On Friday, Dec 6, students received a notification that Emmaus High School’s Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) would be hosting a fundraiser for the first time since 2022. The GSA will be selling pride-themed bracelets and t-shirts, allowing EHS students in the LGBTQ+ community to have something to show for their identity.
The GSA is a community of students who consider themselves either members or allies of the LGBTQ+ community. The group meets every other Thursday to do activities like decorating cookies, making bracelets, or watching movies with people they trust.
For many students, the GSA is a safe space for those who may not feel com fortable expressing themselves in their day-to-day lives.
“It’s been the one consistent place I can go and see friends and not feel like I have to be careful about who I am,” Finn Redden, transgender junior and vice-president of the GSA said.
However, due to the relaxed nature of the club, much of the funding comes out of the pockets of the officers and advisor, Kristen Grim. The solution to this problem for most clubs is simply to fundraise money for club activities. The GSA’s last fundraiser was during the 2022-23 school year, in which they sold mini pride flags for students.
“All of us thought it would be nice for people in the school to be able to show that they’re proud of who they are,” Redden said.
However, this well-intentioned idea was met with dangerous resistance from some students. While EHS is a generally accepting school, discrimination can occur anywhere.
“They bought out all our pride flags, and then started making these videos online,” Redden said. “Burning the flags, flushing them down the school toilets, stepping on them. At one point, somebody posted online… a video of a pride flag be ing flushed down a toilet, and the caption said ‘let’s go beat up the f-slurs.’”
These videos circulated for a few months following the sale, reaching a point where an increased police presence was necessary out of fear for LGBTQ+ students’ safety, according to Redden.
“I think it was all just empty threats, because it died down after a few months,” Redden said. “It was not fun. A couple times I had my mom even come pick me up from school, just because you never know.”
Despite facing these obstacles, the GSA has returned with a new sale after almost two years. From Dec. 16 to Dec. 19, the GSA will be selling bracelets featuring the colors of pride flags and LGBTQ+ themed t-shirts at lunch in an effort to raise money for the club.
“[We want] to be able to do fun things in GSA and to continue funding the club, so it’s not all just coming from Mrs. Grim,” Redden said.
The GSA always strives to be a safe and inclusive space for all involved, and this fundraising event aims to support that ideal.
“[GSA is] just supposed to be a place where people can come and meet other people who are like them, and just feel safe,” Redden said. “So we want to give to the community at the school something they can wear that makes them feel proud of who they are.”
