You may have seen posters around the school, or heard people talking about SAGA, and you may be thinking what is that? SAGA stands for Sexuality and Gender Acceptance. SAGA is many things, but in brief it is a support group for those of the LGBTQ community. (Stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/ Questioning.) As described by some members of the group who have chosen to stay anonymous saga is also; “ A wonderful place that I feel safe in”, “ A place where I can feel free to be myself”, “It (SAGA) offers the support i don’t get at home”, “SAGA is the place where i learned to love myself”.
There are many misconceptions and judgement put on SAGA and it’s members. What SAGA as a whole would like to stress is we are not asking for you to agree with us on everything. Our purpose is not to shove our own opinions down others throats. What we are asking for is basic respect. Being apart of the LGBTQ community can be hard enough when it comes to home life or disapproving people. So when coming to school SAGA for many is an escape from that judgment from others and even from ourselves, all we are asking for is to make school a safe space for everyone.
Sometimes it can be difficult to treat someone with respect when you don’t understand/agree with their beliefs, that is why we are aiming to educate everyone. Being apart of the LGBTQ community is like being on a spectrum. On one side you have gay and other straight and in between you have many different labels and identities. On the contrary though to be educated you don’t need to know all these labels or what all the letters in LGBTQ stand for. All you need to know is that bottom line we are all human. Is that not enough for the most basic levels of respect? But if you are interested in learning more about this community feel free to talk to Katie Walker (the group leader) who can be found in the testing office in the back of the student office. In addition if you are interested in joining SAGA you can stop by her office or the nurses office to sign up. We meet every Wednesday during directed study and we do a wide range of activities that can vary from self acceptance to the LGBTQ community. SAGA is a completely confidential group, your parents or friends or teachers will not know you are in attendance unless you yourself tell them.
Overall SAGA is a group that many go to get support from in our school, this year we have reached almost 50 members. But it is not the only place you can go to get support in our school. Recently you may have seen little “safe space” stickers around the school. If you see them in a teachers room or on their door that is a signifier that they have open ears for the LGBTQ community. If you are a teacher and would like to get a safe space sticker please contact Katie Walker.