GSA members spent their last club meeting of the year writing letters to Ohio representatives about House Bill 190, or the “Given Name Act.”
HB 190 would require parental consent for schools to use pronouns or names for students that don’t align with their biological sex or birth name. It would make it acceptable for staff members to not use a student’s preferred name or pronoun if they choose. It would also require all staff members to only use pronouns that align with their sex assigned at birth. The legislation would penalize schools that don’t comply by withholding state funding.
At their May 28 club meeting, GSA members wrote letters to Ohio representatives about the bill. Sophomore Lucy Hopkins, who attended the meeting, said that the proposed legislation would destroy a sense of community for LGBTQ+ students at Shaker. “School should be a safe place, especially when someone doesn’t have another safe place. If this bill passes, that will no longer be possible,” Hopkins said.
Freshman Lucas Mack, also a GSA member, said that the bill could contribute to homophobia in the district. “It already happens to this day. and if that bill goes, I feel that more bullying will happen and people will just start dead-naming other people. Students wouldn’t feel safe at all,” Mack said.
GSA, or Gender-Sexuality Alliance, is a club that aims to provide a supportive environment for LGBTQ+ students. GSAs, also known as gay-straight alliances, are present in middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities. Hopkins said that GSA provides a sense of community, but also educates students on current events related to the LGBTQ+ community.
Choir director Nick LaPete, co-adviser of GSA, said that HB 8, which went into effect April 9, drove him to “get a little bit more politically active in making sure that other bills that are being passed are not coming down to harm people,” he said. HB 8, or the Parents’ Bill of Rights, is an Ohio law that requires schools to notify parents of changes to their child’s mental, physical or emotional health, which includes identifying as transgender. HB 190 builds on the policies established in the Parents’ Bill of Rights.
LaPete said that the legislation would force staff members to make difficult choices about their values. “There are trans educators in our building here at the high school. I know that there’s other teachers in the district, and I think that their dignity and respect is deserved,” LaPete said. “I don’t think anybody should be faced with the decision: Are you going to be your true self, or are you going to stay employed?”
LaPete said that the letter-writing effort was a way to make GSA members’ dissent heard. “There’s still time for people to get loud about it and for the people’s voice to matter, and letter writing is just one way to do that. I really encourage anybody reading your article to call their representatives, make their calls every day, to not just the federal level,” he said.
On Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs and hiring practices in the federal government. The district has decided to continue DEI programs despite orders from the federal government to cease. Counselor Kelsey Haggerty, co-adviser of GSA, said that Shaker may be under closer scrutiny regarding DEI restrictions due to the district’s emphasis on diversity. “My fear for Shaker is that we’re going to be one of the ones sticking our necks out. That it’s going to highlight our district and it’s going to put a little too much focus on how we can be stopped or how we can be squelched or how our voices can be buried,” she said.
Haggerty said that as an ally to the LGBTQ+ community, she feels that her mission is to support LGBTQ+ students. “I’ve been in this career for 15 years, and almost the entire time I’ve been involved with the GSA at the school districts where I’ve worked,” she said. “It feels like the state is trying to scare those of us who have done this work for all of this time into being quiet.”
Haggerty said that educators are often persuaded into compliance through the threat of their teaching license being taken away. “They know that that is a scary threat, and it is a way that they can control the vast majority of educators into doing exactly what they want to do,” she said. “So either I can keep my job and keep my house and keep my lifestyle the way it is, and neglect kids who need my support and who I’ve worked hard to support this entire time – or I can support them and then run the risk of losing all the things that you need to have to live.”
LaPete encouraged the Shaker community to call representatives and advocate against the bill. He said, “I think people need to start getting loud about defending each other because we all deserve to live with dignity.”
