Our View | Standing Together | Allies at Board meeting make big Difference

LGBTQ+ allies showed up at the Board of Education’s meeting to support Peet Junior High’s GSA Difference. More than 100 allies attended the meeting, filing the board room up to capacity.

Difference set tables up on Sept. 23 in front of Peet Junior High to hand out doughnuts and gay, bisexual and transgender flag stickers to students to welcome everyone after a gay student was bullied earlier this year.

This event started a controversy when parents were upset that the school was allowing this event to happen on school grounds because they saw it as “political.” After the parents posted the video of their concerns on YouTube, there has been pressure put on the school from viewers of the video who both objected to and supported the Sept. 23 event.   

We believe that the Difference group was trying its best to spread kindness to everyone in the school. The group wasn’t trying to be political but instead show support for members of the LGBTQ+ community because of all the hardships they have to experience. Yes, the LGBTQ+ community has made political progress over the last couple of years, like same-sex marriage being legalized in 2015, but that was not the purpose for the event on Sept. 23. And yes, there is much political room for building legal protections for those who still experience harassment, assaults and suicides in countries around the globe, including the United States. 

But the Difference group was made to show solidarity to kids who are different from their peers and may not get enough support from home or the media. This event was to comfort those who have experienced hate toward them or kids who are afraid of their own identity.

Sexuality and gender are not things that people choose; it is who they are. Sadly, many if not most of the LGBTQ+ population still get tormented for being who they are. 

We are proud to say that we support anyone on these spectrums, and we are very proud of those who packed the school board meeting to show that same support at Cedar Falls Schools.

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.