Campus Views: Valentine's Day a chance for respect
With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, one Whitefish High School club is putting their own spin on the holiday.
Setting aside chocolates, roses and paper valentines, Whitefish High’s Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) is hoping to spread the message of tolerance and kindness through the hallways of our school.
GSA, with a mission to create a safe, and accepting environment for everyone, regardless of gender or sexual identity, meets once a week at lunch with the goal to make Whitefish High School more inclusive. It should be noted that this club does not work to promote gay rights and does not limit inclusion based on personal beliefs; it only works to “push for tolerance and for human acceptance.”
GSA has had its ups and downs.
Last Valentine’s Day, after the club used the holiday as a symbolic spirit day dubbing it “Rainbow Day,” certain groups of the high school resisted their efforts. When GSA and others wore rainbow colored ribbons, other students wore white ribbons to express their own counter opinions. GSA members were disappointed when the group took to Facebook to further express their opinions about GSA.
What began as a simple white ribbon, morphed into “toxic and offensive” language that members of GSA felt was used to “attack and degrade” GSA.
“People are more reasonable in real life than in social media,” says sophomore GSA member Hunter Cripe. “It’s way easier to degrade someone on Facebook than in real life.”
Despite the tension felt last year, students of GSA have not been discouraged. This year, as recommended by staff, the club is hosting a “rainbow party” on Feb. 11.
“We are totally fine with people expressing their own opinions,” says junior member Emma Nixon.
“We just feel people should be and feel safe,” added Junior Annika Gordon.
According to junior Cassidy Grady, “It’s our job to make people comfortable in order to institute powerful inclusion. Combining support for LGBT community with school activities can trigger the ones in strong opposition to speak loudly against the LGBT community, drowning out the opinions of the rest of the town.”
According to the GSA website, research shows that youth harassed on the basis of sexual orientation are “more than twice as likely to report depression and seriously consider suicide, three times more likely to skip school and more likely to become victims of violence.”
However with the addition of GSA, schools have been proven to become safer, more inclusive environments for the entirety of the student body.
Statistics aside, what if everyone had an opportunity to share the truth of their experience without ridicule, harassment or hatred? I’m quite sure that Whitefish High School, and the Whitefish community, have the capacity to create a Valentine’s Day that is a true celebration of love.
Special thanks to the students of GSA
Respect yourself and others.
— Grace Kurtz is a senior at Whitefish High School