Four accounts of assault against gay members of the community have occurred in Spokane this fall. New research shows that gay and lesbian students are almost four times as likely to commit suicide as their heterosexual counterparts. So in a world where being gay isn’t always easy, organizations like NIC’s Gay-Straight Alliance are a godsend.
“Its no secret that we occupy a downstairs section of the SUB everyday and we try to keep it as open and non-judgmental as possible,” said Racine Balough, 22, communications, Sedro-Woolley, former GSA president.
While many students may think of the GSA as an informal mob that can be found lounging on the couches most days, the club does much more than socialize casually between classes.
“We have access to a wide range of services and individuals to assist and are more than willing to help anyone who is in need,” said president of the Gay-Straight Alliance David Glenn, 24, history, Spokane.
Many members are trained to help students who are the victims of bullying and sexual assault in the event that a student should need assistance. Glenn taught a conflict resolution and self-defense class to members of GSA last month.
Students also have access to a number of different sexual health items provided by the club free of charge, including male and female condoms and even non-latex items.
But GSA isn’t just about safe sex and free condoms. As a haven for both gay and straight students alike, the GSA aims for a single goal: “Our mission is to promote a positive and supportive environment for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, questioning and straight people as well as those who support them.”
“Sometimes people don’t get it, that the only difference between heterosexual relationships and homosexual relationships are the sexes of the participants involved,” Balough said.
“There are butterflies and sweaty palms, broken hearts and magic moments for everyone.”
Glenn agrees that animosity toward the GLBT community stems from misunderstanding.
“Just as during the 1930s, blacks were stereotyped as being prone to irrational violence and an uncontrollable urge to rape, so are members of the GLBT community branded as sexual deviants and a perversion of nature,” Glenn said. “It is my dream that one day there will no longer be a need for labels such as gay or transgender and that we have the ability to be treated as equals, without fear of losing your job or being ostracized for letting the world know who you really are.”
“If you think about it statistically, no one is really ‘normal.’ Therefore no one, particularly young’uns, deserves to feel like they are slime because they don’t fit into a cultural binary,” Balough said.
The Gay-Straight Alliance of NIC says it aims to promote this sort of equality and awareness not only on campus, but also in the rest of the community.
“This year, we were approached by prospective students at Post Falls High School who were unsure how to jump through all the political and social hoops necessary to start a GSA at their high school,” Glenn said.
Members of GSA talked with administrative members of Post Falls High School as well as actively campaigning for the school’s admission of this club. End results were successful, Glenn said. Post Falls High is now the home of its own Gay-Straight Alliance that students are encouraged to join.
Finally, GSA encourages everyone, gay or straight, to join.
“You don’t have to be gay to be in GSA. GSA means ‘gay straight alliance,’ and I feel the straight ally part isn’t as talked about as much as it should be,” Balough said.
GSA meetings are held every Tuesday at 2 p.m. in the Blue Creek Bay Room of the Student Union Building. But you can almost always find a member or two lounging on the couches of the SUB.
“Our hearts, like our doors, are wide open to you,” Glenn said. “You need only a voice and the will to see what is broken.”
