PEORIA – After 3+ years of struggles, the Washington (IL) High School Board of Education finally approved the charter in a 6:1 vote for the Washington Community High School Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) at their regular meeting held Monday, March 9. The efforts to start the GSA started in 2006 when Alexis Whitman, then a sophomore, approached Guidance Counselor Patrick Coughlin for help in starting a GSA. Mr. Coughlin immediately agreed to help, and there began the 3 year journey to gain administrative support, write a charter, organize a board and attract members. Despite a few hurdles along the way, including quite a few opponents, the new Gay-Straight alliance grew quickly and is now the second largest organization in the school. The group has over 75 official members, with over 30 attending every meeting. Membership in the group requires only that members agree with the purpose of the group which is:

… to encourage acceptance and tolerance within the diverse population of our school, promote pride in our community, create a safe environment for all students of Washington Community High School, and educate the school community. It will seek to empower the students and address the isolation of Gay, Lesbian, and Transsexual youth as well as to address the concerns of heterosexual students or students who are questioning their sexuality.

The group does not keep records about the specific sexual orientation of it’s members, but Mr. Coughlin says the group is very diverse and has a healthy mix of all sexualities.

At the School Board meeting, GSA President Amada Devore and Vice President Christopher Fehr eloquently answered questions from several Board members and convinced them that the group deserved their vote. Great Job Guys!! Keep standing up for who you are and what you believe in and you will be heard.

The new Washington High School GSA is one more success for "our side", but let’s not rest on our laurels just yet. There are still a lot of schools that don’t have a GSA. Bigotry, hatred and intolerance still exist everywhere. It’s up to us to keep up the fight, one little battle at a time.

Read more about the Washington HS GSA and the efforts to create them in all Illinois Schools in the new issue of Out & About Magazine, coming the weekend of March 21st.