The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

Students show their support for the LGBTQ community

Students+sport+rainbow+stickers+to+show+their+support+for+the+LGBTQ+community.+Credit%3A+Sophie+Haber%2FChronicle+
Students sport rainbow stickers to show their support for the LGBTQ community. Credit: Sophie Haber/Chronicle

Marking International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, students and faculty showed their support for the school’s LGBT community with rainbow hearts on their chests.

Gender Sexuality and Awareness Club and P10 members, along with some prefects and faculty members, passed out pride stickers to students and faculty in honor of the global celebration of gender and sexuality diversity.

“It’s good that people understand that there’s a bigger cause, and that sometimes we need our allies to help us gain equality and stop prejudiced,” P10 member Matteo Lauto ’18 said.

The day commemorates the anniversary of the World Health Organization’s act to remove homosexuality from its International Classification of Diseases on March 17, 1990.

However, students announced at the assembly Wednesday that 93 percent of teens still report hearing derogatory language about sexual orientation, according Violence Prevention Works.

“Homophobia, transphobia and biphobia are still real problems in our society, even in 2017, and affects a lot of members of our community, whether indirectly or directly, so we want to be able to show our support in any way that we can,” GSA leader Nathan Cardin said.

Community support was overwhelming, and GSA and P10 members quickly ran out of stickers, Lauto said.

“I feel like the student support today, and just at Harvard-Westlake in general, is really great,” Cardin said. “We always have more work to do to make sure that not only does everyone feel like they can be an ally, but everyone feels like they can have the language and the understanding for how they can be the best ally that they can be. If our whole goal is to make sure that everyone has a home at Harvard-Westlake, days like today are really great because a lot of people in the LGBT community feel like there is a place for them here.”

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Students show their support for the LGBTQ community