High school is a challenging time for a lot of students. Many kids struggle to figure who they are and how they fit into the community as they become young adults. For many LGBTQ+ students, these problems are only intensified. Thankfully, the Spectrum club offers both support and education

Senior and Spectrum club leader Taylor Garcia said, “we are a club that works to ensure that every LGBTQIA student here is safe, happy, and knows that they have a community to fall back on in case anything goes wrong.”

Garcia first became interested in the club after attending one of their meetings.

She said, “when I was a sophomore, we did something on LGBTQ history, and that was so helpful for me to contextualize myself as a member of the LGBTQ community.”

Previously known as Gay-Straight Alliance, or GSA, the club officially changed their name last fall to Spectrum because the club wanted to be more inclusive to other members of the LGBTQ+ community.

“First of all, you have people who are not gay. You have lesbians, you have bisexual people, pansexual people, asexual people. And we do things for all of them as well, so making it gay and straight, into a binary didn’t seem helpful,” Garcia said. “Gay and straight also does not do anything for gender, and gender identity is something that we have been covering more in recent years.”

In addition to making students feel more welcome, the club also aims to educate the Sage Hill community.

“Recently we did an open discussion on people who are transgender and discrimination against transgender people in the United States,” Garcia said. “We also did a town meeting announcement about asexuality and asexual awareness.”

These talks serve to help explain LGBTQ+ and spread awareness of the issues facing the community. It also helps prevent anti-LGBTQ+ thinking on campus because much of the hateful rhetoric is fueled by a lack of understanding and experience coming into contact with a member of the community.

“We are a really inclusive community. I go to meetings and I just feel really safe,” said Garcia. “So straight, gay, bi, whatever. If you want somewhere where you are going to be happy and accepted, we are a good place.”