Elgin High's Prism club puts more focus on activism

For the first three years, Elgin High's Prism club functioned largely to give gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students a safe place to be themselves.

It still serves that role, but now, another one too.

As the club has laid down roots, it has transitioned from a social group to one more focused on activism.

Along with attending Illinois Safe Schools Alliance conferences to learn how to make their campus a more accepting place, holding dances and fundraisers, the Prism club's dozen members have been busy organizing the school's second annual Day of Silence, where students and faculty members Friday will silently protest anti-gay bullying and harassment.

Club President Abby Mungai hopes to have 50 students participate, up from last year's 30. Some, like sophomore China Chris Barnes, even plan to place duct-tape over their mouths, as a reminder.

"It's great watching everything grow, but it's also scary in a way," club moderator Monica Ryan said.

"We used to be sort of in the closet. This year, we're out there. At the same time, the attention is good."

The club still encounters some prejudices.

It participated in this Elgin High's traditional painting of downtown storefront windows for homecoming, but its drawings were erased.

Posters advertising Prism club events are still ripped down from the school's hallways, club secretary Gretta Grzadziel said. Students, even faculty, are still guilty of using anti-gay slurs.

But Ryan, along with club members, have hope that things will continue to change, by learning from the example of Bartlett High's Gay-Straight alliance club, the oldest of Elgin Area School District U-46's groups for gay and lesbian students.

Ryan and Bartlett club moderator Rosemary "Ro" Brunton met at an Illinois Safe Schools seminar last summer, and are developing a mentoring relationship.

Brunton, a social worker, founded the group in 1998 after reading statistics on the high number of dropouts and suicides among gay teens. Her daughter, who is a lesbian, never had the chance to join such a group when she was in high school, she said.

At first, Brunton said, Bartlett's club, like Elgin High's, encountered some hostility.

"Everyone was pretty resistant at first," she said. But Brunton conducted surveys and held training sessions for harassment and anti-gay bullying that she'd heard walking the hallways at school.

"People are much more aware now," she said.

Ryan says she plans to follow Brunton's lead, pushing for more faculty education about counteracting anti-gay prejudices.

"Education is my focus right now," she said.

<p class="factboxheadblack">If you go</p>

<p class="News">After Elgin High School's Day of Silence in protest of anti-gay bullying and harassment, an Elgin business is holding an event for kids to kick back and celebrate a successful day. Mad Maggies, 51 S. Grove St., in downtown Elgin, will hold a Night of Noise from 7 10 p.m. Friday, complete with music and dancing. Entry is $1.</p>