By Carol Phillips – News Editor

Law’s Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) Club held their first after school meeting on September 23.

The club is open to everyone and is designed to promote and encourage diversity in the school and community.

This year, the club has four advisors: Mr. Evanko, Ms. Mannion, Ms. Burns, and Ms. Kowalsick.  Mannion and Burns decided to take over the club last year.

So far, the club has grown in size, when there were about five members.  But now, with the amount of interest in the club, a goal is to get more members.

“We want to recruit more people,” Burns said.  “We want to do away with the stigma GSA.”

This club is open to everyone in the school and is a safe environment for anyone.  Even at the first after school meeting, all the members were laughing with each other and sharing stories.  It didn’t matter if the members weren’t too familiar with each other; they still showed support and were very welcoming.

“We are all about tolerance and support,” Evanko said.

The new members this year are excited for all this club has to offer.

“This is a great club to raise awareness,” junior Tyler Papallo said.  “I want to get to know everyone better in the group, too. It sounds fun.”

Other members shared how they had friends in the club in past years and heard how exciting the club is.  This was the reason for their joining this year.

“I’m looking forward to getting to make new friends who are like me and support what I am,” junior Alexis Gibbons said.

GSA has big plans for the year ahead.  The advisors have shared that the club is going to attend the True Colors conference held at UConn in the spring.  True Colors is a non-profit organization that helps make sure the needs of the sexual and gender minority are met.

“The True Colors retreat sounds fun,” Papallo said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

The club also plans on working with Foran High School’s GSA in the near future.

“I thought it would be interesting to join,” sophomore Jill Bendlak said.  “I’m looking forward to learning about more current events.”

Anyone who wants to be a part of a fun and interesting club can join GSA.  All members need is an open mind and the willingness to make a change.

(Photo courtesy houstonisg.org)