By Valendy Pierre
Gay-Straight Alliance, also known as the GSA, is a club here at Apopka High School meant to bring everyone together. It all started a couple of years ago by a former teacher, Ms. Haas, who has now left. Due to Ms. Haas’ departure, current president of the club, Quinlan Nguyen has asked English teachers Ms. Amburgey and Ms. Getter, along with Math teacher Ms. Angel (who was not available at this time) to take over and they willingly did so. “It’s something I believe in, all of us,” said Mrs. Amburgey. “There needs to be a safe environment.” Ms. Getter adds that people are people, and we should all be able to get along in harmony.
GSA has a president, a sub president, and sub-vice presidents. Aforementioned president, Quinlan Nguyen, is currently a junior here at Apopka and has been part of GSA for 3 years. She is also involved in Safe Ambassadors, another club here at Apopka, and she’s on the tennis team. Vice President Brodie Beauchamp is also a junior and has been part of the club since his beginning years at AHS. Both presidents are members of the LGBTQ+ community. Unable to reach the Vice President at the time, Quinlan gave an inside look at what GSA is. “This is a fan club and you can make a lot of friends there,” she said. “It’s a club that would want to spread acceptance and positivity throughout our school.”
Throughout the school year, GSA does several events to build ties with the community. They do events such as helping the Zebra Coalition, an organization that helps homeless teens in the LGBTQ+ community. GSA will also be doing Relay for Life. Even still, that’s not all they do. “The previous week we had Ally Week— ally means that you don’t have to be part of the LGBTQ+ community, but that you are an ally, meaning you stand up for what’s right and you support that unity. We will also have planters outside in the boxes.”
President Quinlan and the rest of the group meet every second and fourth Wednesday of the month to discuss their goals and plans for this school year. “Well, this year we have new club sponsors, so we all hope to get re-established and create the friendly environment,” she said. “We have some fun projects coming up soon, like we are working with GLSEN to create baskets for LGBT youth. We are also participating in Relay for Life this year again.” If any of you were wondering, GLSEN stands for Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network and is a homosexual advocacy group focused on reaching public school students, according to the World Wide Web.
For the entirety of the GSA’s many years at Apopka, it has impacted many lives. Their goal is to spread positivity and portray a safe home for those who do not feel comfortable here. You don’t have to be gay or exactly an ally to be part of this club. You can be curious, just have questions, or maybe just interested, it doesn’t matter. Everyone is welcomed, and you can be yourself. “You will never be judged by how you identify, and that’s really cool.”