Whether you like boys, girls or whoever, imagine the feeling of having a stranger call you gay. While some might be unfamiliar with this experience, it’s not unusual to hear these kind of remarks; there is always someone
who is in that position, and you might not even know it.
School counsselor and Gay Straight Alliance advisor Sydney Burgess is “quick to confront” when she hears this kind og language across campus.
“I jus think it’s so important to speak up,” Burges said. Having been the GSA Advisor for more than one school, Burgess has noticed multiple incidets where students use phrases that have a foundation built on homophobia. These incidents commonly involve hearing ‘straight’ men using derogatory phrases around campus. Some of these phrases include “You’re gay!” or “That was so gay!” Due to these harmful comments, queer students tend to hid their identities.
This is what makes safe spaces like GSA so important.
Many queer studentsat East attend GSA meetings.
“For every kid who feels safe enough to come to the club I think there are three or [more] who don’t,” Burgess said.
Many users of this harmful language are unaware of their impact on queer students.
An anonymous source hopes that thier satirical name-calling doesn’t offend thed queer individuals around them. The interviewee was asked how they think a gay person would react to said phrases. “You could take offense to it, but I hope that you wouldn’t,” they said.
La’Shon Austin, a queer-identifying senior, doesn’t take the phrases to heart but would rather the joking be toned down. “I do think people should try and calm down when name-calling because you never know what someone’s going through,” Austin said.
While some queer students may take these comments jokingly, many others who are less comfortable with their identity take offense to these remarks.
“You never know how they feel about that name or that term, so they might take it into offense,” Austin said.
Audstin and the anonymous interviewee were both asked how they would react if the roles were reversed– if gay people calls others straight. “Well again, I embrace that I’m straight, so I wouldn’t care,” the interviewee replied.
Austin took a more considerate approach to the fictional scenario, “I don’t [use those phrases], because I don’t want someone to do that to me,” Austin said.
Queer students often feel unsafe to be themselves due to the belittling terms or expressions used by straight students. Burgess claims that the queer students who are more open about their identity often go to the GSA club meetings, whereas quieter students don’t.
“I worry more about the kids, kind of at the perimeter, who don’t say much,” Burgess said, claming that not having the courage to be more open leads to less opportunity for sel-expression. Creating a space for yourself to feel welcomed can be difficult, especially beause some students have a tendency to mentally suppress the person they really want to be.
Burgess has described multiple moments when students have come to her with vulnerability, openly coming out to her. But these kinds of moments have become less frequent in recent times.
“The North Carolina legislature voted a bill that said parents have to be informed is a student wants to request going by a different name at school,” she said. These instances have led to mental health issues for queer students. “I know how vulnerable this population of students is to mental health challenges,” Burgess said.
Insecurity can play a significant role in everyone’s daily life; how one chooses to handle can be the biggest obstacle people face. While not all queer students mind the comments that much, Austin find it weird there are so many students that obsessively use them.
“I feel like people who make a big deal on [calling people gay] are just a little bit insecure,” Austin said. “Are you sure you’re not?”
