In life, we often go through experiences feeling completely isolated. Whether we are dealing with hard times or troubles with our identity, the road we walk can feel like a lonely one. For many students at Air Academy, being LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and +) can feel like one of those lonely roads.

However, at Air Academy, a club has been formed in order to build the community and support among LGBTQ+ persons. SAGA, Straight and Gay Alliance, has formed at Air Academy and has begun to create a safe environment for kids in the LGBTQ+ community, so that they know that they have a safe place within the walls of the school. Along with this, they have friends and mentors that they can turn to for uplifting support.

Straight and Gay Alliance is a student-run club in Air Academy that creates a place for the LGBTQ+ community to turn to, instead of feeling isolated in their sexuality. In addition to strengthening the bond of the LGBTQ community at Air Academy, SAGA also emphasizes that those that are straight also bond with the LGBTQ community, and become more accepting and supportive to one another.

SAGA has improved the environment of Air Academy by posting signs on the doors of supportive teachers that say “Safe Zone” in order to inform those in the LGBTQ community that teachers are there for support and their room is a place that they can go and feel safe. Straight and Gay Alliance also hold meetings in the school in order to improve the “alliance” between the straight and gay community. An Air Academy High Junior, Micah Wilborn, believes “Straight and Gay Alliance is an awesome opportunity to unite AAHS students through ways the student body most likely haven’t seen before, I totally recommend going to one of their meetings.”

Straight and Gay Alliance also works towards broadening the education that those in the LGBTQ+ community and straight community have on sexuality. Because these topics are rarely brought up in school, it is beneficial for those who might not know much about their sexual orientation to be educated and have their questions answered. They even educate on things such as LGBTQ+ community history in order to give a full look into the different sexualities.

Other Straight and Gay Alliance clubs participate in activities, such as organizing a “Pride Week” or “LGBTQ Awareness Events” and offer educational workshops, panels, and pride celebrations. Some SAGA’s organize a “Teach the Teachers” staff development day, which focuses on teaching school staff how to be better allies for LGBTQ+ students.

Straight and Gay Alliance was formed by Carolyn Laub, who in the 1988-1989 was working with forty SAGA clubs in the San Fransisco area. Since then, Straight and Gay Alliance has gone from having forty clubs in San Fransisco to having nine hundred clubs all across America. In California alone, the club has impacted over 1.1 million students for the better.

Thanks to SAGA, the LGBTQ+ community has a safe place to turn to in the halls of our school, and they are impacting the way of life for these students daily.