First Nations gay youths build alliances
NORTH BATTLEFORD — In a small classroom at the end of a hallway in Sakewew High School, Shayley Chief found the answers to questions that had baffled her for years.
Chief, 13, makes a weekly trek from her North Battleford elementary school to the high school, where a small group of students and teachers meet as a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), the first such club in a Saskatchewan First Nations school and possibly the first of its kind in Canada.
“I’ve learned a lot here. The questions I’ve had about myself, I’ve learned about that,” Chief said this week while sitting in the classroom with her mother, Noella. “I knew I was different when I was younger. I wasn’t the girlie type.”
Shayley didn’t like to wear dresses growing up, her mother says. When she told her mom she was gay, cut her hair and started wearing what is considered men’s clothing — on this day, a bow tie and suspenders — her personality changed. She was no longer a withdrawn teen, her mom said.
“I see her light shining now,” Noella said. “She’s been my teacher more than anything.”
The six or so core members of the Sakewew GSA meet every Wednesday to share stories, discuss issues and brainstorm ideas for events and fundraisers. They often travel to reserves and other schools, such as Saskatoon’s Oskayak High School, to educate students and encourage them to start their own GSAs for gay youth and their friends.
Reid Stewart, the group’s enthusiastic teacher adviser, established the GSA with a student in 2005 and recently went with the group to OUTshine, a national GSA summit in Toronto.
“I’m inspired by these students. It’s a pretty amazing group of young people,” Stewart said.
Stewart said the group came back from OUTshine brimming with ideas to make their school more inclusive. They’ll push to get the other two North Battleford high schools to share the cost of a staff person who deals exclusively with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer issues, much like the schools share costs for a fulltime RCMP liaison officer.
They also plan to convince the high school to have a universal washroom to accommodate all students, Stewart said. The provincial education ministry should also establish a unit dedicated to youth LGBTQ issues, he said.
“We’re going to fight hard. All schools have to have GSAs. It’s necessary. It’s the only way we stop the nightmare of discrimination,” Stewart said.
A friend encouraged Kayla Kahpeaysewat, 19, to check out the GSA about three years ago and she hasn’t left. Before joining the alliance, the exuberant Grade 12 student knew she was different from other students but didn’t know why.
“I didn’t realize this group would help me as much as it did. I’m proud to say I’m gay, and I can say that here because no one really cares,” Kahpeaysewat said.
“When you start out small and young, people question themselves. As you go through high school, it can be hard. You should always have somewhere safe to go.”
About one in five LGBTQ youth reported being physically harassed or assaulted because of their sexual orientation, according to a 2011 national survey from Egale Canada, a gay rights organization. Almost two-thirds of LGBTQ students surveyed said they felt unsafe at school.
A GSA is at least a brief refuge from intolerance in and out of school. Shayley and her mom recently took a shopping trip to Saskatoon where twice — at a restaurant and at a mall — adult women berated the teenager for using the women’s bathroom, either because they thought she was male or because they thought she didn’t belong there even if she dressed like a man.
“I was so upset she got yelled at by these women,” Noella said. “It’s very hard for a mom.”
The provincial government has not done enough to support gay youth, said Ryan Jimmy, a 29-year-old teacher and openly gay Cree who works with the Sakewew GSA.
Simply including a list of Saskatchewan schools with GSAs would be helpful, he said. The opposition NDP last month pushed the Saskatchewan Party government to do just that.
“Our government needs to take a stand on supporting GSAs. Students and their families want to know what schools will nurture them and support their sexuality,” Jimmy said.
“It’s OK to be different. You can find that courage and strength to be yourself, and the GSA can help do that.”