Why should you care? LGBTQ+ clubs help save lives.

Nothing's harder in life than finding out who you are, starting a journey deep into yourself to really pull out the pieces missing from your puzzle. Maybe even spiraling into deep states of depression in the process. Jokes aside, The LGBTQ+ has been growing over the many years but there's still much conflict and hate in the air. Many places and schools are still closed off to such “Shenanigans' '. We need to act. That's why I believe we should start by adding a LGBTQ+ club to all schools and communities in the area. This step could make a lot more of a difference than you think, and could actually save many young lives. How? Well let me explain…

My name is Ash. I once lived in California but have recently moved to Switzerland and I'm now attending ZIS middle school. My whole life I’ve been in a community and family of support towards LGBTQ and I’ve decided to make equality and equity my main goal in writing to help others have that kind of life too. 

 Did you know that about 40% of families actually are LGBTQ+ inclusive or at least teach their children about LGBTQ+? And only about 50% of educators in schools believe that students should be taught about LGBTQ+. And if you think about how many schools and educators there are, that number may suddenly seem much bigger. According to Stonewall.org, kids in non LGBTQ+ inclusive schools were less likely to come out until way later in their lives or were not able to understand their identity and always felt like outcasts. 

Let's start with a quick preview for all you newcomers on what exactly LGBTQ+ is. LGBTQ+ is a shorter version of LGBTQQIP2SAA, a whole lot of letters that will probably take half of this article to explain so you can go look it up yourself if you want to have some extra information. LGBTQ+ is a community of people who will often have different pronouns then they had from birth and/or have same sex attraction or no attraction at all. 

A neon rainbow heart sign. The rainbow symbolizes unity, diversity, and identity.

Often people will start feeling differently early on in life but wont express it or embrace those feelings until a lot later in life. This is a reason why we need school LGBTQ+ clubs, school is the main enemy as many people feel self conscious, isolated, or even unwanted so a space to talk openly about sexuality and gender with fellow students and trusted adults. Clubs like this also establish friendships with people who really listen and understand you making it easier to find someone to talk your problems to or asking for advice as they might have been in the same situation. The ZIS Saga group is a great example. Saga stands for Sexuality And Gender Awareness. Saga is a club that meets every Friday at lunch and is a free space to chat about sexuality and gender. 

The main reason for why we need LGBTQ+ school groups is bullying. Bullying usually damages the person's mental state, for example calling names, making subtle jokes and dissing the LGBTQ+ community in general. In fact, just last week I learned a group of people that I don't even know were talking about me behind my back and as well as making a bunch of other disrespectful comments, they also were talking about my sexuality in a way that was very ill-mannered and rude. 

Clubs may be a step forward but they don’t always receive respect and escape contemptuous comments. For example I was in my climbing club at the high school gym and I heard two boys talking about the SAGA club. They were calling it the gay club and were tossing around inconsiderate remarks about the people in the SAGA club. This is a common misconception about LGBTQ+ clubs and you all need to understand that these clubs are for everyone and it's more than a “gay club.”

Another problem is that when people make these kinds of jokes and talk about people behind their backs it causes a sense of security in those around them to shut down any feelings they have of their sexuality or gender, it's just like bullying. Many kids follow the influence of their friends, student leaders, or adult leaders and if they aren't open and accepting to LGBTQ+, that kid will also shut it out too and ignore their identity. Clubs should be an escape from all these harsh comments and “friends.”

One more thing. According to The Trevor Project, the second leading death for people normally aged 10-24 in the LGBTQ+ community is suicide and this is serious so don't go rolling your eyes and start dismissing everything. The Trevor project also found out that 45% of LGBTQ+ youth had seriously  considered suicide in the past year of 2022 as well as a study that has calculated that every 45 seconds, one LGBTQ+ youth around the globe attempts suicide. 

So that's why we need to have LGBTQ+ inclusive clubs to make a safe place for all this hate and controversy. Even if you laugh at this and disregard it, please just remember that people are all fragile no matter how strong they seem on the outside. Be kind to everyone and please think about your words before you speak them, they will have an impact.  People will always be people no matter what their sexuality, or gender is, so why don’t we stop being such pricks and take steps to make a safe community for LGBTQ+. As Chris Colfer said, “There’s nothing wrong with you, there's a lot wrong with the world you live in.” We are all people and all people must be treated equally for a safe future and a better world.