Gay-Straight Alliance Takes A Step Forward

From the Invisible Athletes Forum to the Gender Bender dance, the Academy’s Gay Straight Alliance, also known as the Gender and Sexuality Alliance by its members, spreads awareness and acceptance for LGBTQ students and the broader community on campus.The club meets every Tuesday night, during which members convene to discuss rising LGBTQ concerns in the Academy or in broader society.“As a club each week we sit and discuss a current LGBT issue, or we watch a clip of a movie or a clip from a news program,” upper and co-head Robert Conner said. “We also plan and discuss ways to promote LGBTQ causes,” he added.Upper and co-head Rowan Rainwalker also listed some of the agendas of the club. “We explore news events and talk about them in a historical context for human rights,” Rainwalker said. “We talk about minorities within the queer community such as transgender, transexual and bisexual individuals.”The primary goal of the club is to maintain a safe space and accommodate for a diverse range is gender identities and sexual orientations, Rainwalker said.The club currently has over 100 students signed up, and usually about 15 to 25 members attend each meeting. For members, the club is not only a way to promote security and equality for all students of the Academy and talk about global issues concerning the LGBTQ community, but also a personal commitment to spread tolerance and acceptance.“I decided to join GSA because at Exeter, community is integral to everyone's being. We all want to be able to go somewhere and feel safe and secure, so I thought it extremely important to provide members of our campus who might not have that immediate reaction in their dorms, clubs and teams a space where they can feel that,” lower Lucy Weiler said. “I just wanted to be a part of that community, and see people who I otherwise might not interact with on a regular basis.”Lower Alyse Clinton shared Weiler’s sentiments, sharing her personal story behind her active dedication to LGBT causes.“I joined GSA after the club information booth day during my prep fall. LGBTQ activism is something really close to my heart and I wanted to be a part of that community,” Clinton said. “My aunts are also one of my biggest reasons to be a part of GSA. They had to wait to get married until it was legal in Massachusetts and I want to be part of something that, in our own small way, can help make it legal everywhere.”The GSA hosts a collection of activities of campus for members to participate and create an open environment on campus, including assemblies to conferences. One specific example is the annual Gender Bender dance in Grainger, which took place this Saturday.Another example would be the Invisible Athletes Forum, where a panel of college athletes shared their experiences being both a part of the LGBTQ and college athlete communities.Overall, GSA has become an essential part of the Academy, not only for its members but also for the entire community, since it is one of the leading organizations on campus that characterizes Exeter as a progressive institution.“The club [gives] a platform and a voice for all peoples on campus, and to generally spread awareness and understanding between all peoples,” Conner said. “It makes the academy a more open, equal and balanced community.”