Edgren sophomores Karrie Davis, left, and Nicole Rezzetti look over an assortment of Ally stickers students planned to wear this week. (Photos by Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — Students at Robert D. Edgren High School are promoting tolerance this week as part of The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s Ally Week.
Sponsored by the school’s Gay Straight Alliance and National Honor Society organizations, the goal is to make school a safe and supportive place for all students regardless of their gender or identity expression, according to the Ally Pledge that students were to hang on lockers and school walls this week. Students also planned to wear "Ally" buttons, pledging not to use derogatory language and to safely intervene, if possible, in situations where others are being harassed.
Laurie Kuntz, the GSA and NHS faculty adviser, said it was unwise to assume that "just because we’re on a military base we’re safe.
"Kids have been threatened in this school for their beliefs, for who they hang out with," she said. "We definitely have kids who need to feel there are people they can talk to."
Karrie Davis, 15, witnessed that kind of anger against a homosexual friend while attending E.O. Green Junior High School in Port Hueneme, Calif., two years ago.
Davis’ friend Lawrence King was shot in the head by a fellow student while in class. King, 15, had started to wear makeup and jewelry and had proclaimed himself gay, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. The act was considered a hate crime.
Davis, now a sophomore, transferred to Edgren a couple months before King was killed, but she recalls the harassment King received from other students. "People were so mean to him," she said, referring to students who made fun of the way King talked and dressed. "He got to the point where he cried; he was just so sad."
Davis said she plans to participate in Ally Week.
"I think it’s really good Edgren has a GSA," she said.
Edgren sophomores Karrie Davis, left, and Nicole Rezzetti look over an assortment of Ally stickers students planned to wear this week. (Photos by Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)
Robert D. Edgren High School juniors Dana Love, left, and Stefani Tuggle post an Ally Pledge on Love’s school locker ahead of this week’s Ally Week at Edgren. Sponsored by the school’s Gay Straight Alliance and National Honor Society, the week is aimed at promoting tolerance and making the school feel like a safe place for all students. ()
