LGBTQ+ Club at BHS seeks to build on national efforts at equality

By Celia Shanley October was LGBTQ+ History month. It is time to reflect on the hard fought battle for LGBTQ+ rights that still continues to this day. LGBTQ+ history month was founded in 1994 thanks to a Missouri high school teacher, Rodney Wilson, who rallied support from LGBTQ+, human rights, and educational organizations. The month of October was selected for its pre-existing significance in the LGBTQ+ community and due to the fact that school is in session. At Branford High School, student groups such as GSA, a club for LGBTQ+ students and allies, are a driving force behind the movement. Clubs such as these educate students on LGBTQ+ issues and history while creating a safe space. During the month of October they have been teaching their many new members about LGBTQ+ history. GSA is always open and welcoming to new members, whether they are out or not. Currently, there are about 10-12 members of the GSA, whose faculty advisor is Valerie Duffner. In the future members of the club said they hope to do more outreach and work with LGBTQ+ organizations. One milestone of success for the club is the pride flag displayed in the front entrance of the school. It was first installed there May of 2017. The flag was first designed in 1978 and its rainbow design has stood as a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community ever since. The progress made by the LGBTQ+ movement is such a short time is almost unfathomable. To our modern ears, the oppressive laws and restrictions that have been placed on LGBTQ+ people in our country sound like something out of a dystopian novel. In the very near history of the United States, identifying as a LGBTQ+ person has been criminalized. Homosexuality was regarded as a mental disorder be the American Psychiatric Association until 1973. These startling facts demonstrate the immense strength of LGBTQ+ activists in U.S. history that brought about such change against seemingly insurmountable adversity. As the progress of the LGBTQ+ history was being celebrated in October, the current political climate casts a shadow over the movement’s bright future. A recent memo from the Department of Health and Human Services announced plans to restrict the definition of gender. The definition, which would limit gender to be defined by one’s genitals at birth, is a blatant attack on transgender rights. If the new definition were to be passed it would undermine the progress made during the Obama administration which expanded the definition of gender to include a person’s decision. This change would throw the lives of over 1.4 million Americans who have used this Obama-era definition to change their gender from the one they were assigned at birth. July of 2019 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. These protests, which spanned over six days, were in response to a police raid of the Stonewall Inn, a Gay bar in Greenwich Village on the morning of July 28, 1969. The Stonewall riots served as the match that ignited the fire of the LGBTQ+ rights movement. The importance of students in the LGBTQ+ rights movement is astronomical. Young people have been at the forefront of every great social movement throughout history, and this is no exception. In our lifetime alone, we have seen some of the most monumental steps towatoward TQ+ equality, including the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage. This tremendous victory occurred on June 26, 2015, just under four years ago. If history has proven anything it is that the LGBTQ+ community is resilient. No government memo nor other challenges will stand in the way of their fight for equality. Upcoming elections and continued attendance at protests offer hope that fuels the movement. These setbacks and threats to LGBTQ+ rights may seem disheartening. However, Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay U.S. Senator, said it best when she said, “There will not be a magic day when we wake up and it’s now okay to express ourselves publicly. We make that day by doing things publicly until it’s simply the way things are.”