This past month was a good one for the on campus club, Gay Straight Alliance. GSA is a club advised by Barbara Segal, one of the many special education teachers at TL, and has about 20 members. On Friday, March 18, GSA held their first dance in the studio theater at Terra Linda. Segal had been trying to organize the dance for previous years, but it couldn’t be executed until this year. Though the turnout wasn’t what was expected by GSA, Paloma Siegel, the club’s president, says “the dance was a blast.”

Free food and pictures were provided and the goal of the dance, according to Siegal, was “to make sure that our event felt safe and welcoming for everyone attending.” Because the dance was meant to be a safe space for anyone who wanted to attend and, Siegal adds that  “we had hung a poster for students to sign and write a message on and it was a real hit, the whole paper was covered by the end of the dance.”

The tickets for the GSA dance were selling for $10 at the door and the studio theater was animatedly decorated with lights, balloons and streamers. There was music and dancing, and friends reuniting with each other and enjoying one another’s company.

GSA has hopes to continue hosting this dance annually as a safe environment for all. Siegel also invites any students interested in joining GSA to join the club or attend one of their Friday afternoon movie events.

The club’s main event, the Day of Silence, will take place on April 29th, and is an event “to commemorate all the members of the LGBTQ+ community who have been targeted for being themselves,” according to Siegal. Signups will be available after we come back from spring break.