Club of comfort: Gay-Straight Alliances offer safe place for LGBT youth

Landon Mosley, a junior at Kaneland High School in Maple Park, said it’s not a secret he is transgender – the student newspaper published an article about him last year – but it also is not something he advertises.

“I have a big fear of being sexually harassed [and] being beat up,” he said.

Mosley is hardly alone. In its most recent biennial National School Climate Survey, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network found lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth in Illinois regularly hear anti-LGBT remarks and are harassed.

Specifically, 92 percent of students reported hearing “gay” used in a negative way, and 56 percent reported they experienced verbal harassment for their gender expression.

Andy McFarlin, a Kaneland junior who is bisexual, said people have learned they can’t bully him, so they harass his friends instead.

“That’s where it hits me,” he said.

Paige Hall, a junior at St. Charles North High School in St. Charles, wrote in an email that she is rarely a victim of bullying because of her sexuality, but she has witnessed it. It infuriates her to see the devastating effect the bullying has on her friends, she wrote.

“You can’t go a day without hearing people say ‘that’s gay’ about something,” Hall wrote. “What they don’t realize is that, by using the word ‘gay’ as an insult, they’re furthering the negative connotation with the word.”

She and Mosley said there is, however, at least one safe haven at their schools: the Gay-Straight Alliance. The club helped Hall come to the realization and acceptance that she’s bisexual, she wrote, and Mosley described it as a place where you can “just be yourself.”

Kaneland GSA adviser Kristen Dombek wrote in an email she could see the need for the club from the start of her involvement with the group.

“The students in GSA really needed a place to go and discuss not only ways to make the school more open and accepting, but they also needed a place to go and just express their thoughts, feelings, and opinions,” she wrote. “GSA created a safe and student supported network where students could go to get some advice, or just feel connected to others in their school community.”

Although some GSA members will outright declare their gender or sexual identity, it’s not required, said Marcella Sheler, club adviser at North. She noted some aren’t yet sure of their sexual identity or what types of relationships they will pursue.

“They’re asking a lot of questions,” she said. “All they know is they want to feel like they belong, and they identify with this particular club for whatever personal reason that they do.”

Sheler, who has been involved with the GSA for eight years, said the club’s focus has evolved over time. It used to focus on controlling its exposure to the community, she said, noting the group once was told not to use rainbows on fliers or announcements.

“For the last few years, we’ve been using rainbows without fear of controversy,” Sheler said.

In 2010, North students addressed the school board about the administration's handling of students who wore anti-gay shirts to school. Since that event – which social studies teachers bring up during lessons about free speech – the club's focus has shifted to finding ways it can get involved in school events, such as homecoming, Relay for Life and suicide prevention week, Sheler said.

At St. Charles East High School, GSA adviser Laurie Nannini wrote in an email that the atmosphere for LGBT students has improved based on what students talk about in the club.

“More and more students in the club talk about how their [teachers] don’t tolerate anti-LGBT language in class,” she wrote. “Some students report that their teacher takes the time to differentiate between gender and sex and explain how it makes them so happy to hear their teachers say things like that.”

In an email to staff members, Sheler told her colleagues they can show their support of LGBT students Thursday by wearing the rainbow stickers she planned to distribute in their mailboxes today. Thursday will be North's observance of the Day of Silence, a GLSEN-sponsored event that aims to call attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools. Visit www.dayofsilence.org for information.

Fast facts

The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network’s 2013 National School Climate Survey found schools remain unsafe for the majority of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.

Here are highlights from those surveyed in Illinois:

• More than 90 percent of LGBT students heard “gay” used in a negative way, and more than 80 percent heard other homophobic remarks at school regularly.

• More than 70 percent of students were verbally harassed based on their sexual orientation, and more than 50 percent were verbally harassed for the way they expressed their gender.

• About 30 percent of students were physically harassed for their sexual orientation, and about 10 percent were physically assaulted for the way they expressed their gender.

• About 22 percent of students were taught positive representations of LGBT people, history and events, and almost 50 percent could not access information about LGBT communities on school Internet.

Visit www.glsen.org/statesnapshots for information.