Aragon Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) members and other students and teachers participated in Ally Week from Oct. 13 through 17. Led by students, Ally Week encourages students to advocate for LGBT individuals, who are often subject to bullying and harassment.
“It’s a week where people can spread awareness about what it means to be an ally, why you should be an ally and how you can be ally,” says GSA co-president Kelsey O’Donnell.
During Ally Week, the GSA put up posters, gave out stickers, encouraged students to sign a pledge and made a video with Video Production Club about Ally Week.
The video answers questions about the basics of being an ally for LGBT rights. “[In the video] we talk about the basics of what an ally is and who can be an ally, and then [it shows] three questions that we have been asking a variety of people: ‘what does it mean to be an ally?,’ ‘why are you an ally?’ and ‘what advice would you give to someone who wants to be an ally?’” says O’Donnell.
People made pledges in center court on Oct. 15 and 16, promising to take a stand against LGBT bullying at Aragon. “We always get a lot of pledges and support every year because Aragon is thankfully a very supportive school,” says O’Donnell.
Though she thinks the Aragon community is generally supportive of LGBT rights, O’Donnell still sees an issue in how students at Aragon unintentionally use LGBT-unfriendly slurs. “I definitely think that while people may not be bullied for being gay at Aragon, though I’m sure it does happen to a lesser degree, there is still a large usage of slurs and negative language towards the LGBT community. Though it may not be with malicious intent, it is definitely still harmful and still needs to be curbed,” says O’Donnell.
Sophomore Matt Chinn has witnessed LGBT bullying, saying, “I have seen it firsthand, and honestly I’m disgusted by it. No one should be treated differently because of their sexual orientation.”
“Ally Week is 100 percent necessary,” O’Donnell adds. “It spreads awareness, spreads the word, and gives people a chance to show their support even if they don’t come to [GSA] meetings.”
Junior Gavin Scheldrup sees Ally Week as a way to help LGBT youth realize that others accept them already. “Anything that makes people comfortable coming out of the closet is great,” he says.
