In Oregon, an estimated 23,000 people between the ages of 13—17 identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community, according to data acquired by the University of California Los Angeles. Amongst those, 86% have heard negative remarks regarding their sexuality in school, and 95% have heard negative remarks regarding their gender identity, according to data acquired by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN). Around Oregon, these same schools are home to student-led Gender and Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) that host students of all sexualities and gender orientations. Jan Dickinson, English teacher, has advised the high school GSA since 2014. 

“Our overall goal is simply [to be] a place that is welcoming,” Dickinson said. “I don’t want to say the rest of the school is unsafe, but [GSA is] a place where you can be among people and not have to be as guarded and who you are. You can be a little more authentic about who you are.”

Throughout the year, GSA puts on a number of events to call attention to their goals and to the issues faced by LGBTQ+ youth around the nation. The National Day of Silence, organized by GLSEN and set for April 14, seeks to call attention to the silencing of and harassment against LGBTQ+ students in middle and high school. While local participation in recent years has not been publicized by the club, this year’s GSA intends to participate on a larger scale. Dickinson plays a key role in this, acting as a point of contact between participating students and the staff. 

“This is a national day of action pushing back against the silencing of LGBTQ+ youth and erasure of their experiences,” read a promotional flier sent out by Dickinson in a staff-wide email. Dickinson further explained that students will carry cards indicating their participation.  

“I hope you’ll agree with me that West Linn High School is working toward making our entire community more inclusive for everyone,” Dickinson said.

A key difference this year is that staff are acutely aware that it is taking place, with the administration lending support. Jocelyn McIntire, vice principal, is aiding the administration in this effort. 

“We are definitely going to be talking about the Day of Silence with our staff,” McIntire said. “It is super important that we are able to support our community in this school and we want our staff to be prepared and ready to support that community.”

This degree of support extends beyond administrative action, with teachers responding to Dickinson’s email in support of her and the students taking part in the Day of Silence. 

“I’m very proud of both of the students that have decided they’re willing to do it this year,” Dickinson said. “And I’m very proud of our teachers who have either sent me emails responding to the email I sent out saying ‘yes.’ It makes me very proud to be here. I’m proud to be a Lion.”

As an adviser, Dickinson steps back as an educator and becomes a learner. This is something she hopes other teachers will do for LGBTQ+ students on the Day of Silence. 

“I think there’s small moments of learning everywhere and I think we teachers are sometimes afraid to be controversial,” Dickinson said. “We don’t want to upset students. We certainly don’t want to upset their parents. But we also have a creed for destroying ignorance, and for connecting our students to the world, and we do them a disservice if we put blinders on and don’t see what the world is about.”

While Dickinson has seen the positive impacts of implementing a GSA, she also worries about the voices that aren’t being heard from the students who hesitate to join. One story, in particular, has stuck with her.

It was spring signing day in 2019 and the library was packed. As students took turns signing their athletic commitments to a number of schools, one announced her name and proclaimed “It’s great to be gay.”

“She [said it] as loud and as proud as possible,” Dickinson said. “She publicly owned that as a senior on the way out the door and I felt glad for her and for anyone that saw that [behavior] modeled. At the same time, I grieve for the fact that from day one, if she’s known that about herself, and students that know that about themselves don’t feel supported enough to take a step into that.” 

The Day of Silence acts as a show of solidarity to those who stay silent, either by choice or by force. With it, Dickinson hopes these voices will be heard, even in subtle ways. 

“With many communities embedded in our larger community, I find that if we model supportive behavior, and make sure everyone is brought in and has a place to feel comfortable,” Dickinson said. 

Following the events of April 14, Dickinson hopes to see an increased conversation around the school in support of the LGBTQ+ community. 

“It’s a conversation starter,” Dickinson said. “I’m learning that [part of] our whole faculty meeting is devoted to having a conversation about the Day of Silence and its meaning. That’s a first for our school [and] that’s astounding to me.”