Building Awareness

The Queens Preparatory Academy community grows stronger and more inclusive with the Gay-Straight Alliance club. This organization supports members of the LOBTQ+ group, and is led by QPA art teacher, Mr. Akaloo. He wants to ensure all QPA students are comfortable being who they are.

The Gay-Straight Alliance

This supportive organization was founded in the 1980s, and has a touching history of a teacher coming out as gay, but not being accepted by his school community. Then, a straight student who took notice of his struggle joined the teacher to work and stop discrimination against LGBTQ+ students. They soon recruited other members, and formed the very first Gay-Straight Alliance.

Today, the Gay-Straight Alliance is a student-led, community-based organization found in middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities. The organization supports and protects members of the LGBTQ+ community. They provide a safe and supportive space for those who need help dealing with their sexuality and gender. As Mr. Akaloo says, “It’s about acknowledging and respecting people for who they are.”

Here at QPA, it’s also about coming together and helping students cope with any difficult feelings they may have about their sexuality. As some students in GSA admit, it may take some time to come out and feel comfortable in your own skin, but when you are ready, as one student says: “I’m really happy because I’m finally me, and I can do what I feel is best for me.”

GSA Support at QPA

In Queens Preparatory Academy’s  GSA club, they cover many different topics, such as equality and respect. Mr. Akaloo supports the students, and expresses that the GSA believes “many kids are aware of their sexuality and gender, and we want to ensure that people don’t disrespect them, and don’t make them feel like they’re less just because they may be different.”

A perfect example of how a supportive community could do wonders is QPA junior Brian Arrington’s story about being in the Sisterhood, an organization that prepares the school’s female students for leadership. Despite knowing that some may criticize him for being a part of the Sisterhood,  he continues to focus on being himself, and enjoying the activities and support of the group instead of what some people may think.

QPA history teacher Ms. Wilson is director of the school’s Sisterhood, and sees Brian as a positive presence in the group. “Brian Arrington is a member of the LGBTQ+ community and is welcomed and supported by the Sisterhood as an alliance,” she says.  “He adds diversity and value to the group.” She says Brian has participated in a Sisterhood performance, trips, and community projects.

Ms. Wilson also believes the GSA is a substantial program that benefits the students of QPA by making them feel accepted and comfortable to be who they are.

According to Brian, “We work on communicating more and being more of a team, because we are all talented young people.” He also believes this should apply to society as a whole, because everyone should be supportive of each other and learn about what makes people feel like themselves.

He believes many people are unaware of what our school does to support students who may be afraid to embrace themselves.  He says, “At GSA you can learn more about who you are.”

Brian also believes we should do what makes us happy, and as we learn and grow, we will have more knowledge about what we want. “It took a while for me to come out,” he admits. “But when I finally did, I felt much  happier and more myself.” He believes you will grow throughout the years with the new lessons you learn, and “if you just be real with yourself, you will know what you want that will make you happy.”

Building Awareness

In GSA, students also learn that many people have different preferences and that once they become self-aware and proudly share their identity with the world, others may bully and harass them with jokes and slurs. However, GSA members want to make sure those actions are minimized in Queens Preparatory Academy, because it’s inappropriate and hurtful to disrespect someone with a different sexuality, gender, or religion. During the interview for this article, students’ eyes stayed on the ground as they shared what they’ve heard in some classes, and discussed ways to “correct” them, showing how much it hurts those who are made to feel inferior.

Currently, knowing that “not a lot of people are aware,” the group is working on a project to build sexual awareness within the school community. Their goal is to help all students understand and respect other people’s sexuality.

According to one member, some people, ”don’t even take the time to look up what sexual awareness means or what it is about,” and some people “don’t even know what GSA is.” To address this problem, they are developing a poster so students could be informed about the advantages the group offers, and the ways in which the GSA may benefit our community. They are also doing further research to learn even more about sexual awareness themselves, so that they can help others.

In addition, Ms. Smith, school psychologist at QPA’s Springfield Gardens Campus supports the need for sexual awareness among the student body. “A lot of people are still stuck with the traditional mindset of how an individual should be identified,” she states. She believes the project can help illustrate how important it is to be inclusive, because being marginalized impacts LGTQ+ youth in many ways. “It could affect their whole mental state, their development and their safety,” she adds. She maintains that more people being aware and educated would help make this a safer place for everyone, regardless of race, culture, gender, or sexuality.

Membership and Attendance

The GSA club is open to all QPA students, and anyone can join or attend regardless of how they identify themselves. Ms. Smith states that having the GSA would help people be more aware of themselves because, “You just don’t know what it is until you’re more exposed and more experienced.”

“It should not only be a small and exclusive group of people, but everyone should participate,” Brian states.

Semaj Tyson is another student who is a part of GSA, and serves as the group’s secretary. He discussed how difficult it was for him to be himself in North Carolina where he is from, because the country doesn’t fully embrace LGBTQ+ people. Semaj believes that if we “turn our mindset from negative to a more accepting one” more people would not feel ashamed or scared to be themselves, because everyone is unique in different ways, and everyone has the right to be who they really are.

He says, “Our community should be able to change that by helping and supporting them.” Semaj hopes that the school community will become more accepting of who we all are, and that students who are comfortable to be themselves won’t face prejudice in a space where they should feel safe. He wants to alter how people perceive LGBTQ+ people. He also advises that reminding people that “we only get one shot at life” is a smart method to encourage others.

So, as Mr. Akaloo informs us, regardless of your sex or gender, as long as you have respect for others you can join the GSA at Queens Preparatory Academy. They hold meetings every Thursday in room 320. You can sign up with Mr. Akaloo to join, and remember that while we are all unique, there are more similarities than differences among us. That is why it is important to be aware, accepting and inclusive.