(rdnewsNOW/Troy Gillard)

By Troy Gillard

Bill 24

Supporters rally at City Hall for gay-straight alliances

Apr 9, 2019 | 7:20 PM

Over 150 people people gathered at Red Deer City Hall on Tuesday to rally in support of gay-straight alliances and queer-straight alliances.

“I’ve been a part of pride groups throughout most of my high school experience and I find it’s something a lot of kids need,” said Kal Krause, a 19-year-old RDC student and Lindsay Thurber grad. “I find it’s something a lot of kids need. I’ve seen kids find support, kids who would otherwise not have anyone to support them in their lives.”

“I was lucky and I had parents that supported me, but a lot of kids don’t,” said Ardin Brownlee, 22, a Hunting Hills graduate.” If they have a GSA or QSA to go to in high school it will help them feel more accepted and have a community to come back to when they can’t have a community in home.”

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Brownlee says GSAs and QSAs save lives.

“A high school student could come home and (their parent) could say, ‘Your school called today and said you were gay. Get out.’ I didn’t have to worry about that, but there are kids who do,” he explained.

“If a kid chooses to tell their parents, it’s because they trust them. If they don’t tell them, obviously there’s a reason.”

“Creating that space, and the research shows, that there is less violence, less bullying, less self-harm, less suicidal ideation, less suicide,” says Shay Vanderschaeghe, program co-ordinator for Haven.

She says it’s not just students who benefit from GSAs and QSAs, but also teachers and staff.

“Creating safe space for the whole group of people is super important.”

Similar rallies were held at the same time in Lethbridge and Medicine Hat on Tuesday, the first day of advance voting for the April 16 provincial election.

UCP leader Jason Kenney recently said his government would revert to the former Progressive Conservative government’s Education Act of 2014, which included a provision to allow gay-straight alliances in schools if students wanted them.

The current New Democrat government brought in the School Act because it said there were some loopholes in the previous legislation that some schools were using to delay or deny students trying to set up the clubs.