Since the start of the school year, many changes had to be put in place in order to meet covid guidelines. Among these changes is that of clubs having to adapt to how they would have their meetings. Michele Iraci, president of the Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA), has been helping the club by hosting various events.

According to them, the club has been meeting during virtual Wednesdays an hour after school ends at 12:30 p.m. However, due to a combination of sports, time, and other obligations, attendance has been a bit down, so a survey was sent out to the current members to see if there was a better time to meet.

Regarding participation from those who do join the meetings, the discussions are still going strong, although it isn’t the same as when members met in person and were able to interact and speak more freely. Topics are predetermined and often based on LGBTQ+-related holidays and days like Zero Discrimination Day. An example being that February 23rd was Stand Up to Bullying Day, and that Wednesday the meeting topic was focused on the bystander effect, the different forms bullying can come in, as well as some statistics about bullying in Connecticut. This discussion format will probably stick around for a year or so until something better is worked out.

Each year, a representative from Stone Wall or GLSN (an organization working to end discrimination and bullying based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression and prompt inclusion and awareness of LGBT culture in K-12 schools) would visit and talk at one of the meetings. Iraci hopes to have at least one out-of-school guest speaker scheduled to speak at a meeting before the end of the year.

Pre-covid “Games, Snacks, and …” days consisted of various games being played and snacks being eaten while conversations were had, but due to circumstances, options have been limited. It has proved difficult to play Kahoot while at the same time hosting it. With that being said, there is a hope that more games will be able to be played and executed in a way that everyone could participate.

With only eight more scheduled meetings, the hope is to make the best out of what can be done.