At the Dec. 9 T/E Diversity Committee meeting, English department chair Trevor Drake, along with junior April Dunlop, made the case that these signs should be made available to those teachers in the middle schools who wish to post them in their classrooms. Drake, an adviser for the Conestoga Gay-Straight Alliance, and Dunlop, the club’s president, urged the inclusion of such an option in light of recent studies indicating a decrease in the age at which children realize their sexuality. Dunlop spoke honestly about her own experiences at T/E Middle School, and the intolerance and cruelty she has faced as an openly bisexual student. 

If this decision is made, it would make it easier for those middle school students who are members of the LGBT community to find the acceptance that they need and the respect that they deserve. 

Those community members in opposition to this proposition expressed an unfounded fear that with the inclusion of such a sign, many middle school students would be unfairly forced to change their own views about human sexuality. The discussion quickly became political and instead addressed the possibility of this sign being one more step towards encouraging support of equal rights. 

While there seems no conceivable reason as to why all individuals shouldn’t be given the right to believe as they see fit, love and live as they want, the sign in no way propagates any of these ideals. The sign is geared towards increasing acceptance of all lifestyles, regardless of one’s personal beliefs. Increasing the availability of the sign is one way of expressing how important and necessary it is to treat all human beings with the dignity and respect that they deserve. 

Where else, if not in school, can students with different opinions and beliefs expect to feel safe? In moments of confusion, sadness and hurt, all students should be able to look to their teachers for support and guidance. It is our responsibility not just as students, but as human beings, to accept and protect our most sacred right, that of living the life we choose for ourselves. As mere students and administrators, it does not fall to us to say that certain individuals don’t deserve to have their opinions accepted or embraced. 

As a student at this school and as a member of the global community, nothing brings me greater sadness than the idea that there are those who choose to refute the very heart of the problem, and that is that certain students have been treated unfairly and unjustly, something that we could have prevented, something that we should never have let happen. 

We owe it to those students who have the courage to live their own lives to do whatever we can to ensure that they can continue to do just that. We owe it to ourselves to prove that all hope is not lost. That we have not forgotten our responsibility to our fellow human beings, the responsibility to do what is right. 

Sanjana Bijlani can be reached at sbijlani@stoganews.com.

This article appeared originally on p. 10 of The Spoke’s Jan. 12, 2009 edition.