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Holliston High School has a hope for all students to be respectful towards each other, but do we always follow through? I can say from first hand experience, that, no, students don't always practice what they preach. It is my goal to educate students on the need for acceptance among each other, for those who are different. I have created a bulletin board full of resources for both students in the LGBTQ+ community and those who want to learn what it means to be a productive ally.
Community Need /Why it's an important issue
Students in the LGBTQ+ community hear slurs being thrown around and their identity being used to insult others every day. When we go to school, it is a constant reminder that we aren't on the same playing field as everyone else, they are degrading our identity which enforces our own self-hatred. The mental health of those in the community is extremely different from those who are not. The cause of this is due to society's lack of respect and acceptance. It is so important to show visibility and support the students who don't feel as welcome.
Community Partnership
For my project, I reached out to BAGLY, the Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth. BAGLY is dedicated to creating safe spaces for teens and youth in the community, no matter their circumstances. Although my partnership with BAGLY has not been confirmed, I am still hoping that they will send more resources our way. Check them out: https://www.bagly.org/ (not available on chromebooks)
How can the community help?
It really is simple. To create a comfortable and accepting community for students, the language that is used needs to be changed. The teachers in the building need to be listening out for any hate speech or slurs and be willing to be a contact for students if they need help. Our school needs to do better at enforcing our goals of kindness and acceptance so that we, as students, actually feel the positivity when we come into the building. Here are some specifics that you as an individual can do to improve the alliance:
Ask people what pronouns they would prefer to go by
Respect these pronouns! If you accidentally make a mistake, correct yourself and apologize to whomever you were referring to
If you have strong opinions against the community and want to voice these opinions, try to keep it as an intellectual conversation, not an argument.
Remember that those in the community are human too, they deserve the same amount of respect and kindness as everyone else in the world.
DO NOT use hate speech and slurs
On the bulletin board by Ms. Mills' classroom (room there is information on why slurs are so offensive and where they originate
Do your research!
About Me
My Name is Jocelyn Quinan, I am a Junior here at Holliston High School. I began questioning my sexuality in Eighth grade, where I was absolutely terrified for people to find out. I was so scared that I would be bullied just like tv told me I would be. Entering Holliston high school, I had big hopes for the school's acceptance policy. After being in the building for about a semester I realized that students were being insensitive and unkind to the students in the LGBTQ+ community without even realizing it. There weren't the most obvious cases of bullying, but the language that the students, and even sometimes teachers, were using was appalling. It seems like I can't go a day without hearing slurs being used or people using "gay" as a way to make others feel inferior. Being femme, people never for a second questioned if I were gay or not, and would think it would be ok to use the derogatory language since "no gays were around". For the longest time, I have been waiting for something to do something about it, and it wasn't until this year that I realized that it would have to be me.
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