Posted on by Chelsea Girard
Youth Matters with Chelsea Girard. Peer pressure, social media,Prom, National Youth Week, pride flag,Community, Windsor-Essex Pride Fest, Won't Tell A Soul, Unsung Heroes, Your Guide to Journalism 101, Photojournalism - Capturing Life at it’s Rarest Form, Raw and Intricate, You’re Never Too Young for a Bucket List, Remembrance Day in Windsor-Essex, Eating Disorders, "It got better, but it never ended", Love is Love, "None of you cared, and neither did I." - 13 Reasons Why, Shakespeare Stripped from HS Curriculum, and I Agree, The Homeless Community Has Nothing to be Ashamed Of, Travelling on a Budget, Summer Ending that Everyone Dreads...School, Youth Matters - School Stress Relievers, What the Strike? A Student's Point of View, Ordering Online is a Hard NO!, What to do After College?
09
Jun

LGBTQ Pride Flag to be Raised in WECDSB System

The Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB) has taken the stand to raise pride flags to support the LGBTQ ( Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Trans-gender, Queer) community. But why hasn’t the Windsor Essex Catholic District School Board (WECDSB) done the same by raising the Pride flag?

Pride flags need to rise at all High Schools in Essex-county, both public and catholic, because we need to be inclusive and have safety in schools. Hanging the Pride flag next to the one with the maple leaf shows that we are a proud country and proud of its citizens.

Students, teachers and any 3rd party entering the building need to know that when they look up and see that rainbow..this place they are about to enter is a safe one and you will be and are already accepted regardless of faith or religion or sexuality or orientation or gender. A rainbow flag isn’t “gay”… its equality. Red yellow green orange blue purple all stand together and make something beautiful. Let’s make our schools and businesses beautiful.

In this article, it was stated that the WECDSB would not be raising their flag to bring awareness to the LGBTQ community, but why?

“Officials at the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board said they haven’t been approached about flying the Pride Flag.” well, I am approaching the board now to make a stand for the LGBTQ community. We shouldn’t have to “approach” anyone about supporting our community, about making every student, staff member, and visitor feel safe and welcomed when they enter through our school’s door.

School’s such as Walkerville, Sandwich, Kingsville,Essex  and many more, have taken the stand either raising their pride flags and making transgender bathrooms, we now need our Windsor-Essex community to sign a petition and have our process started! I myself am not gay or transgender, but that doesn’t mean to don’t support and accept these individuals. We are human, we shouldn’t need a petition to enforce common sense, these adults need to lead by example and not wait for the community or students to show them how it’s done!

We only need 100 signatures in order to make the movement noticeable, tweet and post the hashtag #WECDSBNEEDSPRIDE on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and let’s get our LGBTQ community the support and acceptance they deserve! If you’re behind this movement, please take the time to sign the online petition HERE.

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Chelsea Girard

Chelsea Girard is a grade 12 student attending St. Joseph High School and an intern with Biz X learning all she needs to know about writing and the magazine biz. She is a passionate writer and strives to educate youth and parents on issues teens face in their everyday lives on her blog. Chelsea is also "Miss Teen United Nations 2015" and is dedicated to bringing awareness to her platform of Mental Health.