Gay Straight Alliance

It’s lunchtime at Synergy School, and kids are starting to flood the halls.  Most are yelling, screaming, and rushing towards the freedom of the outside, but some middle schoolers have a different schedule. They are heading to the science room for GSA (Gay Straight Alliance), a group where you discuss LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning) events and work on projects to raise awareness to the struggles the LGBTQ community faces.

We decided to talk to Jana, the head teacher of GSA, to find how this club started. Jana and Tiff, (the old science teacher,) started GSA eight years ago, upon a student’s request. She had come out that summer and wanted to raise awareness to the struggles the LGBTQ community constantly faces. After eight successful years, GSA is still up and running.

The 2015 GSA group has over twenty members, all of which have their different reasons for joining.  Shirley is in 6th grader who is new to Synergy. She joined GSA because it seemed interesting to her, and she supports the LGBTQ community. Nabila is a 7th grader who joined GSA last year because she was interested in learning more about the LGBTQ community. She enjoys discussing LGBTQ issues and encouraging people to share their opinion about them.

Right now GSA members are working on posters to raise awareness and inform the school about the LGBTQ community. They’ve worked on these posters for around three weeks. When the posters are finished they will be hung up around the whole school for everyone to see.

Sometimes GSA watches informative videos on LGBTQ topics, or they discuss LGBTQ issues that are currently happening around the world.

GSA is a great way to talk and learn more about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning world.  Feel free to join them in the Science room during lunch on Fridays!

By Sasha Hopewell and Leda Oddo-White, Synergy Middle School students

Originally posted in the Synergy Howler, the student-run newspaper.