From the San Mateo County Times:
For many of the student members of Half Moon Bay High School's
Gay-Straight Alliance, life inside the club is a lot easier than life outside
it.
Whether they are gay or straight, club members often find themselves mocked
by the student body for possessing the very quality that helps them make friends
with other club members: being different.
"I think people are put down if they're gay, especially in high school. I'm
not gay, but I want to stop the criticism. If we were all gay, we would make fun
of straight people. That doesn't make any sense, so why should we make fun of
gay people?" asked club member Russell Crispin, 15, who says he has several gay
and lesbian family members. Since founding the Gay-Straight Alliance in
September, the club's 30-odd members have developed other traits in common: They
are opinionated, and they are determined to defend and support students' rights
to a harassment-free high school experience. They also love to have fun.
A recent after-school meeting saw both laughter and moments of sadness as
club members shared their accounts of what it is like to be gay or to be a
friend to someone who is gay. They kept themselves busy making rose-a-grams —
roses with little notes attached that students purchased to give their friends,
in honor of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1. The effort raised $125 toward AIDS
research.
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