Despite diversity, high school GSA would have helped

Aaron Harfuth is the president of Spectrum at Boston University.

When I heard that Chancellor and Acting President John Silber disbanded the Boston University Academy’s Gay/Straight Alliance, I was thunderstruck. In the past, Silber has said and done some objectionable things, of which this is no exception. Furthermore, I knew that Silber is self-righteous and has some moral issues with “queers.” However, I never realized his fear was so deep as to persuade him to terminate a Gay/Straight Alliance.

I assumed that Silber would allow students to have the potential to express themselves. I also assumed that he would allow this group and any other peaceful group to meet. But I soon learned that Silber found tolerating a club about tolerance was intolerable.

There are many reasons to have GSAs in high schools. In 2001, the Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that when there is a GSA in a school, reports of violence and harassment fall rapidly and students are less likely to skip school and less likely to attempt suicide. Disbanding the GSA just reinforces society’s message of hostility toward gays — a hostility that is unfounded and should be unacceptable in a civilized society, and in particular at BU.

The administration reasons that the BU Academy is already diverse enough and has no need for a GSA. No matter how bright or cultured students are, they will always need guidance and support. Why deny them such a positive opportunity?

I was walking down the street the other day and heard a guy from a passing car yelling “faggot!” I know neither who it was, nor whom it was directed to, but it is clear that BU’s recent growth in diversity in no way makes promoting tolerance obsolete. In truth, diversity has little to do with whether a school needs a GSA or not.

The GSA at the BU Academy existed because the Academy’s students want it. Students founded and ran the club. They obviously felt the GSA was an essential part of their educational experience. Many of us at the college level don’t like it when Silber tells us what we should do or not do. These students probably feel the same way. They are likely insulted by the fact that Silber forced them to do what he wants.

I was probably the only openly gay student at my high school, a private one as well. My high school was pretty diverse itself. It had several international students and gave full scholarships to impoverished inner-city kids; there were students from all over. However, its diversity did not make the school a place where a GSA was not needed.

I still suffered through anti-gay harassment, as did many other kids, regardless of their sexual orientation. After I graduated, the school finally formed a GSA. Students now report that more positive attitudes abound. It’s such a feat when students decide for themselves that intolerance has to stop. They did something. The BU Academy students did something. Now Silber is sending a message that they should not do what they feel is necessary for their school.

Another administrative concern was that the GSA was somehow encouraging premarital sex. While the BU Academy GSA was not primarily focused on sexual relations, it did provide a resource for honest answers about safe sex. Gay teens have few reliable sources and end up learning safety through potentially dangerous mistakes. GSAs provide a forum free from humiliation and shame — a place for teens to discuss all kinds of life issues, including, but not limited to, sex issues.

When I was in high school I craved a safe place. I wanted to meet people my age who were attracted to the same sex. I wanted to make friends who understood what I was going through. I wanted to talk about the pressures of being gay. But no place like that existed. Luckily I did have a great mentor, a teacher I could confide in. But that teacher was not around all the time.

I desired a group of supportive friends. Even though I did have a supportive adult to talk to, by the time I mustered the courage to talk, I was a mess. I did not know how to handle my sexuality at that point, and made some regrettable mistakes because of that.

Could the GSA have helped me? Undoubtedly. A GSA could help a lot of kids. Everyday, gay youth fight off the message that they should disrespect themselves as much as the world around them does. GSAs provide a supportive environment for gay students to discover that they too are people worthy of dignity and respect. John Silber must realize that this self-respect is just as essential to a student’s success as a quality education.