Lakeland Preparatory School. (Blade file photo)
Local outlet Lakeland Currents reported that the school, which resides in a suburb of Memphis, sent an email Jan. 3 announcing the news.
“Student leaders have withdrawn their request for a GSA club,” the email read. “Instead, they have requested approval for a new club called Allies of Diversity.”
According to the email, the club will “explore equity, diversity, and multiculturalism as it relates to students’ lives within the Lakeland community. Allies of Diversity welcomes all people, cultures, genders, orientations, beliefs, and religions.”
The GSA was supposed to begin Jan. 3 as Lakeland students returned from winter break.
Last month, some parents and other community members railed against creating a GSA at a Lakeland School Board meeting on December 6, 2021.
Former Lakeland Mayor Wyatt Bunker spoke at the meeting, saying, “Is this the school system that we fought for? [A school system] that now clearly doesn’t align with our values.”
Bunker added: “At this point, we have to take a stand.”
Chad and Heather Reynolds, who have an 8-year-old and 13-year-old in the school system, told the board that they want their sons to be educated, not “indoctrinated.”
The couple was particularly worried about alleged Facebook posts by the GSA’s main sponsor, Lakeland drama teacher Mandy Christopher.
“It’s all over her social media accounts,” Chad Reynolds said. “She has an agenda to infiltrate our school system with her beliefs.”
However, a Los Angeles Blade review of Christopher’s Facebook page found no content related to the GSA.
At a later school board meeting, Christopher was accused of being a “predator” for a TikTok that supposedly showed the teacher with a student in a parked car, according to the Lakeland Currents. The video has since been deleted, and it is unclear what exactly happened in the video.
“Ms. Christopher is not a predator, she’s just a friend,” Robbie Stephens, the grandmother of the student in the video who said her granddaughter is a part of the LGBTQ+ community.
At the time, the board explained to attendees that they could not intervene, fearing potential litigation if they did.
The club’s goal was to provide a safe and supportive environment for LGBTQ+ students.
According to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), GSA’s presence in schools creates a safer environment for LGBTQ+ students, with students less likely to hear homophobic remarks and more likely to feel safe in schools with a GSA.
