS for many years now.
“This is my sixth year as a GSA sponsor and we were met with more adversity in the beginning and every year I’ve seen improvement in the amount of tolerance and acceptance,” Barreca said.
Thanks to the work that GSA has put in towards building acceptance, safety and awareness, the levels of tolerance and acknowledgement have grown at LHS.
“Back when the club first started, when we would put signs up, they would rip them down in the hallways,” senior Valerie Nierman said. “But now, there’s no one really against it, we want more people for it, but I think there’s less people against it.”
When someone is different from everyone else, it can be difficult. It’s difficult when no one is accepting and everyone is against it. GSA wants that feeling to go away and for everyone to be accepting, making it easier for all students.
“It’s a struggle to be gay youth, especially in a not very progressive town,” Prater said. “Gay youth need a place where they can ask questions about their struggles or experiences.”
According to The Human Rights Campaign, 92% of LGBT youth say they hear negative messages about being LGBT – the top sources being school, the Internet and their peers. GSA wants to stop this problem of discrimination and negativity towards LGBT youth.
“I think GSA is needed at LHS because we need to raise awareness about other sexualities and open up and talk about it and not be afraid to express ourselves,” Morriss said.
GSA is a safe place for anyone and everyone. There is no judgment. It is a safe place to go to ask questions or just learn about youth and rights around the country.
“I think GSA has impacted LHS because we finally have a voice amongst the school through Mr. Barreca and certain counselors that meet with us,” Morriss said. “We are spreading our feelings towards everything that’s said in school that’s against us or for us.”