Patricia Brice (285)

Central High School is meant to be a safe place for students to express themselves and their individuality. This applies to kids who are queer and or trans. Central has an LGBTQ+ club and a queer studies teacher, Mr. Palazzolo, contributing to a safe place for the community, which is also made possible thanks to the Policy 252 which ensures the “safety, equity, and justice for all students regardless of gender identity or gender expression so that they can reach their fullest human and intellectual potential.” Even though Central students feel safe being queer and or trans at Central, improvements can be made when it comes to supporting the LGBTQ+ community. These improvements include recognition on the anti-lgbtq+ bills,  more Policy 252.

Policy 252

Policy 252  rule was established on June 16, 2016. This rule was created to make trans students feel more comfortable expressing their identity. It requires teachers to call the students by their pronouns and respect their identity. This policy involves having bathrooms in school so that trans students and students exploring their gender identity don’t feel divided. The policy also gives trans students privacy rights, meaning they have a choice to keep information about their identity private. These privacy rights extend to their parents. The rule additionally prevents schools from practicing segregation and discrimination by gender, which helps to make trans and queer kids more comfortable expressing their identity to others. While the policy has been effective in making many students feel safe at school, our queer studies teacher, Mr. Palazzolo, believes that teachers could use more training and increase awareness of Policy 252.

A Student’s Perspective

Gabriella Quinones (283) explained that the community feels the LGBTQ+ hate has gotten louder in some ways. For example,in my interview with him She brought up in the interview that there are anti-trans bills being passed around, and there are legislators who are proposing a bill that will ban gay marriage which will lead gay rights being stolen from queer people ; For example, if you’re a trans person, the bill will prevent you from having basic health care, and even worse, the bill takes away legal protection from people who identify as trans. So it will become harder to protect themselves, and even easier to be attacked 

What can we do to improve?

While the LGBTQ+ community is more accepting than it has ever been for students, there are some things we can do to improve our community: First, we could spread more awareness about Policy 252 rule, and on how it’s beneficial for queer kids. To both students and teachers. Second, we can become more respectful of the community. It’s okay if we don’t understand gender, sexuality, or pronouns because the least that we can do is be respectful to  each other regardless of it, and treat others with compassion. No sexuality is, and ever will be better than the other, and an individual’s race or skin color definitely does not make them more superior in the community. Finally, changes are already made as this article is read. If we keep talking about this topic, stand up for what we believe in, spread more awareness, become more respectful of one another, and understand how much hate can impact others, we are establishing a better community for tomorrow, and following days and years afterwards. Central is made to accept any kid regardless of their gender or sexuality, so let’s all do our best to  keep it that way.