Kaley Rosinski: A Straight Ally for GLBT Rights
Kaley Rosinski, 17
Illinois
I got involved in my
school's gay-straight alliance (GSA) in my freshman year. I'd recently seen a movie about Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old from Wyoming
who was killed in an antigay hate crime in 1998. I thought it was horrible that people could do that to someone just because he way gay, and I wanted to do
something to fight this kind of bias.
Around the same time, my friend Jackson told me he was gay, and we went together to a GSA (Gay/Straight Alliance) meeting. Basically, a GSA is a group of
gay and straight students focused on issues that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students face at school. Right now, for instance, we're
working on "Recognition Week," where we give out information and talk to people about what it's like to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.
From the first GSA meeting, I felt at home in the group. Everyone was so open and seemed to respect one another. Our GSA is one of the most diverse groups
I've ever seen. Our sponsor is African American, and we have people of many different races and ethnicities in the group. We've got some preps, some punks,
all kinds of people. Most of the members are bisexual or gay. I'm one of the few straight people. I think it's important for me to be there because people
at school can see that I have LGBT friends and I can accept them, so they can accept them, too. I would say about 90 percent of my school totally supports the GSA.
Last summer, the GSA put me in touch with Lambda Legal, a national LGBT organization that was looking for young people to appear in a public service announcement
(PSA) about LGBT youth and their legal rights. As part of the campaign, Lambda Legal was also creating a website and tool kit that would inform LGBT young people
about their rights in school and give them tools to fight on their own behalf, like explaining how they can start a GSA.
I know how lucky I am that I go to a school that teaches tolerance on a daily basis, and still sometimes my gay friends get picked on. I thought, if it's like
this here with our GSA and diversity trainings, I can only imagine how it is for kids in smaller, less progressive places who get picked on or harassed. I want
them to know there are resources out there to guide them and places they can turn to for help.
I knew the PSA would air all over the country and that everyone seeing it would assume I was gay because I was in it. I actually thought that was pretty cool.
I liked the idea that we were giving young people around the country the message that it's OK to be different.
Some people aren't raised to think everyone should be equal, or they're told that gay people aren't normal. They can't help what they've been told, but they can
be exposed to other ways of thinking. It's unfair of us to yell at people and tell them that their thinking is wrong unless we're willing to teach them to think
differently.
|
 |
|
Are you a teen activist or do you know any teen activists? Contact
Teen Voices and share your story.
Don't Just Imagine
Marina Tharathattel, 16,
New York
Suppose everything
you dreamed of
came true.
Just suppose
for a split second
that you can have
things your way.
The right way.
Just suppose
you had the power to change
places and
conflicts,
the power to make
a difference.
Now,
don't just suppose
anymore.
Take action!
Lambda Legal
Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those
with HIV through the legal process, education, and public policy work.
Lambda Legal's youth campaign, Out, Safe & Respected, informs GLBT and questioning youth about their rights in school and offers resources to enforce these rights.
Visit the campaign's website for a list of your rights, and
remember "You have the right to be different."
Past Activists
of the Month
November 2005:
Stephanie Nyombaire
December 2005:
Kaley Rosinski
January 2006:
Kyla Carpenter & Erika Chase
March 2006:
Shelby Knox
April 2006:
Cisnell Baez & Ashley Cotton
May 2006:
Makalay Tarawally
June 2006:
Becky Marks
July 2006:
Geneva Johnson
August 2006:
Rachel Powell
September 2006:
Liz Funk
October 2006:
May Lan Dong
November 2006:
Karoline Evin McMullen
December 2006:
Maggie Astor
January 2007:
E. Jane Handel
February 2007:
Ana Slavin
March 2007:
Shaina Patel
April 2007:
Amity Paye
May 2007:
Evelyn Eng-Nol
June 2007:
Ava Lowery
July 2007:
Chela Élan Counts
August 2007:
Alexandra Pates
September 2007:
Alexandra Abend
| |
|
|
