Educators, students and activists met Oct. 18 for the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance's ( ISSA's ) brunch. Over a hundred people were attended the brunch at Rockit Bar and Grill, 22 W. Hubbard.
The brunch was held to honor the Alliance's Advocate of the Year, Illinois State Superintendent of Education Dr. Christopher Koch, and the Activist of the Year, Xavier Ramirez ( who was also honored this year with a Windy City Times 30 Under 30 honorable mention ) .
Those in attendance included the national president of PFLAG ( Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays ) , representatives from Equality Illinois and more than a dozen members of the Chicago Teacher's Union.
The Alliance "envisions a world in which youth develop to their fullest potential, learning in safe and nurturing schools, living in communities that except and honor differences, where everyone has the freedom to express their sexual orientation and gender identity," according to its mission.
The organization accomplishes this through multiple outlets. It has helped create gay-straight alliances and mentor existing ones throughout Illinois. There are currently over 125 such groups. The alliance also has subcommittees, dealing with issues such as school policies, professional development and youth training.
"In our work at the alliance, it is really a core part of a dynamic, youth-led nationwide movement with a goal of ensuring that sexual orientation and gender identity are part of every facet of our schools," said Shannon Sullivan, ISSA's executive director. "What that means is that when the word 'faggot' is used as a weapon in our hallways, there will always be students and adults in that environment to stand up and stop it."
The organization relies heavily on students to fulfill its mission. Students help to implement gay-straight alliances, and also have influence in policy, among other things.
"It's directed work, they know what to do. They know what to do to get stuff done," said Tea Sever, 17, a senior at Lincoln Park high school. Sefer is a member of the Youth subcommittee, which helped to get gender identity and expression onto Chicago Public School's anti-discriminatory policy.
When asked whether schools are safe for LGBT students, people seem unified on how divided safety can be.
"It depends on the school and the community. We try very hard to create safe and affirming environments. Is it as good as it should be? No. But that's why we are working with orgs like the Alliance," said Renae Ogletree, a community relations employee with Chicago Public Schools.
"There's such a North/South divide. A lot of LGBT youth at [ the North Side's Walter ] Payton [ College Prep ] feel safe, whereas at other schools not so much. It has been proven that having a GSA [ gay-straight alliance ] helps LGBT students feel more safe, and that's what the Alliance does," said Sefer.
"I'm having a Stephen Colbert moment, 'We're here, we're queer, they'll get to us eventually,'" said board chair Laura McAlpine, referring to the motto Colbert suggested for the LGBT community.
"Everybody in this room isn't waiting for eventually. We've been working on this for so many years, and it's not eventually. ... We're doing this right here, right now," said McAlpine.
As Koch accepted his award, he kept his speech short and his message focused: "It seems like it would be common sense that keeping schools as safe learning environments where kids can fully develop to their full potential would be a given, but it's not. It's something we all have to get involved with. Looking at some things we've managed to accomplish, [ it's ] really as individuals, when we say 'what can we do?'"