Crofton High School’s GSA: The Place Where You Can Always Be Yourself

Crofton High School’s GSA is a club dedicated to inclusivity and representation of members of the LGBTQIA+ community and their allies.

Gender-Sexuality Alliance is advised by Ms. Denise Miles. The club meets Monday during red block and Wednesday during gold block in Ms. Miles’s room. They are also always looking for new members to join and anyone is welcomed.

Sophomore Sam Bradley had so many great things to say about the GSA such as, “it’s really a safe space for a lot of people in here and it’s somewhere where we feel like we can share.” 

Ms. Miles, the club advisor added, “GSA is basically just a club that brings together any LGBTQIA+, siblings and allies to try and work together to make a sort of safe space here at Crofton”. Ms. Miles also mentioned, “The important thing is really promoting and making Crofton High School a safe space, making sure that it’s welcoming and affirming to the identities of our students regardless of gender or sexuality”

Sophomore Mars Fuhrer said the goal of the club is to create a safe community at the school.

“I want it to show the school that we have a community where everyone can feel included and safe, and no one feels excluded and there’s always somewhere to go,” they said.

Sophomore Eden Vance shared that “schools that have a GSA tend to be a lot safer for queer students and generally have a lot lower of a self-harm rate for the queer students that go there.” This is important because no matter how students identify they should feel safe and accepted at school and in their community. She also added “I want to be able to take any discomfort I have had with regards to being queer and make it so that the students going here in 5 or 10 or 20 years don’t face it. I am sure there will be more but I just want to leave them the tools to deal with it.” 

Freshman Julia Malter commented on the importance of the GSA, and said that “there might be people in the school or around who might not have the support they need at home and so it can be really helpful to get it at school.”

Junior Dorian Franklin said, “It is a good safe space for queer people just to meet and it helps them get access to resources like one of our main things is getting access to resources and helping getting things that are needed for the school.” 

Ms. Miles also said, “I think we want an impact where students that are here presently will feel that they are affirmed, that their peers, teachers, and other staff members genuinely will ask for names and pronouns, that people regardless of gender or sexuality expression are represented and in the long term will continue that tradition and that as a high school we really mean that we are safe”. 

Franklin and Vance shared that the club is planning a lot of fundraisers in the coming months.

“Right now we are planning some fundraising to get money for the club, but eventually all our fundraising will be given to charities once we are able to support ourselves,” said Franklin.

“The GSA is currently planning another professional development day. They planned one last year on asking students preferred names and pronouns and have seen a definite improvement this year compared to last,” said Vance.

Ms. Miles gave some parting words from the GSA, and shared that “the impact that we were even able to make last year virtually and run a professional development for staff and have staff then open the school year genuinely asking students for their pronouns and being comfortable on how to address microaggressions, and have some tools is really just inspiring”.