By: Madison Ethridge ’12, Staff Writer

Being the new club at South, the gay-straight alliance (GSA) has been making headway towards its goal of gay-straight acceptance in The Pointes.

Focusing on providing a safe haven to the largely silent community of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students and their straight supporters at South, the GSA has been seeing a lot of positive feedback throughout South and the Pointes, said GSA member Craig Campbell ’11.

“There has been enormous support from the teachers, and the administration has been friendly,” said Campbell. “As for the community, we haven’t had any negative feedback from the community, but we do know that different groups within Grosse Pointe have noticed the revival of the group.”

With meetings every third Thursday at 3:25 p.m. the GSA has seen an increase in members each week. Attendance has been between 25-35 students, said Campbell, which forced the meetings to be moved from the commercial foods room to the student commons.

The focus of the club is an emphasis on discussion. However, on Oct. 20, 2010 not only the GSA, but also the entire school showed support for victims of anti-LGBT bullying by wearing purple, said Campbell. GSA will additionally be participating in the Day of Silence in the spring.

“The purpose of wearing purple on Oct. 20 was to show support for those being bullied because of their sexualities,” said Carolyn Alam ’12. “The day was inspired by the recent rash of gay teen suicides due to bullying, and there seemed to be a lot of purple in the hallways that day. There was a lot of support.”

In addition to the wear purple day, The Day of Silence is a day to make a statement for all those in the LGBT community who feel silenced. Those participating take an oath of silence for the entire day, said Campbell. Teachers will be informed so they can respect the silence of students who are participating.

“I think the day of silence will really have an affect on the South community,” said Devin Magee ’11. “I’m looking forward to making a stand for those who feel silenced, and try to relate to those kids.”

After only one full quarter of school, GSA has already begun to establish a comfortable environment for LGBT students. The GSA has already been helping students in the club through their conversations, said Alam.

“I hope the GSA will be able to help people become more open-minded and supportive of equal rights for all, whether they be gay or straight,” said Alam. “And right now I think we’re doing a pretty good job in taking some steps to help this important issue.”