June 4, 2012

GSA of the Year Runner-Up: Aragon High School GSA Shares Successes

The following is a guest post by Sam Alavi of Aragon High School’s Gay-Straight Alliance. Aragon High School’s GSA was a finalist for GLSEN’s 2012 Gay-Straight Alliance of the Year Award.

It was the ever so brilliant Harvey Milk who said, “Gotta give ‘em hope.” Aragon High School’s Gay-Straight Alliance strives to do exactly that; give students who are faced with discrimination, harassment, and insecurity, hope for a better future. While Milk hoped that the future would offer acceptance for LGBT youth, we believe the future begins today. Aragon’s GSA works to make the community a more respectful, safe, and informed place. With a GSA of 65 members and a student body and administration open to new ideas and improvement, Aragon’s GSA has spent the last three years improving the school’s environment, educating students about the importance of fighting for the rights of LGBT people, and encouraging straight allies to make themselves visible.

Of the many events the GSA holds throughout the year, Ally Week is one of the most successful. The event’s purpose is to stress the importance of being an ally to LGBT people. Teachers are given resources on what to do when they witness bullying in classrooms, and students are asked to sign pledges saying that they will not use anti-LGBT slurs, and will intervene when others do the same. This year, almost 400 students participated in Ally Week. The GSA firmly believes that straight- and cisgender-identified students need to know that this is not a fight that LGBT students need to fight alone. It will take the whole community to create change.

Aragon’s GSA also hosts a bi-annual summit run by BAYS, a non-profit organization started by a former Aragon GSA president. The summit is geared towards youth who want to strengthen their leadership skills and contribute to the fight for LGBT equality and safer schools. In 2011, BAYS held its first summit at Aragon with over 200 attendees and guest speakers such as gay rights activist Cleve Jones, San Francisco Supervisor David Campos, teen activist Graeme Taylor, and RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Delta Work. Workshops that were presented include suicide prevention, faith and homosexuality, and a screening of Joe Wilson’s movie Out in the Silence with a Q&A with Wilson afterwards.  After the summit, one attendee sent a note saying:

“It was a total eye opener to me. It was super fun, informative, and I loved meeting a community that supports me that I didn’t even know I had. It was an AMAZING event and I cannot stress how much I appreciate all the hard work you put into creating it. It must have taken months and I am truly grateful for your work because it changed my life. BAYS helped me come to terms with myself about my sexuality, which I had been silently struggling with and avoiding. Now I’m comfortable being openly bisexual and I even came out to my best friend! Thank you so much for inspiring me.”

Along with these events, the GSA also holds its annual GSA Castro Fieldtrip, Harvey Milk Week, Safe Space Poster campaign, and Day of Silence. This year, the GSA set a commitment to collaborate and reach out to middle schools, talking to them about the importance of tolerance and respect.  In March, two GSA representatives went and presented to a local middle school about Aragon’s GSA and accepting people in the LGBT community. After successfully implementing gender neutral bathrooms on campus, the GSA decided to work on passing a gender nonconforming policy to support transgender and gender nonconforming students. This policy would make the San Mateo- Foster City School District the third district in California to implement such policy.

Aragon’s GSA is honored to be recognized by GLSEN, and is looking forward to an exciting future in LGBT activism.

-Sam Alavi

   

About Juliann DiNicola

       

Juliann DiNicola is a part of the Community Initiatives department at GLSEN- the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. Before working for GLSEN, Juliann was an educator with Girls Inc. and is an AmeriCorps alumni. Juliann studied Social Science Education and History at the University of Central Florida. She enjoys FRIENDS re-runs and cereal.