School News

Getting an LGBT education at Lynbrook

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About 75 people attended a Lynbrook High School Gay-Straight Alliance panel discussion on Jan. 27, which gave parents and community members a chance to ask questions about the Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender community.

“It felt like we had a room full of supporters,” said Laurie Mitchell, chair of the school’s guidance department and a GSA adviser.

The panel, moderated by Mitchell, began with members clarifying commonly used terms in the LGBT community. They shared resources for parents and educators, and helped attendees establish networks beyond the Lynbrook schools for a child or family member who identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or another term along the LGBT spectrum.

Mitchell said that the idea for a panel discussion came from incoming GSA members who felt there was more work to be done in informing their community. “We’re pioneers in this effort,” she said. “We had a bunch of ninth-graders come to our GSA [this year] with a level of confidence and savvy we haven’t experienced before.”

Mikayla Layng, 15, said that the event had been under discussion since the end of last year, when she was running for GSA president. “It was a really cool opportunity to see people want to learn more about something that may or may not apply to them,” she said, adding, “As a kid, we’re told adults are always right, and it’s impolite to correct adults.” It was incredible, she said, to see parents lining up to learn from kids.

Along with Mitchell and Layng, the panel included GSA Vice President Maggie Light, LHS alumnus Aidan Kircheim, Rabbi Andrew Gordon of Temple Sinai in Roslyn, Deacon Kevin McCormack of Our Lady of Peace Church in Lynbrook, parents Sheila and Steve Kutner, Aiden Kaplan of Pride for Youth, and Ronna Weiss of PFLAG Long Island (a chapter of a national LGBT rights group).

Mitchell said that since she and her colleague Robyn Raleigh, who co-advises the GSA, had encountered some religious questions during the club’s meetings, they decided to include two religious leaders on the panel. “It’s something that’s not been done before,” Mitchell said.

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