PHOTO CAPTION: Students at FLAGS High School in the South Bronx have started a club called the Gay Straight Alliance. / Estudiantes del Flags High School en el South Bronx han comenzado un club llamado Gay Straight Alliance.

Homophobia is a huge problem in Bronx schools as it is elsewhere. More than 40 percent of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual questioning) youth do not feel safe in their schools, according to a national survey by the Sexual Information and Education Council of the United States. Some students and administrators are trying to address the situation.

The Foreign Language Academy of Global Studies (FLAGS) high school on Jackson Avenue in the South Bronx has an after school club called the Gay Straight Alliance. “I made this club so that all kinds of people can feel safe, not worrying about other people and give them a voice,” said the club’s president, Katherine Nuñez, who’s bisexual.

I’ve experienced homophobia in one of my classes at FLAGS. It got so bad that my principal Ms. Collins had to speak with the students that were making negative comments about the others sexuality. “I will not tolerate this, my school environment is safe and comfortable and I’m glad those people spoke up so I could do something about it” she said. The situation was solved when Ms. Collins bought in the parents of the offending students, and consulted with them on their children’s bad behavior. The students also got an in-school suspension for two days.

Not everyone thinks it’s acceptable to be gay. “I am a homophobe, I rather be dead than being one of them,” said Joshua Rodriguez, a high school student at FLAGS

Wilmarie Rivera, a straight person who attends the Gay Straight Alliance, thinks students should be more accepting. “People are not opening their minds to their surroundings and the people they try to live with,” Rivera said. “This is why others feel this way towards certain things. They don’t feel comfortable talking about the situation and they think the “homos” are going to “hit” on them.”

Adds another FLAGS. student who didn’t want to give his name said: “Gay Straight Alliance is necessary. It gives you a chance to be yourself, and you [realize] there are people going through the same things you are.”

The Gay Straight Alliance was founded in 2007. Students approached the principal and told her they thought it was a good idea. Activities include watching movies about gay people being harassed, and discussing how they are treated and how they respond. We also we sit in a circle and write about the problem-free world we want to live in. We meet once a week after school. There are around 12 students in the club.

Schools need to offer a safe and respectful learning environment for everyone, according to Mental Health America, a non-profit organization. Homophobic bullying can affect everyone. For every LGBTQ youth who reported being targeted with anti-gay harassment, four heterosexual youth reported harassment or violence for being perceived as gay or lesbian, says the organization’s Web site ( HYPERLINK “http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/” t “_blank” www.mentalhealthamerica.net). Students, teachers, and school administrators who look the other way are contributing to the problem. In contrast, says the Web site, kids who said that they had a supportive faculty or openly gay staff member were more likely to feel as if they belong in their school.

Even with the Gay Straight Alliance, students are still getting harassed at FLAGS, said Nuñez. But the school is at least trying to stamp out homophobia. Hopefully similar clubs will be started at other Bronx schools.

PHOTO CAPTION: Students at FLAGS High School in the South Bronx have started a club called the Gay Straight Alliance. / Estudiantes del Flags High School en el South Bronx han comenzado un club llamado Gay Straight Alliance.

La homofobia es un problema en las escuelas del Bronx y en todos lados. Mas del 40 por ciento de los jóvenes LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi sexual Transsexual) no se sienten protegidos en sus escuelas, de acuerdo al estudio nacional realizado por el Sexual Information and Education Council of the United States. Algunos estudiantes y funcionarios están tratando de remediar la situación.

“The Foreign Language Academy of Global Studies” (FLAGS) en Jackson Avenue, South Bronx, tiene un club llamado Gay Straight Alliance. “Formé este club para que toda clase de gente se sienta protegida y pueda hablar sin preocuparse sobre lo que otros digan” dijo la presidenta del club, Katherine Nuñez, quien es bisexual.

He visto homofobia en una de mis clases. El principal, Ms. Collins, tuvo que dirigirse a los estudiantes que estaban haciendo comentarios negativos sobre la orientación sexual de otros. “No voy a tolerar esto, mi escuela es segura y confortable y me alegra que esas personas hablaran para poder hacer algo al respecto”. La situación fue resuelta cuando Ms. Collins citó a los padres de los provocadores, y los consultó sobre el mal comportamiento de sus hijos. Los estudiantes fueron sancionados con una suspensión de dos días.

No todo el mundo cree que ser gay es aceptable. “Yo soy homofóbico, prefiero morir a ser uno de ellos” dijo Joshua Rodríguez, un estudiante de FLAGS High School.
Wilmarie Rivera, una heterosexual que participa del Gay Straight Alliance, cree que los estudiantes deben ser más abiertos. “Alguna gente no esta abriendo su mente al mundo que los rodea” dice Rivera. “Ellos nos se sienten cómodos hablando de esta situación y piensan que los ‘maricones’ van a tratar de seducirlos.”

Un estudiante de FLAGS quien se negó a dar su nombre, dijo: Gay Straight Alliance es una necesidad. Te da la oportunidad de ser tu mismo y ver que hay gente está pasando por lo mismo que tú”
.
Gay Straight Alliance fue fundada en el 2007. Algunos estudiantes se acercaron al principal y le dijeron que creían era una buena idea. Las actividades incluyen muestra de películas sobre gente gay siendo acosada, y conversaciones sobre como son tratados y la manera en que responden. También nos sentamos en un círculo y escribimos sobre el mundo sin prejuicios en el que queremos vivir. Nos reunimos una vez a la semana después de la escuela. Hay aproximadamente 12 estudiantes en el club.

Las escuelas necesitan brindar un ambiente de aprendizaje seguro y respetuoso para todos, de acuerdo a Mental Health America, una organización sin fines de lucro. Por cada joven LGBTQ que reporta ser objeto de acoso anti-gay, cuatro jóvenes heterosexuales denuncian ser victimas de actos de violencia por ser percibidos como gay o lesbiana, asegura el sitio de internet de la organización (www.mentalhealthamerica.net).

Estudiantes, maestros, y administradores de escuelas que miran hacia otro lado, agravan el problema. En contraste, dice el sitio de internet, chicos que aseguran tener un miembro gay en el staff de la escuela, se sienten que ellos también pertenecen a la misma.
Aun con Gay Straight Alliance, los estudiantes son acosados en FLAGS, dice Núñez. Pero al menos la escuela esta tratando de eliminar la homofobia. Con suerte, más clubes de este tipo se crearan en otras escuelas del Bronx.

PHOTO CAPTION: Students at FLAGS High School in the South Bronx have started a club called the Gay Straight Alliance. Estudiantes del Flags High School en el South Bronx han comenzado un club llamado Gay Straight Alliance.