HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2016-06-22, Page 9Wednesday, June 22, 2016 • Huron Expositor 9
GSA at CHSS shows respect to Orlando massacre
Shaun Gregory
Huron Expositor
The gay bar, Pulse, will for-
ever be remembered for the
49 people who lost their lives
in the highly publicized
Orlando Massacre. Acknowl-
edging the loss of life is the
Gender Sexuality Alliance
(GSA) at Central Huron Sec-
ondary School.
Roughly 30-40 students
and teachers sported black
shirts with big red hearts
with the text "Love is
Louder," on them and rain-
bow patterned clothing. In
the front foyer at lunch time
(11:37 a.m.) on June 16, a
slide show of all the individ-
uals murdered with their
name and image was availa-
ble for anyone interested to
see.
"I>m not sure to what
extent they fully understand
the magnitude of it. This is
an opportunity to make sure
the one>s that did come, did
understand, based on how
many people were killed,"
said the principal of CHSS,
George McEwan, a couple
hours after the event.
"This is something we all
have a hard time
understanding."
To eliminate bullying, an
"accepting act" came into
effect on Sept. 1, 2012, better
known as Bill -13. A key high-
light for the educational
legality is that lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender
(LGBT) community are
allowed to form groups to
raise awareness. McEwan
said it>s pretty much man-
dated, but he made it clear,
"it doesn>t mean they must
have one, it means they must
support their efforts:"
According to a survey con-
ducted in 2014, Statistics
Canada revealed about 1.7
per cent of the country con-
sider themselves to be gay or
lesbian. And 1.3 per cent of
Canadians believe they are
bi-sexual.
I'm not sure to what extent they fully
understand the magnitude of it. This is
an opportunity to make sure the one's
that did come, did understand, based on
how many people were killed,"
— said the principal of CHSS, George McEwan, a
couple hours after the event
Still to this day, it>s a
steady fight for acceptance
for minors who are LGBT.
McEwan knows this and he
told the Expositor events like
last Thursday's are the first
step in getting rid of the
stigma surrounding a per-
son's sexuality.
"We are heading in exactly
the right direction, by all
means. It>s important to rec-
ognize that we don>t have
everyone on board. How-
ever, that could probably be
said about so many other
issues," he said. "All we can
hope is that we maintain by
steering the ship in the right
direction, so eventually, we
will have the community on
board with us:'
Alicia De Backere, the
Grade 10 and12 math
teacher and member of the
GSA at CHSS, said there are
three ways to end the blem-
ish surrounding the LGBT
community; they are aware-
ness, education and expo-
sure. Every Thursday the
GSA meets at lunchtime
with the primary goal of cre-
ating change surrounding
the tone of the school in
terms of "LGTBA2Q+" stere-
otypes and prejudices. They
urge all students to attend
including heterosexual
allies. De Backere said the
feedback is going well, but it
could be better.
"I am seeing more positive
atmosphere in school now
from when I started teaching
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ten years ago. Definitely a
huge difference," stated De
Backere, who joined the
committee for equal rights.
"Now students can be more
public with their lifestyle
choices and be more
accepted, but still there is
homophobia and trans -pho-
bia within the schools."
"Some people are bias,
they>ve been raised that way.
They don>t have an idea (that
Justine Alkema
Pictured here are the students and staff from Central Huron Secondary School. The Gender Sexuality
Alliance Committee put a slide show up of the people murdered in the Orlando Shootings June 17.
these specific people) are
just human beings."
De Backere said CHSS is
not worried about the
Orlando shootings
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back -lashing on Canadian
soil, "we are more con-
cerned about the emotional
reactions that the students
might be having."
De Backere is the adminis-
trator for the Facebook page
called the CHSS GSA, cur-
rently the social medium has
23 members.
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