LGBTQ Students Have Unique High School Experiences.

Many LGBTQ students attend Carter High School and have very unique experiences in the school. While all students have different experiences in the school, students in the LGBTQ community have vastly different experiences than heterosexual and cis-gendered students. One certain issue the students deal with is acceptance. Students who do not identify with a part of the LGBTQ community do not usually struggle with acceptance. The Equality Club was a huge issue for the school and thus has been put on hiatus. This club was a safe place for many students. This is only one example of not benign accepted and a struggle these students deal with. Acceptance is not the only struggle or “experience” the students deal with. Jason Dassaro, a junior student, is transgender. He came from another East Tennessee school and says the bullying, harassment, and overall vibe of the school he came from was awful. He was bullied for being part of the LGBTQ community and struggled with the experience he had there. According to Jason, Carter is “Pretty accepting over all, no aggression at all. Walking down the hall, you couldn’t tell the difference. Everyone is integrated. Everyone mixes with everyone.” He has not experienced any homophobia for himself while at the school, even if he is accidentally dead-named by some people. At the school he came from, he would be misgendered and dead-named on purpose. Another place Jason feels accepted in is the color guard. The band of Carter High School is very accepting towards Jason. As a part of the color guard, Jason is made to feel accepted and safe. He wears the male guard uniform, is called by his preferred name and pronouns, and is overall completely accepted in the guard. It is much different from his last school but in a very good way. Students are not the only ones with unique experiences. Ms. Sharp, color guard instructor and junior English teacher, considers herself part of the community. She prides herself on creating a safe space for all students, including those in the LGBTQ community. Even though she is a new teacher, Ms. Sharp has noticed some very large differences in the atmosphere at Carter towards students of the LGBTQ community. “Some students at Carter are more blantan in the harassment of LGBTQ students.” Sharp commented when asked about one difference between the schools she has worked at and Carter. She has witnessed one student using the f-slur against another student who was openly gay and was shocked to say the least but the boy handled it very well and Sharp was quick to remove the harrasser from ehr class. At another school she worked at in East Tennessee, the student population is larger which means the LGBTQ student population is larger as well. This allows those who are part of the community to be more accepted in the school. On the other hand, she taught in a small school in Georgia. With such a small student body, LGBTQ students are very few.  Due to being in the Bible Belt, the school in Georgia was not very accepting of the LGBTQ community. The Bible Belt refers to states that are mainly Christian, a religion that is mostly against LGBTQ people. Being here, there was a lack of LGBTQ students which caused those who are there to be bullied, according to Sharp. She concluded that Carter was what would be considered a middle of the road experience. There isn’t a horrible amount of bullying and harassment but it does exist. Overall, Ms. Sharp sees Carter as the normal type of experience for most LGBTQ students and continues to do her best to support and accept those in the community. The LGBTQ students of Carter high school have had good and bad experiences but overall, Carter is generally accepting towards them.