Gay-Straight Alliance
Club formed at MCHS
School board hears
opposition at Tues. night meeting
From
mainstreetnews.com on the Web, September 15, 2005
Madison County, GA --
Sixty-six students at Madison County High School have joined a newly-formed club
— the Madison County High School Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA).
Proponents of the club say it’s a support group for gay high schoolers, while
opponents say it promotes a harmful lifestyle and has no business in a
taxpayer-funded setting.
“We, as an organization, seek to evoke positive change toward a society in which
gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people can participate free of negative
stereotypes and as fully equal members of society,” states the preamble of the
GSA Constitution. “We seek to achieve our aims by promoting awareness of,
education about, setting a positive example for, and providing support to the
sexual minority community and their allies.”
Superintendent Keith Cowne said the GSA met all school guidelines in forming a
club. MCHS’ club signup day was Aug. 26.
“They got 15 signatures and got sponsors and did a Constitution; they did all
the things that other clubs have to do,” said Cowne.
While Cowne says acceptance of the club is an equal rights issue, opponents of
the GSA said the club promotes a deviant lifestyle and that taxpayer money
should not be used for such a cause.
“The cost to the individual and to society is too enormous for us to allow our
children to in anyway believe it is O.K. for them to dabble and experiment in
this kind of behavior,” said Dee Lee in a letter to the editor in this week’s
issue. “It is deadly dangerous. Our elected officials, educators and
citizens of Madison County must stand up to whoever is behind the scenes
creating this kind of deadly chaos in our county.”
Two school counselors, Angelia Bruce and Carrie Olson, are serving as sponsors
for the club.
Contacted Tuesday, Bruce referred questions to MCHS principal Wayne McIntosh,
who said the club is not aimed at recruiting students to a gay lifestyle.
Instead, he said it’s a “student-initiated” program aimed at helping people with
alternative lifestyles feel less ostracized in high school.
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