Students react to negative comments at St. Anne’s High School

By Mellissa Amiouni

Students at St. Anne’s high school react to the online incident that took place on Jan. 20.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, the student council at St. Anne’s Catholic High School decided to make a matchmaking survey that has left students talking and protesting. The survey gave an “other” gender option which LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) students were excited about, but it escalated to confrontations online. Grade 12 student Jillian Goyeau, 17, said transphobia and homophobia have been going on for a few months but it wasn’t until Jan. 20 that hateful comments were posted on Twitter.

“A specific individual who identifies as trans was sent a comment ‘I pray you die,’” Goyeau said. “That student who was targeted has been repeatedly told to let it be and encouraged not to respond to these messages.”

Goyeau said although the advice was understandable, some students felt it was wrong of the school to not address the issue. Goyeau and 14 other members of the schools Gay Straight Alliance group wore homemade shirts that said “#TransLivesMatter” the day after the tweet was posted.

“That shows that we were affected by the comments and that Trans issues are important to us and should be to the school community,” Goyeau said. “But the next day on Friday, that’s when the vandalism was discovered in the parking lot.”

On Jan. 22, St. Anne’s high school parking lot was vandalized with hateful graffiti writing saying “God hates trans,” which the O.P.P. is investigating. St. Anne’s issued a statement saying the person who vandalized the school will face serious consequences. Staff and administration are still trying to figure out who the person behind the vandalism is. Another student in Grade 11 who doesn’t want to be identified said she doesn’t believe it should have gone as far as it did.

“I don’t know why they (GSA) were protesting so hard, No one was being transphobic, but the next day someone vandalized the school and we don’t know who it is,” She said. “St. Anne’s is not like that, We have never had anything like this before so I was just shocked.”

St. Anne’s plans to bring in a speaker and hold an assembly addressing the issue within the next few weeks.