Letter to the Editor
Pioneer's Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA)
Pioneer's Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA)
Every school should provide a safe and inviting environment through its campus, and this includes its extracurricular activities like our clubs. This is not seen in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at school, who claim that any student identifying as a part of the LGBTQ+ community is not allowed to become a club leader. It states in the FCA leadership pledge, “the Bible is clear in teaching on sexual sin, including sex outside of marriage and homosexual acts. Neither heterosexual sex outside of marriage nor any homosexual act constitute an alternative lifestyle acceptable to God.” Although this club is backed up by a larger organization in America, it should not be allowed on a school campus where everyone has the freedom to join or participate in a club no matter their race, gender or sexual orientation. The school had told us they removed the FCA as a club on campus, yet we still see the administrators like our principals providing a space to hold a speaker and even help pass out food. Pioneer is allowing this club to have a speaker, Brian Sparkes, while also giving out free Chick-Fil-A food — an organization known to help support and donate money to anti-gay churches and conversion camps. As stated in the Pink News, “in 2012, it emerged that Chick-fil-A had donated millions of dollars to anti-gay groups, including the Family Research Council, ‘gay cure’ group Exodus International and Focus on the Family” (Braidwood.) Although national news has told us they have stopped their support, the CEO, Dan T. Cathy, is a known homophobic man who opposes same-sex marriage. The school has known about this since last year, when evidence of the FCA’s rules first made a public appearance and yet they still have done little to no change on the school campus. We understand that the FCA can be an important club to keep on campus because it allows a safe place and organization for the Christian athletes of Pioneer to join, however, we conclude that in order to stay a club on campus, the FCA needs to remove their rules discriminating against LGBTQ+ people.