Photograph by Simone Lewis
“OUT” and “IT’S ALL GOOD” stood proudly on shirts sold by Berkeley High School’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) in honor of National Coming Out Day on October 11, in the art gallery on the second floor of the C-Building, all profits going to charity. The shirts also connect students and let both out and closeted students know that the Berkeley High School (BHS) community supports them.
This year, the GSA sold the shirts that read “OUT” in the colors of the gay pride flag, the bisexual pride flag, the pansexual pride flag, the transgender pride flag, the genderqueer pride flag, and the asexual flag, plus solid black for those without a more specific label.
“IT’S ALL GOOD” comes in rainbow and solid black for allies, not to mention closeted people. Not only do the shirts raise money for charity and help people within LGBT+ sub-communities find each other, they give people a chance to educate others. Lots of people walking by the GSA’s stand asked “What flag is that?”, pointing at shirts for lesser-known communities.
The GSA covers the cost of producing the shirts, which they paint themselves, with money raised through the sale of the shirts, with the rest of the money going to a worthy cause.
The GSA sells the shirts at fifteen dollars and ten dollars for shirts which had slight printing mishaps during the screening process.
“We donate the money that we raise each year to a shelter for homeless queer youth. We also really just like to bring awareness to us as a community, and our presence in BHS and the world around us,” said Jaya Nagarajan-Swenson, BIHS senior and co-president of the GSA.
Co-presidents of the GSA Alix Abrahams, sophomore, and Jaya Nagarajan-Swenson, reported that the GSA donated “a couple hundred bucks” the first year of the sale in 2015.
In 2016, the GSA sold six hundred dollars worth of shirts and donated three hundred dollars after paying off the costs of production. Last year, the GSA sold about fifty shirts.
This year the sale began on October 6 and ended on October 13. Because the GSA produced more shirts than usual this year, about 45 shirts remain in this year’s stock, still available to be purchased. Given the homophobia on the hate Instagram account created by several Berkeley High School students, the shirts may carry a special significance this year.
The LGBT+ community has long faced discrimination and disrespect, but this time, people at BHS perpetuated that injustice blatantly on a social media account.
Though many people hid behind the anonymity of the internet to laugh at and disparage the LGBT+ community (as well as other communities), many students are walking around in the GSA’s shirts.
Abrahams keeps the possibility of printing new pride flags on “OUT” shirts open. Maxime Hendrikse Liu, junior, an aromantic member of the GSA, hopes to convince the GSA to print shirts with the aromantic flag on them next year. She and other members of the GSA also mentioned that they might add the non-binary pride flag to the array next year’s sales.
“National Coming Out Day is a pretty big day for a lot of queer people, and it generally doesn’t get a ton of recognition. We wanted to bring attention to the day while bringing attention to our community and what’s affecting us, who we are, while also raising money for a cause that we believe in,” said Nagarajan-Swenson, summarizing the importance of having shirt sales on Berkeley High campus.
Hopefully, the message to and from Berkeley High School reads: We’re here, we’re queer, we’re on a spectrum and not sure if we fall under the category of “queer,” we’re questioning, we’re allies, and we’re Berkeley High! The LGBT+ community and its allies are still here selling shirts in the face of adversity just like LGBT+ people have existed despite facing animosity.
As we move further away from National Coming Out Day, this year’s T-shirt sale is winding down. As the sale ends, remember that the GSA meets in room H-102A Wednesdays at lunch for those interested in joining the GSA or helping with the sale next year. Celebrate diversity in the face of adversity, Berkeley High.