The Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) club is thriving and uniting students of all backgrounds, as it is one of the most diverse clubs at Erie High School.

While topics of sexuality can lead to controversial conversations around the school, GSA allows for students in the LGBT community to be united and supported. Students are participating more this year compared to last year. Paris Branch, the current student leader of GSA explains that “Anybody who wants to learn is welcomed, of course, you do not have to be gay or of a different gender than you were born as. Regardless of your identity, if you want a group of people to discuss this topic with, GSA is there.”

GSA club meetings allow students to be able to talk about particular topics, such as current events and the different genders and sexualities. Participants feel free to suggest any of their own topics they want to talk about surrounding the LGBT community. During occasional meetings, Branch even puts up slideshows she made herself to better explain a certain subject to cover. “ Sometimes, I have slideshows going on to display stuff about the topic at hand,” explains Branch.

The difference between GSA club compared to other clubs is very simple. The GSA club is mostly run by older students that have most of the control, leaving teachers to just be the supervisors. Branch points out other contrasts, elaborating that “For one, I think we do a lot of teaching, but we are not considered an academic club, thus the advertising for GSA is more restrictive than it might be for other clubs. There are a lot of students running GSA [and] that might be less true to other clubs where a teacher or adult really takes the reins.”

As said before, GSA is welcome to all students from different walks of life to join and learn. In the future, the club is hoped to be more amazing and popular than it already is. Branch passionately talks about her dreams for GSA, articulating that “I expect it to be just spectacular. I suspect that next year will be even better because we will have a lot more resources made from this year. There are some people, sort of successors that I picked out to help.”

If you are interested in GSA, club meetings are held in Greta Von’s classroom (C100) over Friday lunches. Any student is welcome to join!