Winged Post: Could you talk a bit about the club’s history at Harker and how it all started?

Abel Olivas: “When I first got here, I was wanting to just be the Spanish teacher and not the gay teacher and not necessarily work on LGBT related issues. Kids were making some really homophobic comments one day outside of my classroom, harassing this one kid.

I told them how inappropriate all that was, how destructive that is to hear if you’re a kid in the closet or if you’re just a gay person listening in. We just decided there was a need to educate our kids more so that they’re not making comments like this. There were others who just wanted a space to talk about these issues and there was a lot of relief when we finally had that and that’s how [the club] started.

Ms. Gilbert played an important role as well; she and I went in together to talk to the administration about starting a GSA.”

WP: What else can the community be doing to support the LGBT community?

AO: “Try not to use anti-gay language in a casual way. Just continue to seek to understand an experience because it will probably touch you in some way. Try to open your mind. Try to really listen. Try to really put yourself in that position. Even if there’s some confusion or discomfort initially, try to be open and embracing.”