With changes in Bedford Middle School this year, the new Gender-Sexuality Alliance opened. With it came extended support of the LGBTQ community in our school. They managed to open an all-gender-bathroom, and they are planning to host events supporting LGBTQ representation.

Despite this, I think we should take the extra step to have more support for members of the community and the new alliance should be greatly appreciated.

Despite the opening of the Gender-Sexequality Alliance (GSA) in Bedford, a few kids are still uncomfortable. They experience struggles in their daily life due to one key reason: other students. A small number of these students are homophobic, meaning they are against the LGBTQ community.

“When kids were homophobic, most of the educators want to help, but did not know how or were limited in what they could do,” says Edutopia, claiming that only 40 percent of teachers in the U.S. are educated on how to properly handle problems surrounding homophobia. The BMS faculty has been trained in anti-bullying and is undergoing training in social and emotional learning.

The goal of the GSA is to provide a safe place for everyone in BMS. They are succeeding, but the main problem resides in the students.

One student stated that they feel uncomfortable using the locker room due to judgment on their own gender in relation to their biological gender. We need to make sure that no student feels this way, and the GSA will be able to help out with that.

Another student I know stated that there have been multiple times where kids in their class have talked with their friends about how members of the LGBTQ are gross. We need to educate these people that their discrimination against this community is hurtful.

I interviewed the 7th-grade counselor Mrs. Rabine, who stated, “There has not been anyone coming to me about homophobia this year.” This is a good sign knowing that nobody has felt that this needs to be reported.

So in conclusion, BMS should take the next step in making the members of the LGBTQ community feel comfortable by having even more suppoprt. The GSA is doing its best, but for everyone to be equally comfortable, we need more support.