A club like the Gay Straight Alliance is one that seems to struggle to make its impact in a high-school setting, but is inching closer to its goals slowly but surely. Sponsor, Nick Beckmann, is looking forward to seeing the club continue to grow. Upon asking him why he decided to sponsor the club he first responded jokingly saying, “Well I’m not gay, if that’s what you’re inferring.”

We both laughed, but he had a point behind that joke. A lot of times, people only focus on the word “gay” when hearing about something such as the Gay Straight Alliance. Ignorance is something that will most likely accompany the club for a long time. However, there is still hope to be had.

“The reason I decided to sponsor GSA was because when talking to some of my AP kids, they told me that they wanted to start the club but no one would sponsor it. So I decided to. My main thing is that kids should never be scared to come to school. We can’t completely stop ignorance, but we can try to do something to help,” said Mr. Beckmann.

There are some major changes that Beckmann hopes to see this year. He wants, obviously, to continue his support but he hopes for it to become more student led. He hopes that the group will start to grow from few to many, creating a powerful group that makes a positive difference.

“I keep telling the leaders of the group that we’re not going to be able to change the world within the first few meetings. It’ll take a lot of time to get there,” said Beckmann.

There are plans being made to combine forces with the other GSA groups at Francis Howell North and at Francis Howell. Some talk of a social that involves the three clubs has been discussed, along with plans of going bowling together. The GSA meets about two times a month and welcomes anyone to the meetings.