Students undaunted by rainbow crosswalk decision
Group takes stock of positives in light of Springdale council vote
Students and teachers representing the Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) at Indian River High School continued to focus on the positives of the rainbow crosswalk controversy, even after learning Springdale town council will uphold its decision to deny the request to paint it.
“I think it discouraging, but it is not the end of the world,” Megan Paddock, a 16-year-old Grade 11 student, said Tuesday via telephone from the school.
“We understand we can only benefit from this, and start a really mature conversation about it and educate people on why it is needed.”
Ruth Cameron, Indian River High vice-principal and teacher sponsor for the GSA, says she was disappointed by the decision of council to uphold its original denial of the group’s request for the rainbow crosswalk. However, she said there was some preparation, as the group knew it was a possibility.
“In the meantime, there has been a change and there is a different conversation happening now,” Cameron said. “This doesn’t diminish what has already happened.”
The school’s GSA has some other projects and plans in place, and will accept council’s invitation to work together on future initiatives, she said.
Council and the town in general have come under fire in the past couple of weeks as word of the situation spread across the country. Claudia Lilly, a Grade 12 student who announced during a council meeting last week that she was bisexual, said it is important to keep reactions respectful and professional.
“To be able to work with council is our main priority, and to be able to show acceptance for everybody is what we have been fighting for since the beginning,” she said. “Really, we would like to just have peaceful conversations. We are not trying to start any controversy. We accept and respect council’s decision.”
While some might believe the situation might leave vulnerable youth discouraged from coming out or opening up as to who they truly are, Cameron and fellow teacher sponsor Christina Pelley believe the opposite has taken place.
“Inadvertently, we may not have gotten what we set out to achieve, but I think we have achieved way more than we have ever thought possible,” she said.
Springdale Mayor Dave Edison stands by his decision to deny the request, even though it has been something that has affected his life significantly in a negative way.
As a spokesperson for the town, the mayor has been often singled out and received the bulk of the harsh criticism.
“Regionally, nationally and somewhat locally there was a lot of concern about some of the false information that was out there about me personally,” he said. “I have spent numerous hours with the school and with children (over the years), and I have supported that school in many regards. Many of the students on this GSA have spent quite a bit of time around me in different capacities.”
The personal attacks have taken a toll on Edison, who has been widely described — even during this controversy — as well-respected in the community.
“Being called homophobic and some of the other remarks are simply outlandish,” he said. “To publicly scrutinize me, when I was only one vote, I thought it was very unfortunate. It was, I’ll use the term, bullying. It is not a word I use a lot, and I don’t like it. I hope I have never been a bully and, in any case, I don’t like to be bullied. Certainly, it went way too far, as far as I am concerned.”