Plant High School’s Gay Straight Alliance has not had a strong presence in the community within the past school years. However, with the clubs new presidents, Rae Larrinaga, Chloe Goodwin and Katherine Jackson, they expect to bring the club to more people’s attention.

The new presidents are all juniors, passionate about equality and including others. English teacher Michael James is the current sponsor for the club as well.

“Our goal for the GSA this year is to get it back up and running again cause last year there was nothing,” said Larrinaga.

Furthermore, she speaks about the group aspect of the club, focusing on inclusion. “We want to be a community. A safe environment for people of all sexualities and genders,” said Larrinaga.

It has been over a year since the death of Leelah Alcorn, a transgender teen bullied to the point of suicide. Studies in the past few years show that the bullying of LGBT+ teens continues. For example, the Human Rights Campaign noted that LGBT students are twice as likely to be harassed or bullied in school.

Before leaving for winter break, the co-presidents organized a Secret Santa event amongst group members. Although less than a dozen participated, Goodwin and Larrinaga still aim high.

“We want everyone to get to know each other, which is why we’re doing this right now,” said Larrinaga, referencing the gift exchange.

“We want to have a couple more gatherings like this,” said Goodwin. The club leaders hope to plan parties and social get togethers for the remainder of the year, all the while carrying a positive influence in the community.

The alliance lacks much promotion around school, without posters hanging in the hallways, nor much teacher encouragement, yet the new club leaders are more focused on making the club active and successful.