Communications senior Carson Baez-Smith hangs a poster encouraging students to join The Alliance. The Alliance meets every Tuesday during lunch in English teacher Martha Warwick’s room, room 3-104.

For many students, Dreyfoos is not only a school where they can hone their artistic skills, but also a safe haven. Dreyfoos is a place where students are granted the freedoms of self -expression and experimentation. However, even though students attend an accepting school, this does not exempt them from experiencing bullying. The Alliance, a club which formed this year, has brought together people in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning [LGBTQ] community with their allies in an attempt to raise awareness and foster understanding.

“It is important for people that are like minded to come together and spread awareness and raise pride,” theatre junior and club member Margo Gellert said. “The way to solve oppression is through education and this is what The Alliance works for. The club ensures that people respect every letter of the LGBTQ acronym.”

However, 17 percent of Dreyfoos students have reported experiencing some form of bullying due to their sexual and/or gender identity. Even though the majority of students at Dreyfoos are fairly accepting of their classmates and embrace them regardless of their identity and sexual preferences, students have still experienced bullying.

“I have been bullied pretty much as long as the word ‘gay’ had entered the vocabulary of my peers,” said visual sophomore Calil Russell Arguedas.  “[Bullying bothered] me to the point where I felt that even getting a girlfriend would not suffice my claims to heterosexuality, but over time I came to realize that it did not matter.”

 The Alliance was formed this year in response to students experiencing these instances of harassment. The club attempts to lessen these occurrences by increasing tolerance among the student body.

 “The Alliance brings together LGBTQ youth and straight allies to meet new people, hang out and have fun,” co- president communications junior Ebony Lewis said. “Through acceptance in everything we do, we hope to fight homophobia and transphobia on campus and in our community.”

 An even greater number of students, 78 percent, have witnessed some form of bullying directed towards members of the LGBTQ community.

“I see cliques of guys bullying transgendered people all the time. They think it’s cool to be mean to them, but they don’t understand how much it hurts to be bullied,” communications senior Tessa Bravata said. “Having a different identity or orientation than someone else is never a reason to say terrible things about them. I just try to educate these people whenever I can.”

 Most harassment occurs because of students’ lack of understanding and refusal to accept certain sexual orientations.

 “One of my friends told me that bisexuality was not a real sexuality,” Gellert said. “Other times in theatre people have said they won’t wear certain costumes because they don’t want to appear gay.”

While bullying still occurs, these actions are slightly mitigated by the 64 percent of students who insist on standing up for those who are unable to themselves. During instances of bullying, it is these courageous students who preserve the dignity and morale of their peers.

“This girl came out on her Facebook status as transgender a few weeks ago, and some guys from our school were saying how ridiculous she was and insulting her,” Bravata said. “So I asked the guys why they were bullying her and told them that they should never talk down to another human being just for being different. I’m not sure if the message got through, but they left her alone and that made all the difference.”

Regardless of the fact that Dreyfoos students have experienced their fair share of bullying, overall our school has a warm environment. This fact is confirmed by the 92 percent of students who identify Dreyfoos as an accepting place of the LGBTQ community.

“I think not only Dreyfoos is accepting of the LGBT community, but I think the world is also becoming more accepting of LGBT [members],” theatre senior Lexis Haligowski.  “It’s all about respect and honor of everyone’s quality of life.”

Administration agrees. Dreyfoos is a unique school as students here celebrate, rather than shun, their peers.

 “One of my first observations of Dreyfoos was how respectful and tolerant of individuals students are. At the school where I worked previously, it was very common for individuals to belittle and demean students that are different,” said assistant principal Dan Stafford. “This is not the case at Dreyfoos though. Everyone here is either an artist or performer so they learn to respect their peers and others.”