Manchester High School working to support LGBT+ youth
Artwork by Manchester High School ALLiance member.
On March 18th, as part of the Washtenaw County Community Conversations Project funded by UMHS Community Health Services, the Manchester District Library hosted a workshop and learning opportunity on the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual (LGBT+) youth in our district. Presenters Will Sherry from the Spectrum Center in Ann Arbor and Julia Porter from SRSLY Dexter discussed concepts of sexual orientation and gender identity, experiences of LGBT+ youth in Washtenaw County, and statistics related to their mental, social, emotional, and physical health.
What the statistics show for LGBT+ youth in Michigan
On average, LGBT+ youth experience more health issues than their peers because they are experiencing more stress from unsupportive home and/or school environments.
Sherry and Porter explained that many LGBT+ youth do not have supportive home environments. Only 1 in 4 LGBT+ youth say they can be themselves as a LGBT+ person at home and 2 in 3 LGBT+ youth hear their families make negative comments about LGBT+ people.
Likewise, students have mixed experiences in school. In Michigan, 1 in 6 LGBT students hear school staff make negative comments based on sexual orientation and 1 in 3 LGBT students hear school staff make negative comments based on students’ gender expression. In addition, 56% of Michigan LGBT students who were harassed or assaulted in school never reported it to school staff, of those only 25% said that reporting resulted in effective intervention by staff.
While the majority of LGBT+ students have not heard homophobic comments by school staff, that is not case when it comes to other students: 73% of LGBT+ students in Michigan have heard negative remarks about transgender people from other students, 84% have heard negative remarks about gender expression from other students, 85% have heard homophobic remarks by other students, and 92% have heard “gay” used negatively by other students.
The stress of unsupportive environments leads to mental and physical health issues. LGB students are 2 times more likely to have felt sad or helpless almost everyday for 2 weeks or more in a row and 6 times more likely to have attempted suicide in the last 12 months. But the good news is that if LGBT+ youth are given more support in school, at home, with friends, and in their community, then this disparity in health outcomes is significantly reduced or eliminated.
LGBT+ youth at Manchester High School
Manchester Community Schools has been working hard to provide a supportive environment for LGBT+ students. Superintendent Nick Steimetz stated, “Our student population is very diverse and accepting. Our administrators, teachers, and students work very hard to ensure that MCS is an environment where all students feel accepted and comfortable.” This is attempted both through policies and the culture the staff works to create.
Hollie Kolcz, Manchester High School’s counselor supervises an informal student-led support group called SAGE that meets once a week during lunch. Kolcz explained, “It stands for Sexual And Gender Equality. They discuss different topics related to LGBT+ youth including things like gender dysphoria, statistics of LGBT+ youth, how to talk about issues with parents and friends, etc. They share personal stories, offer advice and support to each other. There are also students who are not LGBT+, but consider themselves “allies” in the group. They are there to understand and support.”
In addition, the Manchester High School art teacher Angie Griffin runs the ALLiance Club whose mission is to promote equality and social justice in Manchester and beyond. This includes building awareness of LGBT+ issues, as well as of issues such as gender, racial, and income inequality, and mental health advocacy too. Griffin stated, “We spent much of first semester this year focusing on issues impacting the trans community, including (but not limited to) discrimination and military service. To raise awareness of these issues, the group started an Instagram page. Our handle is @alliancemanchester, and we encourage supportive community members to check it out. We will continue to update the page with whatever issues the group is covering at the time.”
Griffin has always been passionate about social justice issues, and she found there were many students that felt the same way. Midway through the 2017-2018 school year, she and a couple of those students decided to create a club devoted to social justice, and ALLiance was born. Last year they only had six members because it was brand new but this year they have nearly 20 members in 7th through 12th grade.
Two student leaders of ALLiance are Meghan Marotz and Castor Hayslip. Meghan and Castor both discovered ALLiance through posters in the hallways. Castor who quickly became attached to the club, especially because there were no other clubs that dealt with the social issues that ALLiance does, stated “After the previous leaders of the club graduated, I was happy to step up and help continue what they had been working on.” Meghan who decided to join Alliance to spread social awareness of different issues as well as educate herself on those issues, stated “Taking on the task of being a co-president of Alliance was something I gladly did, and I’m very proud of where we are currently.”
Both students take pride in their work with ALLiance. Castor is focused on improving the school environment for both students suffering from poor mental health and LGBT students, stating “It would mean a lot to me if, after either being part of Alliance or seeing what we are doing, they felt more safe and happy to be themselves in our school.” Meghan stated, “I am most proud of sending our members off with a little more knowledge than they had before, whether it be on a small scale or focuses on a bigger picture. Self-education is a very important step towards educating and informing others, and that’s very important to me.”
Meghan and Castor agree that the majority of students at Manchester High School are accepting and supportive of LGBT+ students but while there are only a few who are not supportive, they tend to be outspoken about it.
Kolcz asked a student who identifies as transgender after a SAGE meeting what he thinks of the culture is like for LGBT students at Manchester High School. He stated that he could only speak for himself but that he had “never experienced any sort of isolation, harassment or bullying here.” He said that he has a lot of respect for his teachers because they try very hard to use his preferred name and pronouns. He has even heard one of his teachers correcting another student who was using the incorrect pronoun.
He also listed the supports he felt were in place for LGBT students at the High School. These included the Alliance group, posters that hang around the school, SAFE PLACE signs that teachers put in the their doorway that assures students that it is a safe place for LGBT+ youth, and and lastly he identified Kolcz herself. He stated the counselor was a safe person and her office is a safe place.
Kolcz asked him what people in the community who want to be supportive of our LGBT+ youth can do. He said “don’t make us feel like it’s a big deal. Listen to us. Ask questions to help themselves understand. Be open. Just act normal.”
Porter and Sherry would like to return to Manchester to put on more workshops to help the community better understand how to support our LGBT+ youth. They would like to come give presentations to interested community groups. If you are interested in have them come give a presentation to your group, contact Will Sherry at lasherry@umich.edu.
Artwork by Manchester High School ALLiance member.
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