By Sarah Cen and Lucy Fleming
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Charlotte Wampold ’11 summed up the feelings of thousands of gay and questioning youths across America in one sentence: “If you don’t feel safe, you don’t come out.”
Although today’s generation of high school students is often seen as having a more accepting attitude toward various sexual orientations, discrimination against those who chose not to be heterosexual has not faded. High school, especially, is a tough transition period for those who identify or begin to identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, or queer, otherwise known as LGBTQ. Princeton High School, however, is one of a growing number of schools that counts a Gay-Straight Alliance among its many student groups. This organization, which functions as a club, educates students about sexuality, gender, and homophobia and provides a space where students can feel comfortable discussing these issues.
According to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, which has registered over 4,000 Gay-Straight Alliances across the country, schools with a GSA club have experienced decreases in homophobia, reduced bullying for gay youth, and more tolerant and accepting school communities. But some would argue that GSA thrives in tolerant settings, not that GSA generates more tolerance. GSA members disagreed over whether PHS’ accepting environment was a product or a cause of GSA presence. Some argued that the school, with regular anti-homophobia workshops offered to students in programs like Peer Group, has always had a relatively accepting attitude towards LGBTQ issues.
However, Douglas Levandowski, who advises the club, points out that this has not always been the case. “My first year, on a weekly basis, I would have to tell a student, in front of the whole class, not to say something like ‘this book is gay,’” he said.
Tolerance at PHS has become more widespread due to organizations like the GSA, but as a school-based group, GSA is limited in its capabilities, often focusing in on efforts to increase awareness.
In recent years, GSA has promoted the Day of Silence, a nationwide awareness campaign that has attracted growing numbers of people who wish to create a more positive portrayal of LGBTQ. Participants remain silent throughout the day, in order to represent the silence of the thousands of gay and questioning people who feel forced, by peer pressure or fear of intimidation, to hide their sexual orientations.
At PHS, this national event is preceded by the GSA-organized Gay Pride Week, where each day echoes its own LGBTQ-related theme. Participants will dress up Monday through Thursday of the week of April 11 in order to pique student interest in their cause as they approach Friday, April 15, the Day of Silence. Wednesday, for example, is ‘Gender Bender’ Day, where students dress as far from their ‘place on the gender wheel’ as possible.
Rebecca Breslaw ’13, a member of GSA, believes that each of these lead-up days is so special because they are “lighthearted [while] the Day of Silence is so intense.”
Participants who choose to remain silent typically wear black, with a rainbow ribbon pin. They carry with them a card explaining the purpose of the Day of Silence, which they hand out to anyone unaware of their cause. Student participation at PHS varies, as does the reaction of the student body.
“I’ve been in a class where it’s anywhere from just me to five people [participating],” said Wampold, who is also the President of the GSA.
Generally, teachers are tolerant and even encouraging of the student involvement. Other students may take part but in a different form, choosing not to stay silent but to speak about the issue in order to directly raise awareness.
Non-participating students are not always so understanding.
“I remember last year…people were egging [silent participants] on, trying to get them to speak,” said Breslaw.
“People were just really disrespectful,” agreed Jens Knutsen ’13, another GSA member.
One disadvantage of the silent campaign is precisely its silence, as GSA members were quick to realize. “If people oppose us, they tell us so, and that’s the one day we can’t respond,” said Wampold. Since the national Day of Silence is usually scheduled for a Friday, “by Monday, they’ve forgotten and don’t care anymore.”
Student apathy remains one of the GSA’s largest challenges. Raising awareness in the hopes of increasing tolerance is its primary objective. Because the club is school-affiliated, it can reach students directly, with events held within the school.
Yet the GSA’s school-affiliated status also cuts it short in some cases. “We definitely encounter more red tape because we are school-affiliated,” said Wampold. In October, for example, the club attempted to create a response to the national “It Gets Better” movement, a campaign that features videos of gay adults giving hope to questioning youth by reassuring them that “It Gets Better” later in life. The idea, Wampold explained, was to create a video that reached out to gay youth by letting them know that “you don’t have to wait [to be accepted]. There is a community of people your age who can be there for you.” Since all the members of the group were minors, publishing videos and distributing contact information would have sparked multiple legal complications, ultimately preventing the project from getting off the ground.
In addition to the Day of Silence, the GSA coordinates other events throughout the year, such as National Coming Out Day, which takes place every October 11. “If everyone came out, that’s 10 percent of the population,” said Wampold, referencing the common estimate that one out of ten people is actually gay. “Everyone would realize that they know someone who’s gay, that it’s everyone’s issue, not just someone else’s issue.”
Still, Wampold added, “It’s not always fair to ask students to come out because it’s not always safe. The most important thing was to have people be safe.” To get more people involved, and to foster a safe environment for anyone who did want to come out, the PHS GSA added three words to the event’s title; it became National Coming Out As An Ally Day. The event garnered unexpected but welcome attention, attracting over 3,000 people to its Facebook group.
Nevertheless, the GSA works to spread awareness where it can, even if its scope is limited. In the upcoming week, members of the GSA will be dressed in rainbow colors and practicing complete silence all in hopes of educating their fellow students; all they ask for in return is tolerance and accetance.
