Imagine suppressing who you are as a person because you are scared, this happens more than you may think. Many kids do this because they might be afraid or lack a strong support system behind them.

G.S.A club strives to change that. G.S.A stands for the gay-straight alliance or gender sexuality alliance. Both do the same action of helping kids become more comfortable and confident with themselves and others. Here at San Pasqual, we have a G.S.A club. The club is run by club president Jacob Hernandez and club advisor Mrs. Hawkins. Jacob decided to start up G.S.A for San Pasqual because,

“I personally, as a person of the LGBTQ community felt like we did not have enough diversity on campus. We needed that on campus and so I decided to start it up again.”

“My goal in G.S.A. is to make our school campus a more diverse place. A more safe place for everyone to feel more accepted, to feel more welcomed,” Hernandez says when being asked what his goal for  G.S.A is.

So far G.S.A has been running for a few weeks now and has been making their members feel just that, accepted and welcomed. 

“G.S.A. is a safe place where we can talk and we can learn about being a part of the LGBTQ community  G.S.A.’s impact has started,” Corban Stevenson, a freshman at San Pasqual and regular attender of the G.S.A club said.

“G.S.A is an important establishment in any school anywhere. It does not matter if your school is all boys or all girls because anywhere you will find little pieces of the LGBTQ community. A lot of things that have happened in the world and in history. LGBTQ isn’t as normalized or as safe as it could be, so it’s important to have a safe place for the community to gather and to be strong together,” Stevensen responds when asked about what his thoughts are regarding G.S.A.

So far the future of G.S.A is bright. Hernandez has some plans for G.S.A going forward into the second semester,

“I plan to be able to make this club feel more welcome and try to be able to bring in more people and staff members. I want to try to be able to make it where we have staff members involved as well,” Hernandez says.

G.S.A is an important and good club to have on the school campus as it offers students an output and a support system. Whatever the outcome of G.S.A, I’m positive that they will make an impact on all of their members and the school, making it a safer and more welcoming place.