The Gender Sexuality Alliance Club (GSA) at Aliso Niguel High School is a safe space for LGBTQIA+ students and allies to connect, learn and support each other. The club is led by its president, Freja Harrison (11), and focuses on education as well as support for students navigating issues related to gender and sexual identity.
The GSA club goes over important LGBTQIA+ topics throughout the year. For instance, presentations given during club meetings go over important information such as the practice of binding and trans tape and how to use it correctly to prevent any serious side effects. The club also goes over important queer figures and history that is often overlooked.
The GSA additionally goes over the history of some of the pride flags of certain identities in the community. On top of that, the club reposts important information like their Instagram page closet clothing exchange to get free gender-affirming clothes and reposts about important issues such as human trafficking awareness.
During the month of October, the ANHS is celebrating LGBTQIA+ history. One way to get involved in celebrating queer history is by checking out and visiting the GSA meetings. The meetings are held in Ms. Torres’s classroom in room 302.
President Freja Harrison comments, “The GSA is a community. I’ve made so many friends through the GSA and its community is also very important. It is important for queer people to have a safe space that can be dedicated to their history since queer history is so neglected.”
Harrision adds, “Queer people have always and absolutely been a part of history; for example, sappho was one of the most famous poets and even Plato called her the Tenth Muse. Other examples, such as the AIDS crisis, are significant because, regardless of whether you are queer or not, you should know about them and if people do not know about queer people and queer history, that is how fear spreads. It is so much easier to fear and hate something you are unfamiliar with; therefore, queer history is important as it reminds you that queer people do exist and gives empathy to those people.”
The GSA allows for a diverse set of people to come together and collaborate over issues that are heavily prevalent within society that affects queer people. Each voice within the club is heard and the club has ensured a safe space for all members no matter if they are queer or just an ally.
Ms. Torres says, “It is the second year I’ve been the advisor for the GSA and I know that in previous years, the club sort of fell apart due to leadership drama and things like that. In the past two years, things have been stable and solid. Last year’s president, Amira, was great at making people feel included and made sure people were heard and able to present what they wanted to present in the club.”
Ms. Torres also reports, “This year the club president is Freja Harrison who is just a delight and was very close with the former president Amira. I noticed we have a more fleshed-out leadership this year, with several kids in the club pitching in for those roles. Last year, it was more Amira’s club, but what I like most about the club is that anybody in the club can choose a topic to present that has to do with gender and sexuality and they can present it in a wonderful manner.”
