SRC approves GSA

Gay and straight students can now work together at St. Clair College to end homophobia.

St. Clair College’s Gay-Straight Alliance was created by Mikael Mosley, 21, and approved by the Student Representative Council Sept. 26. Members will raise awareness of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning community as well as promote equality for all everyone on campus.

The group is run by students and will be funded through Windsor Pride Community Resource and Education Centre and the Run for Rocky, which is a charity run that supports GSAs.

Sean Frame, 23, is the vice president of the GSA. Frame spent the summer working with Windsor Pride and saw a need for such a group at St. Clair College after noticing that suicide attempts among LGBTQ youth were higher than that of straight youth.

“The benefit of having a GSA is having a resource there,” said Frame. “Someone you can talk to if you’re ever having problems. It’s also a chance to meet people who are like you at the college. You have a chance to talk to people who are going through similar issues. You have a chance to speak out against homophobia and transphobia.”

According to the Canada Human Rights Trust website egale.ca, the suicide rate among LGBTQ youth is 33 per cent compared to seven per cent of youth in general and 47 per cent of transgendered youth have thought about suicide in the past year alone.

Mosley created the GSA because he wanted to do something positive after his boyfriend committed suicide.

“A couple of years later when I finally did accept the death and I could move forward with my life, I thought there are other LGBTQ students and youth that would go through or will someday go through some sort of experience like I did,” said Mosley. “So I wanted to be that personal helping hand to guide them and be their support.”

As an openly gay student at St. Clair College, Daniel Walsh, 22, supports the idea of a GSA because they are a great support system for students who have not come out yet. He said a GSA should give these students acceptance and a sense of community.

Students wanting to join the GSA will have to pay a $5 membership fee per semester. The group should have its first meeting by the end of October.