“It was so clear that there was a need for this and the students had just felt so desirous of something to be able to talk with each other,” Parlin said.īen Miner, vice president of the Newton South GSA and a rising junior, said the city has a “strong and prominent” LGBTQ community.
Parlin said the club saw around 50 students show up at its first meeting in 1991, including students who wanted to support their LGBTQ peers. “Everyone should feel safe, and everyone should feel welcomed in a public school setting.” “We did focus on safety and educating people in the community, and that’s all our programs have done, trying to just raise awareness,” said Bob Parlin, founder of the GSA at Newton South.
This year the Newton Human Rights Commission honored the 30th anniversary of the Newton South High School Gay Straight Alliance - the first public-school GSA in the country.
