GSA clubs in schools are important for students who identify as part of LGBTQ community and the clubs demonstrate how good it is to have these spaces.

By MIGUEL GONZÁLEZ
EL NUEVO SOL   

Versión en español

In any society belonging to a community is something that as human beings we seek. This is even more true with students who are developing as people in a society.

For students to have a space where they can spend time together without being judged is crucial. That space can be outside or inside the schools, but with high school students spending almost half of the day in the schools it would be ideal to have them inside the schools.

According to a CDC report, 1.3 million high school students in the United States identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual.

Among those students is a group from the Santee Education Complex in South Los Angeles (more than 90 percent Latinx). The students at this school managed to get the first transgender neutral bathroom in a school within the Los Angeles Unified School District. Being the second largest school district in the United States, the Los Angeles Unified School District is constantly looked at by the country every time something happens inside of it.

Trebor Jacquez is assistant principal of John F. Kennedy High School in the city of Granada Hills (more than 80 percent of Latinx students), but he worked at Santee High School as dean and school teacher as well as being one of the supervisors of the Gay Straight Alliance club.

Jacquez tells us that the students who belonged to the GSA club with their persistence obtained the transgender neutral bath and demonstrated the value of having spaces and / or clubs like GSA in the schools.

“The students created this, we just gave them the space and they showed us what was possible,” says Jacquez.

He also remembers that not everything was joy at this time because there was a demonstration against the bathroom by the Westboro Baptist Church. There were insults from church members against the students and it led to violence. This only united the students of the school, the basketball team, the football team and all the other students who got involved with the students of the GSA club.

“At that moment I realized that the GSA club did something good. There are moments in your career that are defined, that moment was one of the moments, “says Jacquez.

The GSA club was able to demonstrate what can be obtained when there is a group that is supported and accepted. For that reason spaces and clubs like GSA are important for schools.

José Navarrete was a student at James Monroe High School in the city of North Hills (88 percent of Latinx students). In his time in high school he was the one who got the GSA club restarted at the school. The club was disappearing, but he made sure that did not happen. He took the position of the club in its third year of high school.

“It was important to have the club because it allowed the students to understand that it is okay if they were not heterosexual. Several students came out of the shadows and accepted what they were, “says Navarrete.

Navarrete said that before the GSA club, students who identified themselves as LGBTQ only met in a secret group because many students did not want their identities to be made public. GSA allowed the students to come out of fear and also opened the doors to learn more about the LGBT community.

“The club gave us access to LGBT student conferences. There we learned about health, mental health and extension programs, “says Navarrete.

José Navarrete shows signs of support for the Monroe GSA, the high school where he was a student. Photo courtesy of José Navarrete.

California is a very liberal state compared to other states and has more inclusive tolerant laws but not all states are as comprehensive as California. According to the website lgbtmap.org,there are 24 states that do not yet have any laws protecting LGBTQ students.   

Schools have always been spaces where students can develop into better people and for that each student must have a place to go. Trebor Jacquez and Jose Navarrete were part of the GSA club in their respective schools with different roles within the club, both note how important the clubs were for LGBTQ students and any character that wants to become familiar with the community.