The Gay-Straight Alliance is starting the year under a new name that members hope will be more inclusive.
From now on, GSA will call itself the Organization for Sexuality and Gender Equality, or OSGE.
“We wanted to make it clearer that gender minorities were accepted in the club,” said club co-president Felicia Miller. “Gay is used as an umbrella term for sexual minorities sometimes, but it’s not used to include gender minorities. We just wanted to make transgender students feel more comfortable.”
Miller, co-president junior Cheyenne Whitney and sponsor Arla Jones and other members of the group encountered a few obstacles as they considered the name change.
During the club fair students advertised the new name as “Queer-Straight Alliance,” or QSA. Formal complaints arose about using the term “queer.” The sometimes offensive term has been reclaimed as an umbrella term for sexual and gender minorities, Miller said. Still, club members had to find a new name under pressure from parents.
“Parents wouldn’t let the students come if it used the word queer,” Miller said.
About 25 people came to the first after-school meeting of the year, but Whitney expects a slimmer turnout in the future.
Despite the fewer expected to turn out, OSGE’s focus is on educating anyone who comes.
“[The club] definitely brings awareness, and the announcements help get the word out there, so we can educate people about the LGBT community,” Whitney said.
One such thing that they hope to educate people about are popular terms that many don’t know the true definition of. Such terms include:
Transsexual: A term used to describe those who are transitioning from one gender to another.
Transgender: Anyone whose mental gender does not match with their physical gender.
Drag Queen: Someone, male or female, who performs femininity theatrically.
Drag King: The masculine version of a drag queen.
But, Whitney and the rest of the Organization for Sexuallity and Gender Equality want to make it clear that it is a club open for anyone.
“Our group’s really accepting,” Whitney said. “You can still come and learn about everything [no matter what your orientation is].”