Controversy in Rhode Island strengthens GSAs resolve

Photo by: Richard W. Dionne Jr. (from left) Tiverton High School Gay-Straight Alliance members Robby Thibault, Taylor Flynn, Cynda Martin, Rob Amorin and Selina Bouchard

EastBayRI.com - By Jim McGaw

“We’re still here.”

EAST BAY — Cynda Martin knew she was different early on.

“In fourth grade, I didn’t know what it was, but I knew that I didn’t really like guys,” said the soft-spoken, 18-year-old at Tiverton High School last week.

Things became clearer in middle school. “That’s when I found out my cousin was gay so I thought, ‘Oh, maybe I am, too.’ It clicked.”

Cynda came out in seventh grade, in a manner befitting her age. “I called my best friend on the phone. I told her and then I hung up on her,” she said, laughing.

Years later, Cynda would use her experiences as a take-off point for her senior project — starting up Tiverton High School’s first Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA). “My English teacher knew that I was really into the whole GSA and gay rights thing and all that good stuff and she suggested that I do something related to that,” said Cynda, who recruited some of her friends to join the group.

Cynda said the GSA was needed to give gay and lesbian students a safe haven where they can express themselves without repercussions.

“Students need to know there is somewhere they can go and there are people they can talk to if they don’t feel they fit in, or if they’re getting bullied,” said Cynda, who experienced some bullying at the Catholic school she had previously attended. “People will understand them, because they know someone or have been through the same thing.”

After putting up posters and making an announcement about the group to the student body, Cynda also needed approval from the principal and then appear before the School Committee for an OK. “They said, ‘Go for it,’” she said.

“They were very supportive,” added Peter Forrest, the group’s faculty advisor. “They thought it was a great idea.”

At least one lawmaker felt differently, however. The Tiverton GSA got off to a tumultuous start when state Rep. Daniel Gordon Jr. (R-Dist. 71), representing Tiverton and Portsmouth, threatened to de-fund the school for allowing what he characterized as a “sexual meet-up group” to gather on campus. In a follow-up letter to the Sakonnet Times last month, he even suggested that administrators and teachers who support the group could be subject to arrest for contributing to the delinquency of minors.

Advocates for GSA groups say Rep. Gordon has mis-characterized club members as well as their mission. On the representative’s charge of gay students “flaunting their sexuality,” Cynda begs to differ.

“There’s more of that between — no offense — the straight kids in the hallway than between the openly gay kids,” she said.

Every meeting is different

So what does go on at GSA meetings? During their weekly after-school gathering inside the THS library May 18 (the club also meets weekly at Cynda’s home), students answered a reporter’s questions and chatted about the usual stuff that’s on the minds of many teens: the upcoming prom, music, senior projects, tattoos — hardly subversive stuff.

“We didn’t plan ahead of time,” said Cynda.

But members do have more pressing issues and the topics of discussion are different at every meeting. Last month, for example, the group planned for the National Day of Silence, in which students nationwide take a vow of silence to bring attention to the bullying and harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students in their schools. The group also recently organized a fund-raiser for the school art department.

“Most of us are artists,” said Cynda.

At one meeting Mr. Forrest’s older brother Mark, who’s gay, came to speak to the students about keeping his sexual identity a secret when he graduated from Tiverton High in 1971. “The way he talked about being gay in 1971 was that you didn’t exist. There was no one to talk to about it,” said Mr. Forrest, adding that his brother, a social worker in Cambridge, Mass., didn’t come out until he was about 23.

One of the biggest misconceptions about GSAs is “that they’re focused on a single issue, when in fact that they’re often multifaceted. Activities vary from school to school,” said Ken Fish, interim executive director of Youth Pride Inc. The nonprofit, Providence-based organization provides support, advocacy and education for Rhode Island youths impacted by issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Elana Rosenberg, Youth Pride’s GSA network coordinator, agreed that a GSA typically serves many different functions. “My advice to them is to be an outlet that’s supportive, an outlet that is social and have a piece that’s active in the community or education-based,” she said.

To read the entire article, click here.