Dei and GSA celebrate the LGBTQ+ community

​Ambassadors of DEI and GSA clubs host a LGBTQ+ table celebrating important events and people in history.

On Oct. 25 the DEI club and GSA had many tables outside of Willis Hall. These tables were not open to the whole school rather just the Upper school. 
A question wheel with historical questions about LQBTQ+ was run by me, Jacob Johnson ‘25, Kayleigh Johnson ‘26, Caroline Welfare ‘27 and Abby Landry ‘26. After answering a question correctly, students won a pack of Skittles. 
 
Many people praised the cake pops from History teacher Hannah Ewing, who worked at the table with GSA Club members asking students to answer trivia questions in order to win a cake pop. 

The majority of the DEI crew contributed to the success of the tables. 
“The LGBTQ+ table was successful,” DEI coordinator Debbie Taylor said.
 “We had students playing games and taking an active interest in learning. One ninth-grade student playing trivia said, ‘I am learning,’ and students with whom I had a very in-depth conversation about acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community two years ago, came over and played trivia. That makes me happy. Those are highlights for me. Some of our football players stopped by to play the game. Our students are becoming more accepting and willing to learn.”

For the prize of a shirt supporting the LGBTQ+ community, there was a choice between two questions: 1) Q: The Stonewall riots took place in which New York City neighborhood?” The second asking,Which contemporary TV show features the longest running queer character in TV history? (Dr. Callie Torres Grey’s Anatomy) Even teachers felt stumped. 
One person on the table and walls of the Upper School took most students  by surprise. Many people didn’t realize that the famous singer songwriter who produced masterpieces such as “Blond(e)” and “Channel Orange",” Frank Ocean, identifies as bi-sexual. 

“I really didn’t know about Frank,” Chris Carter ‘25 said. “I never really got into his music, but I definitely know his work.”

“We are in the business of teaching here at North Cross and in the DEI program about acceptance and kindness towards everyone”, Taylor said. “We are a community that has space for everyone regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion.”