Gay-Straight Alliance
club to be founded
at Provo High School
despite heated
opposition
The Daily Herald from
the Web, October 16, 2005
Provo, Utah -– Whether the
community wants it or not -- and the bag is a mixed one -- Provo High School has
approved the formation of a Gay-Straight Alliance club.
The club was given the green light Friday, said Greg Hudnall, director of
student services for the Provo City School District.
The club is a shock to many in the city named the most conservative in the
country recently by a voting research group. But GSAs appear to be a
growing trend nationwide. In 1997, there were about 100 GSAs in U.S. high
schools, and today there are at least 3,000 -- about one in every 10 high
schools, according to an article in the Oct. 10 issue of Time magazine, based on
information from the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network.
The Provo City School District Board of Education is considering a policy that
would require parental permission and otherwise regulate school clubs, though
policy changes wouldn't ban the club outright.
And it's not the first time a GSA has caused ripples in a Utah school district.
In 1996, the Salt Lake City School District banned all non-curricular clubs --
46 of them -- in an attempt to keep out a GSA at East High School. After
two lawsuits were filed over how the district enforced the policy, it reversed
the decision in 2000 and allowed the club and others to meet.
The reaction this time ranges from support from the "nice Mormon lady" acting as
club adviser to the counsel of ban-'em-all-or-let-'em-in from the school
district to a student-driven petition to ban all clubs at Provo High.
The club was started by senior Kaisha Medford after an informal survey she
conducted found what she said is a lot of harassment of gay and lesbian
students. There are "definitely" more gay people on campus than many
people realize, she said. "The more responses I get back, the more I think
we need it."
She attended a Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network summit in Salt Lake City
over the summer to learn how to start the club and submitted the application in
September.
The club would be "half-way between a support group and social group, a place
where we can just hang out and talk, not necessarily about gay, lesbian,
bi-sexual and transgender issues, but about everything." She envisions it
as "a place where you can go to know that you're accepted."
Special education teacher Mary Theodosis agreed to advise the club, describing
herself as a "nice Mormon lady" willing to assist.
"I'm a real kid advocate," she said. "If kids are in a jam, I'd like to be
there."
Theodosis said she would like to see gay students be able to be accepted by
their parents. "My understanding is a lot of kids get thrown away by their
families," she said. "We especially want parents to be involved with these
children. Family is what it's all about. Children and families need
to figure out a way to support each other."
Many students who spoke with the Daily Herald would rather their fellow students
discuss their sexuality outside school bounds.
Kevin Dix, 17, a senior at Provo High, has started a petition calling for an end
to all non-curricular clubs at the school. The federal Equal Access Act
requires that schools that allow non-curricular clubs -- those that don't deal
with material taught in the classroom -- give equal access to all clubs.
"I don't want the other clubs there if I have to put up with that one," Dix
said. "I just don't think it should be talked about at a high school
level. I think sexual orientation should be left out of the school
system."
At least 150 people had signed Dix's petition by Friday afternoon, and he hopes
to get about half of the school's 1,900 students to sign. "I'm all for a
support group," he said. "I just don't want it in my school."
But banning all clubs, like Green Beret, chess, dating and cricket, is not an
option for some members of those clubs who would be caught in the crossfire.
Olga Rouse, 16, a Provo High sophomore, supports the GSA and wants other clubs,
like the breakdancing club she is in, to stay. "If they banned all the
clubs, I can't do that," she said. "I know a lot of people would be mad."
She compared the petition to "them signing a petition for us not being able to
breakdance."
Some Provo High students also are concerned about their school's image.
"Now Provo High is going to get made fun of for being, like, the gay school, and
all of us straight people who aren't will be made fun of," said Devan Lawrence,
15.
Jason Tidwell, 15, a Provo High sophomore, said it's already happening.
"Our school's getting called the queer high school. We're getting made fun of by
all the other schools."
But Melanie Jamison, 16, a junior at Timpview High School in Provo, said she
doesn't think of Provo High any differently now. "Some people have
different views," she said. "It doesn't mean the whole school's
necessarily different."
Fifteen-year-old Jenna Palmer, a Timpview junior, said some students in her U.S.
government class said they wouldn't mind such a club at their school because
they wouldn't be forced to join. "A lot of people agree with it," she
said. "They think it's fine because if they don't want it to involve them
they can stay away from it." She noted that others in the class were
opposed to the idea.
"I think it's fine because I don't really care, and it doesn't involve me at
all," she said. "I don't agree with being gay or lesbian, but I think it's
OK that people want to make them feel accepted, but I wouldn't ever be a part of
it."
Provo High freshman Brecca Singh, 15, said she would join and equated
disallowing the GSA with discrimination. "It's like saying just because
I'm a different nationality I couldn't marry someone of a different
nationality," she said.
Gay people typically come out -- tell their friends and family about their
homosexuality -- around the time of high school graduation, according to Time,
citing the book "The New Gay Teenager" by Ritch C. Savin-Williams. Singh
said a GSA club is necessary to foster support for gay teenagers who are going
through that difficult time in their lives. "Still, being at a young age,
it's still really critical for them to be shown that it's OK to be different --
they're not going to be persecuted for it," she said.
She thinks high school is a good time for straight and gay people to learn to
accept each other. "It would also help the non-gay people learn because
they'll be exposed to it when they get older," she said. "It's better to
start young so they're not prejudiced growing up."
Singh thinks opposition to the club is rooted in fear. "People are afraid
of change, just like how when we had slaves, people didn't want it to change
because you're afraid of it," she said. "If something changes, they know
everything's going to change and they'll lose control of the reality that they
know."
Whatever the reason for the opposition, it has permeated the campus.
Students interviewed late last week mentioned T-shirts and posters they had seen
around campus proclaiming opposition to the club, some using derogatory terms.
Some, including Courtney Dixon, 15, a Provo High freshman, object to sexual
activity being discussed at the school.
"They shouldn't encourage any sexual thing at all, because school isn't about
that," she said. "It's about learning, and it's about getting an
education. It's not about going to sexual clubs."
The Provo City School District Board of Education is considering a policy that
would require parental permission and otherwise regulate school clubs, though
policy changes wouldn't, and couldn't ban the club outright.
District Superintendent Randy Merrill emphasized that the district or school
doesn't necessarily support the mission of the GSA club.
"All we're doing is providing space and supervision so the guidelines of federal
and state law are met," he said.
Anna Chang-Yen can be reached at 344-2549 or
annac@heraldextra.com.
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