LGBTQ Students Encouraged To Speak Out At Town Hall Meeting

WESLEY CHAPEL, FL -- Concerned that the Pasco County School District is being pressured to limit the rights of students who identify as gay and transgender, a 2018 Sunlake High School graduate is hosting a town hall meeting Thursday, April 4, to give students an opportunity to voice their thoughts and concerns about the ongoing debate.

The meeting will take place at the New River Branch Library, 34043 State Road 54 in Wesley Chapel, starting at 6 p.m.

Chelsea Lonon, 19, of Land O' Lakes said she was motivated to organize the town hall meeting after hearing disparaging comments about LGBTQ high school students at Pasco County School Board meeting.

"I am very close with someone who is LGBTQ, and I'm concerned that the school district will take a step backward when it comes to the rights of these students," she said.

During the public comment portion of the monthly Pasco County School Board meetings, the board routinely has routinely heard from residents objecting to the school district's diversity policy, said school district spokeswoman Linda Cobbe.

The debate began last year after a Pasco County middle school gym teacher refused to supervise a locker room while a transgender student was using it.

Since then, there's been a concerted effort by religious activists led by the anti-LGBTQ organization, Liberty Counsel, to change the Pasco County School District's policy regarding gay and transgender students.

So far, the school district has maintained its policy of tolerance and inclusiveness, the same policy adopted by surrounding counties. Students are allowed to choose which locker room or restroom they use based on the gender with which they identify. And the high schools have welcomed the formation of gay-straight alliance clubs.

However, since the issue with the gym teacher came to light, the school board has received criticism from those who believe students should be identified by their birth gender.

They've also targeted gay-straight alliance clubs, demanding that the school board require written parental consent for a student to join a club . Currently, high school students don't need parental permission to join a school-sanctioned club.

"For many of these students, these clubs are a lifeline," said Lonon. "They've helped these students be accepted by the other students at the school and, in the process, helped them to accept themselves."

But Lonon said it's difficult for LGBTQ students to defend the clubs at school board meetings.

"They're afraid of being mistreated by those who don't approve of who they are," she said. "So, I decided to put together this town hall meeting to give them an open mic to express their concerns in a safe environment."

Students will be encouraged to tell their stories and talk about what the clubs and current policy of inclusiveness has meant to them.

Lonon is encouraging parents as well as those opposed to the anti-gay activists to attend and hear what the students have to say.

"I'm hoping people will come and really listen to these kids who are affected by this every day" she said. "If it changes just one person's mind about these clubs, it'll be worth it."