EDUCATION
NYC High School Students Show the Way to Acceptance
LGBTQ youth lead GSA clubs in The Bronx, Manhattan
BY MATT TRACY
From the Bronx to Manhattan,
LGBTQ students
involved in GSAs
hail from different backgrounds,
boroughs, and schools
— but every single one of them are
proving the point that acceptance
is a crucial component of a healthy
atmosphere for queer youth.
The Bronx High School of Science
in Bedford Park and the High
School for Law and Public Service
in Washington Heights are
two New York City schools with
GSA clubs, which are student-led
LGBTQ groups. Students within
those clubs meet regularly to discuss
LGBTQ issues, share stories,
welcome guest speakers, and even
serve as mentors for younger individuals
who are coming to terms
with their identity in an environment
that can be rife with intolerance
and hostility.
That, ultimately, is where the
clubs play a key role. In a series
of interviews with Gay City News,
several students across those two
schools elaborated on the adversity
they’ve faced and underscored the
support they’ve received since joining
their respective GSA clubs.
“I always felt like I had to have a
guard up, a wall,” said Nelson Taveras,
a junior at the High School
for Law and Public Service. “In this
club, I can be myself. I feel comfortable.”
Taveras’ point was echoed by
Kathy Fernandez, a sophomore at
the same school who dreams of
pursuing a medical degree.
“I was always too scared to come
out, too scared to say, ‘yeah, this is
me,’” Fernandez explained. “It was
always something scary to say,
but with the community that the
school has — the friends who are
in the group, and allies as well —
you don’t have to fake it, or as Nelson
said, put that guard up.”
Subhadra Das, a junior at Bronx
Science who serves as president of
her school’s GSA, recalled feeling
confl icted about her own sexuality
when she was a freshman — but
the club empowered her to take
Bronx Science students Subhadra Das (top left), Sophia Randall (top right), Lauren Cho (bottom left), and
Saamiya Ahmed.
Nelson Taveras and Kathy Fernandez of the High School for Law and Public Service.
control of her own narrative and
feel secure in her identity.
“I feel like GSA was my own support
system,” she said.
The students are buoyed by support
from not only their peers, but
also school staff and administrators.
During a Zoom call with Gay
City News, the students at the High
School for Law and Public Service
were accompanied — and encouraged
— by school social worker
Alquioril (Alqui) Polanco, principal
Paula Lev, and out gay teacher
David Mendoza. Club members at
Bronx Science also said that they
have the unwavering support of
the school’s principal in addition to
other school leaders.
“The GSA is not just for education,”
said Lauren Cho, a junior at
Bronx Science. “It’s beyond that.
It’s also a celebration about self-acceptance.
We recognize that we are
fortunate that our school allows
us to have the GSA and we have a
space to discuss issues. In different
parts of the world, people don’t
have that, so we are very lucky.”
Joining the club in the fi rst place,
however, can be a major hurdle for
students who are still learning
about themselves and the world
around them. Saamiya Ahmed, a
junior at Bronx Science, said they
fi rst learned about their school’s
GSA at a club fair freshman year
— but it understandably took time
for them to come around.
“I got emails all the time,” Ahmed
said. “I was a bit nervous to join, so
I didn’t become a regular member
until this year.”
Students who do take the plunge
and join the clubs are immersed
in profoundly affi rming and educational
environments that help
prepare them for the next chapter
in their lives. Das said her club
is planning to host out LGBTQ
journalists from news outlets like
the New York Times, and Ahmed
said the club recently welcomed
a transgender woman to speak in
front of the group about her own
experiences.
The club members are equipped
with an impressively sharp grasp
of the contemporary issues permeating
the landscape across the
LGBTQ community. Das said students
have held regular discussions
during Pride Month about a
range of issues — including complex
topics, such as the commodifi
cation of Pride. One of the group’s
recent conversations focused on
questioning the ways in which
companies have sold Pride-related
apparel for profi t.
Others have developed a keen
sense of complicated internal issues
within the LGBTQ community.
Fernandez, who is lesbian,
pointed to the pressure many lesbians
face when they are pushed to
conform to certain expectations.
“The number one thing about
our community that I feel is the oppression
we put on ourselves,” she
said. “If you don’t meet the stereotypes,
you’re not gay enough or not
lesbian enough.”
The meetings have been balanced
with some other topics that
might not typically be discussed
with other peers outside of the club.
Students at Bronx Science engage
in group talks about pop culture,
television shows, social media, and
more. Junior Sophia Randall said
one of her favorite shows is Grey’s
Anatomy — which, as she points
out, has featured a bisexual character,
Amelia Shepherd, played by
➤ GSA, continued on p.20
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