My name is Paige Wilson and I wanted to speak about a proposed policy that would prohibit media in classrooms that are affiliated with any social or political movements. I especially wanted to recognize and speak against the fact that this policy would prevent teachers and administrators from displaying any form of support for the lgbtq+ community in their classrooms. 

As today anything can be seen as controversial depending on the audience, I understand that it becomes increasingly difficult for schools to cater to all audiences. However, removing pro-lgbtq media in our school is neither a safe nor effective method of attempting to appeal to more people from a certain demographic. Instead, doing so is incredibly harmful to the students of our district, as the evident removal of outward support for lgbtq members sends a message of immaturity, disdain, and refusal to acknowledge the lgbtq presence at Knoch.

Kids can be cruel when it comes to bullying and exclusion, and it’s most often fueled by differences between one another. Accepting yourself for who you are can be incredibly difficult in an environment where you already feel like an outsider, especially if you don’t have a safe and accessible support system available to you. A survey of over 35,000 lgbtq youths by the Trevor Project proved that young members of the community have been shown to display higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide than their heterosexual peers. However, lgbtq teens that had access to affirming and accepting environments to express themselves reported lower rates of attempting suicide.

While the programs and counseling provided at our school may not be withdrawn directly, the removal of outward and public displays of support implies that members of the lgbtq community are not accepted, respected, or supported by their teachers and peers for who they are, despite this not often being the case. Students are taught to see teachers as trusted adults in whom they can confide when they don’t have anyone else. Confiscating the ability for these individuals to display their trustworthiness and acceptance toward ALL students would prove detrimental to the well-being of an entire group of people at Knoch, and a step in the wrong direction in terms of equality and acceptance for all, ultimately leading to an environment that is neither student-centered, nor future-focused, as described in the district mission statement.