When Chris Romer came out of the closet two years ago, the response from his peers could be called unexpected.
"I gained popularity," said the 18-year-old senior who attends East Stroudsburg High School North, describing what happened after he told people he was gay.
Instead of consigning himself to the shadows, Romer became more gregarious — and more himself, he said.
"I don't hold myself back anymore," he said.
Romer also transformed physically, as he dropped 50 pounds and worried less about what others thought. "If you don't like me, then you don't have to be my friend," he said.
Romer's comments — made during a recent meeting of North's after-school Gay Straight Alliance — point to the widely reported generational shift in attitudes regarding sexual orientation. According to this view, the culture-war schisms that divide adults are greeted, increasingly, with a yawn by young people.
But a closer look suggests that the situation is more complex.
On one hand, the existence of the more than 4,000 Gay Straight Alliances, or GSA clubs, in the United States reflects just how much of a shift has taken place over the past decade.
The first GSA was started in 1988, and the number of clubs increased slowly at first. But the past five years have seen as many GSAs started in schools as were founded during the preceding 16 years, according to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, a national organization that looks to develop tolerant climates in schools.
Still, GSAs remain a relative rarity. While there may be 4,000 GSAs, the nation has more than 98,000 public secondary schools, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Locally, North's club was the first of its kind when it was launched three years ago. Stroudsburg High School recently started one of its own.
Opinion polls also suggest that the younger people are, the more accepting of this difference they are likely to be.
For example, a poll last month by the Pew Research Center found that, among respondents between the ages of 18 and 29, 58 percent supported gay marriage. This was 20 points higher than those age 30 to 49.
But if the clubs represent one form of progress on the road to gaining acceptance, they also reflect how far gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (an umbrella term that describes people whose sense of themselves as male or female differs from their sex at birth) students have yet to travel before they are fully embraced.
"On the one hand, it looks like things are getting better in terms of respect for (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) teens, but we're still seeing victimization," said Daryl Presgraves, public relations manager for the network.
Gay and lesbian students remain at significantly higher risk of being bullied when compared to their straight classmates, and may be far more likely to skip school because they worry about their safety.
A 2007 study by the network found that more than half of LGBT students in Pennsylvania reported being physically harassed during the past year. Nearly all said they regularly heard the word "gay" used negatively.
The goal of GSA clubs is to lessen the isolation and fear that some students feel. At North, the club has helped sponsor a "no bully zone," and carried out a National Day of Silence, in which students take a vow of silence as a way of drawing attention to anti-gay bullying and behavior. The club also organizes service projects.
"I feel that there's a strong need for this," said Patti Mondello, an instructional aide at North who is the club's adviser. "People should not feel unsafe."
While Romer and another upperclassman in the club, who asked not to be named, said they personally had not heard many slights in the hallways, and that negativity rarely was directed at them, others in the club told a different story.
"I'd say the kids aren't really accepting," said Janet Hawley, 15, a sophomore. "I have seen kids being beaten up because of their orientation, and it made me sick."
North's principal, Steve Zall, said that he perceived gay and lesbian students to be accepted in the school, though he acknowledged that some students may not be reporting incidents when they happen.
"The program has afforded students an opportunity to speak (and) discuss with one another in a non-judgmental setting," he said, describing the club.
Some teachers have gone a step further, posting signs with pink triangles that declare their classrooms to be "safe zones."
These small steps can make a big difference when they are combined with anti-bullying policies that forbid bullying on the basis of sexual orientation, Presgraves said.
And that difference extends to the student body as a whole, he added.
"The general concept of spreading respect around the halls benefits all students," Presgraves said.
"What GSAs do and what policies do is they don't change people's beliefs, they change their behavior," Presgraves said. "It has to do with respecting people."
Romer said the club served an important purpose.
"I think the club is needed as an outlet," he said. "When they come here they can be themselves, not be judged, and be comfortable being in a place where they're not surrounded by people who don't understand them."
No comments:
Post a Comment