LETTER TO THE EDITOR
King George County Schools want to disallow Gay-Straight Alliance clubs. But banning a GSA would send the message that LGBTQ+ identities are wrong or inappropriate.
At the King George School Board meeting on January 7, Superintendent Dr. Jesse Boyd suggested that allowing a proposed Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) Club at the middle school could increase suicide risk among students. His statement reflects a deep misunderstanding of teen mental health and school safety practices.
GSAs are not therapy groups. They are supervised clubs that focus on age-appropriate, fun social activities and building friendships, similar to any other club. The club’s goal is to reduce isolation and bullying, which are two of the strongest causes of teen self-harm and mental health challenges. Research shows that schools with GSAs experience lower rates of bullying, depression, and suicidal ideation, not only among LGBTQ+ students, but across the entire student body.
Banning a GSA also sends the message that LGBTQ+ identities are wrong or inappropriate. That message reinforces the stigma against the LGBTQ+ community, leads to increased bullying, and weakens the very mental health protections Dr. Boyd says he wants to uphold.
The logic used to oppose the GSA is troubling. Dr. Boyd seems to be saying that discussing difficult topics, such as suicide, would cause students to be suicidal. That is fundamentally false. Research shows that acknowledging feelings of sadness or depression, along with connecting students to appropriate care and resources, works to alleviate and reduce self-harming behaviors. If discussing difficult topics were grounds for banning a club, then we would also need to ban anti-bullying clubs, because they discuss bullying, or health education, because they talk about death and illness. We do not ban those groups; we supervise them responsibly.
Middle school is a peak period for anxiety, bullying, and social isolation. If student safety and suicide prevention are truly the priority, then creating more supervised spaces for connection—not fewer—is the evidence-based approach.
The King George School Board should reconsider its position and allow the GSA club to meet. Supporting students means fostering belonging and relying on what we know works.
Susan Park
King George, Virginia
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Really strong articualtion of why supervised spaces actually reduce harm rather than amplify it. The comparison to banning anti-bullying clubs because they mention bullying is spot on becuase it exposes the circular logic here. I've seen how important these kinds of clubs are in middle school when isolation peaks and kids really need connection points. The data about schools with GSAs having lower rates across the entire student body gets overlooked too often in these debates.