Youth tell state commissioners what it's like to be gay in Central Mass

The Massachusetts Commission on GLBT Youth gathered in Worcester Oct. 22 for the second in a series of regional meetings across the state, and they heard from high school students firsthand about the challenges they face as LGBT young people. During a meeting at Worcester Technical High School with students from that school's gay/straight alliance (GSA), as well as three students who traveled to the meeting from Milford, which is located about a half-hour southeast of Worcester, the commission asked them what problems they face and what support they have found in their school, at home and in other areas of their life.

"I find it extremely difficult to deal with all the homophobes. ...It's a small town for one thing, and it's not used to change," said one student from Milford involved in his school's GSA. (Bay Windows was asked not to use the names of students at the meeting without receiving their permission.)

That same student described an incident his sophomore year when he and his boyfriend were at school attending a friend's basketball game. During the game the student and his boyfriend went outside the gym to talk when another male student started shouting at them, "Hey, you fucking faggots!" He said for the next week he was scared each time he set foot in the school. He later reported the student who harassed them, and he said that the student was suspended.

Another Milford student said that when she was tabling for the GSA during student activity sign-ups kids would stop at their table, make fun of their flyers, and joke with each other as they signed their friends up for the club.
One of the students involved in Worcester Tech's GSA said that she has not encountered the kind of overt harassment faced by the Milford student at the basketball game, but she said words and phrases like "fag" and "that's so gay" are a regular part of the vocabulary of many Worcester Tech students, and she said the GSA has worked to try to educate their peers to respect LGBT students.

"We try hard to let them know we're just regular people, just like everyone else," said the student.

When commissioner Jessica Flaherty asked the students who their main support system was in their school, the overwhelming answer was their teachers. The Worcester Tech student said students formed the GSA three years ago, and over the years teachers have been strongly supportive of the club's work.

The male Milford student said that teachers were also strong supporters of his school's GSA, and one teacher in particular helped the club secure a video and other materials about LGBT youth.

"[Teachers are] probably the biggest support system that I have for the GSA in my school," he said.

Commissioner Arthur Lipkin asked what the commission could do to help students struggling with their sexuality or gender identity who did not feel comfortable going to a GSA or LGBT youth group. The consensus from the students in the room is that the best way to give students access to information about LGBT issues is to put it online; the one wrinkle in that plan is that some students said the filtering software at their school or town library blocks LGBT websites.

Following the discussion at Worcester Tech, the commission held its business meeting at The Bridge, a social services agency that houses the LGBT support group Safe Homes. During the meeting, commission chair Jason Smith explained that the commission is recruiting new members to replace several who have resigned. There are currently 37 commissioners, and Smith said the commission can appoint up to 50. In particular he said the commission is interested in recruiting more youth, people of color and transgender people to join the commission.
"My hope is commissioners will disseminate the applications. ... Encourage anyone, especially from those targeted communities to apply," said Smith. He said the deadline for filing applications is Nov. 30.

Smith also said the commission is still in negotiations to hire a director to coordinate the activities of the all-volunteer commission, and he expects that a job listing for the position will be posted by next week. Smith said the commission plans to hire a director by November, and the position will be funded through next summer. Part of that director's job will be finding other sources of funding to allow the position to continue once the initial funding runs out.

Eleni Carr, chair of the government relations committee, urged commissioners to begin identifying funding priorities for the coming budget cycle, which begins next January. She said her goal is to present lawmakers and the governor with a list of specific LGBT youth-related programs and the required dollar amounts needed to fund each of them. Ideally she hopes to raise the LGBT youth programming budget above the 2001 high watermark of $1.6 million.

"I want to say, if you give us the money in bucks, here's how we're going to spend it to the penny," said Carr.

The Worcester meeting is the second in a series of planned regional meetings across the state both to hear from young people and youth advocates about the issues they face and to conduct general commission business. Last July the commission met in Hyannis, and they will hold their next meeting Dec. 17 in Brockton.