A.Waters, Lanier M.S.

Student Townhall 1

Aryn Waters

Lanier M.S. Student Town hall

February 21, 2018

Saying "That's So Gay" Is Not Okay:

Make Our Schools a LGBTQ-Inclusive & Safe Environment

Imagine a world where all students are treated equally in the school environment. Sounds

simple, right? Well it’s a lot easier said than done. My name is Aryn Waters and I’m going to

talk about what it’s like to be an LGBT student in school.

Being a transgender student in America, I hear rude, snarky comments every day.

Comments such “That’s so gay!” being used as an insult. Or when people say,“Did you just

assume my gender?” which was popularized by people on social media as a way to mock or

make fun of transgender or gender non-conforming people. A lot of these comments aren’t

necessarily directed towards me, but are jokes and statements that are often laughed off as an

attempt to seem “cool” or “funny” around peers. Over time I have learned to ignore these

comments as to not show that they are making me upset, but it still doesn't make it okay. These

people are making me and an entire community of people seem like a joke, like we are just here

for other people’s amusement. And to be quite honest, I’m getting pretty fed up with it. ​It's 2018.

Isn't it time we start addressing the harassment and bullying of LGBT people on school

campuses?

These supposedly innocent jokes and statements have led to incidents such as arguments

and discussions that do not belong in the school environment.

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The following are statistics from Mental Health America:

❏ Substance Use:​ Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth are more than twice as

likely to experiment with drugs and alcohol.

❏ Happiness​: Only 37% of LGBT youth report being happy, while 67% of non-LGBT

youth say they are happy. However, over 80% of LGBT youth believe they will be

happy eventually, with nearly half believing that they will need to move away from

their current town to find happiness.

❏ Self-Harm​: With each instance of verbal or physical harassment, the risk of

self-harm among LGBT youth is 2 ½ times more likely.

❏ Suicide​: Gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth are 4 times more likely to attempt suicide

than their heterosexual counterparts.

Eight years ago on september 23, 2010, Asher Brown was found dead after killing

himself that very same morning. He had been repeatedly bullied for being gay for two years prior

and he just couldn’t take it anymore. He was an eighth grader at Hamilton Middle school in

Cypress-fairbanks ISD. Before moving to lanier a few weeks ago i was in a cy-fair school. The

fact that this has happened so close to somewhere i once called home is sickening. And the fact

that this has happened at all means we’re doing something wrong. The school claimed that the

incidents were never reported, but Asher’s parents would beg to differ. “That's absolutely

inaccurate — it's completely false," Ashers mom said. "I did not hallucinate phone calls to
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counselors and assistant principals…” This is just one example of bullying taken too far, and the

staff continuing to turn their backs and act like they couldn't do anything about it.

This just goes to show how big of a problem this is. We can’t just pretend that this isn’t

happening. We need to take a stand and tell the students that this will not be tolerated, that it is

not okay to make such comments. We need to come up with a new policy for bullying against

LGBT youth, whether it be better education for staff about bullying in the LGBT community or

simply mentioning LGBT topics in curriculum to better normalize being LGBT in a school

environment.

I know it may be hard to keep track of everything that goes on in a school, especially

when there is a very large student body, and honestly, I do think it should be more up to the

students to report the incident. But it’s still up to the admin to give them that opportunity and

push them to take it.

We need to address this issue because of all the students who don’t want to come to

school because of bullying, and if they do they are being ridiculed and made fun of just for being

themselves. It states in the HISD Code of Conduct that ”Students shall not engage in harassment

motivated by age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity

and/or gender expression directed toward another student.” it later states, under the list of level

III offences, in which students should be given a Suspension or Optional Removal to a

Disciplinary Alternative Education Program, that “Any verbal abuse of others, including slurs,

name-calling, or derogatory statements to another person because of that person’s race, color,
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religion, disability, physical appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender

expression.”

If this is true, then why do we continue to ignore these “jokes” and comments directed

towards the LGBT community? Every time we ignore it, it gets worse and worse. If we don't do

something now, there's a chance we might never be able to stop it.

Everyday I have had to put up with rude, ignorant, and disrespectful people over the

course of almost three years of middle school and I can say firsthand that it never really gets any

easier, unless you make an effort to stop to it. And thats what im trying to do today. I wish I

would've stood up sooner, but here I am, ready to fight. Not just for me, but for my peers, and for

all of the future students of HISD. So that they can have the welcoming and exciting school

experience I didn't get the chance to have.