by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer
The newly formed Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club at Franklin County High School (FCHS) has attracted national attention. The group held its first meeting on Jan. 19 under the direction of faculty advisor Jenny Turrell, FCHS art teacher and a resident of Sewanee.
A firestorm of comments followed on the social media outlet Facebook, both condoning and condemning the club. Said one critic, “the next thing you know they will have F.I.M.A. (Future ISIS Members of America).”
Under the 1984 Equal Access Act, all federally funded secondary schools must provide equal access to extracurricular clubs.
Citing the law, Director of Schools Amie Lonas said, “If we choose not to allow this club to be established, then we would be required to prohibit all noncurriculum clubs or give up federal funding.”
The GSA “is not a recruitment tool or trying to promote an alternate lifestyle,” Lonas stressed in response to critics. “It’s more about tolerance and trying to treat people equally and with respect.”
Prior to the Feb. 8 school board meeting at FCHS, there will be a rally in support of the GSA in the parking lot left of the entrance off Georgia Crossing Road. The board meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.; however, there is no item on the board’s agenda that deals with GSA or student clubs. Winchester Police Chief Dennis Young said critics of the GSA have not applied for a permit to demonstrate.
FCHS junior Allie Faxon of Sewanee said her involvement with the GSA has made her “feel more confident.” Student participation in the GSA has more than doubled since the first meeting, with nearly fifty students attending the meeting on Feb. 2.
But there has also been “backlash,” Faxon said.
“Students who oppose the club have made straight-pride signs and paraded around LGBT students and defaced our signs. They have thrown water bottles and food at LGBT students,” she said.
School board policy clearly prohibits “any employee or any student to discriminate against or harass a student through disparaging conduct or communication that is sexual, racial, ethnic or religious in nature.”
Students have been encouraged to report harassment, but explaining the process Turrell said, “for reasons of privacy the administration cannot reveal to the accuser the administration’s response or the nature of any reprimand or disciplinary action.” GSA students have received more than 40 notes of encouragement, according to Turrell, as well as “offers of support, financial and otherwise, from individuals all over the country with similar life experiences.” She has also been contacted by the GLSEN (Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network) and other national organizations.
However, the GSA has no affiliation with any other group.
“It’s a non-sponsored program driven by students with no outside affiliation,” Turrell insisted. “It’s important for the club to evolve as the students want it to evolve.”
As a small student club, the GSA is not equipped to handle large donations. To provide a vehicle for those who wish to make a financial contribution to support LGBT youth in rural Tennessee, the Cumberland Center for Justice and Peace created the LGBT Rural Youth Program Fund. Possible use of the resources includes providing scholarships to LGBT youth or to aid in establishing GSA clubs at other area high schools. For more information contact the LGBT Rural Youth Program Fund, P.O. Box 307, Sewanee, TN 37375 or visit <www.ccjp.org/projects>.
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