Ironwood K-12 students start LGBTQ group

By ZACHARY MARANO

zmarano@yourdailyglobe.com

Ironwood — Two eighth-grade students at Luther L. Wright K-12 School, Olivia Salazar and Reino Ranta, are starting a Gay-Straight Alliance student group that will hold its first meeting on Dec. 8. The group will provide a safe space for LGBTQ students at Ironwood Area Schools.

Salazar said that she came out of the closet during the Pride UP 2020 campaign in Ironwood with the support of her parents. However, she said that not all LGBTQ youth are accepted by their friends and family members.

“It was very isolating because I didn’t have much exposure on these kinds of issues until I was about 12. The entire situation was very isolating because I didn’t know who I could go to. I didn’t know who was going to support me or not,” Salazar said.

Salazar said that she had the idea for the Gay-Straight Alliance in late August or early September. She said that her mother attended a board of education meeting where some people said negative things about LGBTQ youth organizations. This prompted her to ask if the school had any LGBTQ student groups.

Salazar found that the school didn’t have such a group and thought it would be beneficial to create one. She said that the GSA would provide a safe space where LGBTQ students at Luther L. Wright can be themselves after school without others judging them. There will also be a curtain of privacy around them where they can attend without being openly gay or trans.

Some LGBTQ students at the school are harassed because of their identities when teachers are not around, Salazar said. For example, she said that other students intentionally disrespect the preferred name and gender pronouns of one of her friends.

Salazar and Ranta asked K-7 School Counselor Auburn Powell to be their advisor for the group and presented a proposal for the Ironwood Area Schools GSA at the school’s board of education regular meeting on Nov. 15. However, a motion to approve the creation of the group as presented failed 6-1.

At the meeting, board trustee Amanda Sprague said that allowing the GSA to use the school’s name could open the board up to requests for other student groups that they aren’t prepared for.

Salazar and Ranta met with Ironwood Area Schools staff on Friday. They said that the school is standing by the board’s decision, but they can still start the GSA student group with some changes from their first proposal at the board of education’s regular meeting.

Salazar said that the GSA can still meet and promote themselves in the school and use the school announcements. She said that they have the same rights as the athletics teams or any other student club, but they cannot include “Ironwood Area Schools” in the group’s name and the school cannot be their fiscal agent.

“We’ll have all the rights that the other student clubs have. We’re just not fully school ordained, which means we don’t have financial assistance. We don’t have any sort of monetary system within the school and we cannot use the school name in our group name,” Salazar said.

“Right now, the group’s intention is to meet on campus. We’ll be meeting within the school. We can be in the school yearbook, we can send out announcements, we can have promotional materials in the school. The distinction right now is that we are not a school-affiliated club,” Powell said.

Powell said that when asked to be an advisor for the student group, she gladly and wholeheartedly accepted the role. She said that she will continue to serve as an advisor for the group outside of her capacity as an Ironwood Area Schools employee after school hours.

The group is currently contacting other nonprofit organizations for assistance in creating and managing a financial account, Powell said.

The board’s decision was met with criticism on social media and some suggested taking legal action against the school. Ranta said that at their meeting on Friday, it was made clear that the decision was not illegal. They said the school will not face legal repercussions. They added that school staff have generally supported and advocated for them.

Salazar said that the GSA will hold meetings after school on Wednesdays from 3:15 to 4:30 p.m. on the third floor of the school and their first meeting will be held on Nov. 8. The group will be open to Ironwood Area Schools 7-12 students.

The GSA student group will have a spot reserved at the Jack Frost Festival of Lights Parade on Dec. 4. Salazar said that the spot will not only be for the club, but for anyone who wants to show off their pride at the parade.