Just a decade ago, Gay Straight Alliances were almost unheard of. High schools didn’t seem equipped to handle LGBT students and the idea of a group actually forming to include those students was unimaginable.
Fortunately, time has changed things and more and more high schools have introduced GSAs to help foster understanding and inclusion among LGBT students and their heterosexual counterparts. Despite what the anti-LGBT contingent may think, GSAs are not about sex or sexual orientation in particular.
“I don’t know the sexual orientation of any of our members,” says Zach Loomas, an openly gay 16-year-old student who attends St. Petersburg High School. “That subject is never even discussed. I don’t look at or get to know a sexual orientation. I look at and get to know a person.”
While high schools throughout Florida have incorporated GSAs, Pinellas County seems to be leading the way for inclusion. Of its 17 high schools, 16 have very active GSAs.
“Our studies and comparisons with other districts that are similar in size and makeup leads us to believe the Pinellas County offers the best GSAs in the nation,” says Lynn Mattiace, an out lesbian and director of the Pinellas County School System’s Safe and Drug Prevention program.
Mattiace says that a survey conducted in the late 1990s involved a case study of GSAs in Pinellas County and showed that the levels of participation, support from students, support from the school board and high school administrators puts Pinellas County in the lead for successful GSAs nationwide.
The only school in Pinellas without a GSA is East Lake High School and Mattiace says the only reason one hasn’t formed there is because there is no teacher available who is not already over-extended working with other clubs. The principal has indicated support if the logistics can be worked out and there is interest among a group of students to build a group.
The key is finding support
In order for a GSA to succeed, it needs support from teachers, staff, the school district, students and the community. Mark O’Hara, who is the sponsoring teacher for the Pinellas Park High School Gay/Straight Alliance, a board member of Pinellas Youth Pride and a board member of St. Pete Pride, says that the groups he’s worked with have never run into any kind of major opposition from the school board or the local administrators.
“Of course having (Pinellas School Board member) Linda Lerner, who has a gay son and has been an outspoken advocate for equal rights for LGBT people on the school board, helps,” says O’Hara. “But it’s not just her. We’ve gotten very positive, very good support across the board.”
O’Hara says there has been a high level of support from students as well.
“These organizations are formed at the request of students, they aren’t structured by the administration at all,” he says. “So what you see by having 16 of the 17 high school students in the county having groups is that our young people in this country are very committed to diversity themselves.”
The GSAs in Pinellas County work together three times a year to produce events that are open to all members in the county. Once a year in early December, the groups hold a picnic that is attended by an average of 100 or more students, plus educators, administrators and parents. In the spring, the groups come together again and sponsor the “Gay/Straight Alliance Dance,” a sort of alternative prom open to people of any sexual orientation.
The GSAs in Pinellas County also participate in the National Day of Silence where members take a vow of silence for a day to protest anti-gay bullying, harassment and hate crimes.
Some counties are slow to embrace GSAs
GSAs exist throughout central Florida communities, but they don’t appear to be nearly as organized or have as much support as those in Pinellas County. The Orange County School Board was unable to provide any information about GSAs in its school system. Of the 19 high schools in Orange County, only six indicated they did have a GSA
According to David Lewis, supervisor of Polk County high schools, there are no active GSAs in Polk County communities.
Hillsborough County proved to be more elusive regarding the exact number of groups that may be active. The Hillsborough County Public Schools office was unable to provide any information about GSAs.No schools contacted indicated they have an active chapter.
“These groups give like-minded kids a safe place to be who they are without any kind of fear of judgment,” says Loomas. “I was lucky in that I didn’t have any real issues coming out, but I could see that if someone was having difficulty with that our group could be a really good support system.”
