A Symbol for Inclusion: The Gay-Straight Alliance is now called “Plus Club” as its newly elected leaders emphasize the importance of creating a safe and inclusive space at East

When the bell rings every Wednesday afternoon, junior Sam Fritz and freshman Ella Weber rush to prepare to present to their weekly roll call question as nearly 30 students trickle in to room 524. As everyone shares their answers to the various questions — ranging from their favorite part of fall to least favorite state — junior Ayla Özkan keeps track of everyone’s preferred names and pronouns on a Google Spreadsheet as they introduce themselves.

Since 2010, queer and LGBTQ-allying students have gathered to educate themselves and others, chat and bond in a safe, accepting space. Until this year, the club was known as “Gay-Straight Alliance,” but this year it’s evolved into “Plus Club” — a reference to the plus sign in LGBTQ+.

At the end of the 2019-2020 school year, former GSA leaders graduated and left a gap during the on-and-off 2020-2021 school year. Having heard about the club but not yet confident enough to get involved during their freshman year, now-club President Sam Fritz felt the need to bring back the missing safe haven for queer students at East.

“I wanted to take it upon myself to get it started up again so I could bring together queer people and bond and create an environment [for them] at East,” Fritz said.

Fritz met with long-time club sponsor and English teacher Melinda DiGirolamo to see what it would take to get the club up and running again. After signing off on papers, getting approval from administration and spreading the word, GSA was back on its feet. At the first meeting, they elected leaders for the year — Fritz as President, Weber as Vice President and Özkan as Secretary.

There was just one problem — the name. Though “Gay Straight Alliance” was fitting 11 years ago when the club first formed and the idea of varying sexualties and gender identities was becoming more socially embraced, the queer community’s diversity has only expanded since then — far beyond simply being gay or straight, according to Fritz.

“As a queer person, the ‘straight’ in [the name ‘Gay Straight Alliance’] just felt intrusive,” Fritz said. “As a club that was made for the queer people, we wanted a club for us to get together. Everyone’s welcome. Everyone can come, but we wanted it to solely focus on queer people. So taking the ‘straight’ out of the name focused it more to the audience we wanted.”

Inspired by similar clubs at Shawnee Mission South and North, the group adopted the name “Plus Club” as a more inclusive title.

Coming from a Catholic grade school, then-freshman Isabelle Simmonds wanted to find a safe way to become familiar with the LGBTQ+ world and explore her own sexuality going into her freshman year. Having not yet come out to her parents, Isabelle found it awkward to tell them she’d be attending “Gay-Straight Alliance” meetings. Though now confidently out as a junior, Isabelle feels that the name “Plus Club” is more comfortable and vague for students who aren’t ready to come out to their parents or friends.

Despite changes in leadership and now the name, the goal has always remained the same — to create an open, safe environment for queer students who may not have one at home, or any other place in the school. According to Weber, East can lack proper education surrounding the LGBTQ+ community and its history, leading to disrespect simply out of ignorance. Weber hopes that as a leader she can emphasize that exploring your sexuality is OK, and not “weird.”

“[The LGBTQ+ community] has always existed,” Weber said. “It’s not like we’re some new species or whatever. Some kids don’t even mean to be rude, they’re just uneducated and that’s understandable. I know a lot of parents don’t tell their kids about it or can be awkward. I feel like teaching that knowing your sexuality from a young age is OK.”

The Plus Club’s attendance has practically multiplied every week, according to Fritz. What started out as a few returning members from previous years at the first few Wednesday meetings has grown to nearly 30. Spreading the word through colorful posters tacked up around the hallways and encouraging everyone to bring along new friends, Fritz’s ultimate goal as president this year is to nurture a sense of community.

Though the meetings are short, usually wrapping up by 3:20 p.m., Fritz, Weber and Özkan work together to ensure that the time is always worthwhile. Whether its sketching up more posters to promote the club, making pronoun bracelets, watching videos on queer history, inviting in a guest speaker or simply relaxing with each other and catching up, Fritz hopes that the club will continue to be a welcoming safe space for its attendees. As the year goes on, the leaders plan to join together with Plus Clubs from other schools to further strengthen connections within the district’s queer community.

“My goal is to create a healthy environment for queer people, so we can gather, we can have speakers, we can do arts and crafts,” Fritz said. “We can do presentations on queer history topics and watch educational videos. If people want to talk about something, they can do that. It’s just a support group for everyone.”