Who Feels Safe?

Things have been getting pretty progressive in the United States recently. The legalization of gay marriage has been a major move forward for the LGBTQ community. There has also been a lot of debate over the matter of LGBTQ rights, and it has been found necessary to protect the younger members of the community in public spaces like high schools. Thus, the creation of Safe Spaces resulted, which are shown in Homer High School classrooms via small signs on doors.

Are Safe Spaces truly helpful? Do members of the LGBTQ community feel like they’re effective at keeping them safe? One student said, “I think that Safe Spaces are a pretty title, but they don’t actually do anything. I don’t think Homer has a problem, though I haven’t been as open as other people, so it’s not like somebody can point at me and say, ‘Hey, you’re queer,’ but I don’t think that they change anything. It’s as if they didn’t exist in the first place, which I don’t necessarily think is a bad thing because we don’t seem to have a problem about it.” When asked if they were happy that the school was trying to be more accepting of its LGBTQ students, they said, “I don’t think it’s the school's job that you shouldn’t be completely terrible to a person just because they’re different. I think it needs to be our responsibility, not the administration’s.”

One student, who has since graduated from Homer High School, found that having Safe Spaces was actually helpful. “Personally, I didn’t have much use for them, because I was never openly antagonized or bullied, but the fact that they were there did reassure me that the school supported me and wouldn’t leave me to deal with harassment by myself if that were to happen.”

So, while there are differing opinions on the usefulness of Safe Spaces, it is agreed that they are a step in the right direction, and are much appreciated by those who need them.