Isabel Henderson, president of the Gay-Straight Alliance, or GSA, club at Oakmont, is happy to usher in her second year of running the club and ensuring a safe space for students on campus.

“I’ve been the president for two years now,” Henderson said. “I had this club passed down to me from my brother.”

A long-standing club, the GSA on Oakmont’s campus has been here for over six years and has had the same adviser throughout.

“It’s never changed the adviser,” Henderson said. “Mrs. Snyder has been the adviser since GSA was first founded and she’s stuck with us since.” 

GSA, while a nationwide movement of clubs, found its place at Oakmont when a former cheerleader and ASB president asked Snyder to be the adviser.

“When it started, it was the head cheerleader and ASB president that started the club,” Snyder said. “They had it up and running and then it switched to [Isabel’s] brother Kieran. He took it over and it’s kind of been the Henderson family leading the way ever since.”

The goal of having a GSA at Oakmont is to provide a space for students that is free from the judgment that surrounds LGBTQ+ students. 

“It’s just one area where you can meet people like you, where you can befriend people like you, so you don’t feel alone and you don’t feel weird for being who you are,” Henderson said. 

GSA also hopes to promote friendships between students who can bond over their similarities and appreciate the diversity in the LGBTQ+ community. 

“It’s like a little family,” Henderson said.

Whether part of the LGBTQ+ community or not, anyone can join GSA because it is a judgment-free zone. Henderson believes that having straight allies in GSA is an essential part of what makes the club feel like such a safe space. 

“You don’t have to be a part of the LGBT community to be in there, obviously ally is part of the club,” Henderson said. “If you have allies, if you have that support, you feel more protected.”

Knowing that there are straight and cisgender individuals – those who identify with the gender they were assigned at birth –  supporting the LGBTQ+ community allows those that are part of the community to feel more comfortable being themselves around others. 

“That protection is really important to have,” Henderson said, “especially on a campus like this where there have been instances of homophobia and hate crimes.”

This year GSA has become more active, since COVID really restricted their activity.

“With COVID, nothing happened,” Snyder said. “But this year it’s like every week they have a meeting and there’s a theme. It’s been really good.”

The GSA meets on Wednesdays during one-lunch in room 410. 

“We’re doing the lunch meeting now so that more kids could come and just hang out with us,” Snyder said.

They do a variety of activities during lunch. At one of their past meetings, they had a storytime where they read a children’s book surrounding LGBTQ+ topics. 

“Just come hang out with us and see,” Snyder said. “It’s not a requirement to join, but you can just start hanging out and get a feel for it.”

Be sure to stop by room 410 during one-lunch on Wednesdays to join the GSA family!