A look into the treatment and experience of LGBTQ+ students in the past — and the PRHS breaking point on Sept. 15.
By Emily Rogers
Throughout history, being associated with LGBTQ was severely discriminated against. With the Stonewall riots in June 28, 1969 and the reaction to the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s members of the LGTBQ community either stayed in the closet or fought for their right to be queer.
Geoffrey Land, a history teacher and recently appointed as the Ethinic Studies teacher has been in the district for 24 years and has seen the history of how LGBTQ youth have been treated first hand throughout the decades. |
“There was never a time it was easy to be gay at Paso Robles High. I started in 1998, and from the very beginning, homophobia has been very visible...," Geoffrey Land said.
Recalling the history of LGTBQ during his time teaching, Land said, “There were anti sodomy laws, all the way into the year 2000. We've seen adoption agencies refuse to allow same sex couples to adopt, we've seen California deny same sex couples the right to marry. Only six years ago, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that same sex couples have the same rights to marry as anyone else. So we've seen a history of systematic legal oppression and marginalization of this community and I've tried to highlight both the progress and the resistance to that progress that exists.”
During his time as a teacher Land has lived through suicides and murders of students, as a direct result of bullying and general dislike of the LGBTQ+ community.
“We've had a number of students, trans students, who had to stop coming to school because of the violence or bullying that was directed at them,” he said. “And we have had at least one student that I know of personally that committed suicide as a direct result of the homophobic environment of our school and our culture in general. And we know that gay and LGBTQ students youth are four times more likely to consider suicide,” Parker Hendershot, while not out in high school was one of the transgender bearcat students who had to endure the hate of the LGBTQ during the early 90s to early 2000s. “When I went to high school I knew I was different. I didn’t realize why I got called slurs. Just walking around campus, it (being called slurs)was an everyday thing,” Hendershot said. Hendershot experienced a time during summer school when both a teacher and students made fun of him for being “different”. Students were calling Hedershot degetarory queer names in class while the teacher witnessed and let the offensive slang continue.
"In high school I would’ve rather been dead than gay."
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Although the past is filled with hate towards LGBTQ+ students there were places for them to seek asylum.
Land was a part of the Gay Straight Alliance club, in the early 2000’s.
“The first GSA was a bunch of students who said, I'm an ally, no one even was out, saying, I'm gay; but it was creating a space where it was maybe possible for someone to come out,” Land said.
“The first GSA was a bunch of students who said, I'm an ally, no one even was out, saying, I'm gay; but it was creating a space where it was maybe possible for someone to come out,” Land said.
Marcy Goodnow, a teacher of 12 years, has also contributed to the effort to make a safe space for students.
“I was the Equality Club Advisor for 8 years. In that time we did our best to be visible on campus, offer a supportive place for LGBTQ+ students to go, and to advocate for the rights of the students,” Goodnow said. “We were able to help the administration designate 3 non gender specific bathrooms on campus and also held a SLO County Pride Picnic connecting the GSA clubs on the central coast
“I was the Equality Club Advisor for 8 years. In that time we did our best to be visible on campus, offer a supportive place for LGBTQ+ students to go, and to advocate for the rights of the students,” Goodnow said. “We were able to help the administration designate 3 non gender specific bathrooms on campus and also held a SLO County Pride Picnic connecting the GSA clubs on the central coast
However, even with the push to create safe spaces at PRHS, a recent incident brings to question whether or not LGTBQ+ members are safe on the Paso Robles High School campus. On September 15th, 2021 a pride flag was ripped off the wall of a chemistry teacher Evan Holtz ' classroom and was later defecated on and posted on social media. This incident sparked a massive outcry for a fight against intolerance and led to the Oct. 20, Coming Out Against Hate Forum.Teachers were told to put on anti intolerance presentations and 13 brave LGBTQ+ students took to the main stage in the PAC to publicly display their experiences and grievances.
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