High school years are known as an invaluable stage of life, during which young people can develop their interests and learn about themselves. However, high school is not always known as the most supportive of environments for teens – until now.

Over the past couple of decades, the Gay-Straight Alliance, a club focused on forging common bonds between students of all sexual orientations, has gained a strong footing at Bainbridge High School.

It began under the guidance of Rob Goldsworthy, the beloved former English teacher who was lost to AIDS in the spring of 2005.

The club has “gone through some ups and downs,” admitted Charisa Moore, a health teacher at BHS and the club’s advisor for the past two years.

“Other people tried stepping in [after Goldsworthy’s death] but Rob’s shoes were really hard to fill.”

Nonetheless, over the last couple of years, Moore’s advisory position has even been allowed to take a back seat as high school student officers in the club have infused fresh life into a club they knew was vital to BHS’s infrastructure.

Taylor Raffa, a junior at BHS and co-president of GSA, agrees that the club’s energy had dissipated to some extent after Goldworthy’s death, but was doubly motivated to keep the club viable in his honor.

“Basically I hope to accomplish a club that is sustainable, one that continues after I’ve left BHS, because for a while it was going strong under Mr. Goldsworthy,” she said. “My hope for the group is to continue on and raise awareness, because we don’t have equal rights, and by educating students you’re educating the future voters who will be making changes.”

According to Moore, Raffa has already begun to make a difference at BHS.

“She’s always trying to find some kind of angle to improve overall equality for students, and started out by educating the staff,” said Moore.

In Raffa’s sophomore year, she brought a team of GSA officers together, including Riley Pickering and Liv Smith. They designed a PowerPoint presentation and educated the faculty about harassment and bullying prevention.

Raffa went even further. when she discovered a grant available from the LGBTQ-supporting Pride Foundation. She succeeded in earning a $1,500 unrestricted grant to fund community awareness with parental and student education components.

In the grant materials, Raffa herself explored why the club needed more funding, as well as how she has contributed to GSA’s recent success and what she plans for the future.

She outlined events the club hoped to sponsor, incl-uding an Ally Week in support of the LGBTQ community, a Transgender Day of Remembrance, and a Day of Silence to protest hate crimes.

“Last year we were not very organized, but managed to raise money and awareness by selling T-shirts that we created for the Day of Silence,” she wrote. “Not only did we sell out of T-shirts, but we still got requests for more even after the Day of Silence was over. It has been a joy this year to already see many students wearing The Day of Silence T-shirts within the first month of school.”

Raffa stresses that she wants the club to spread awareness of the fact that straight students are also welcome to help its efforts.

“A lot of students think of it as the gay club, but it’s supposed to be for everybody,” she said. “This year we were trying to shy away from being a support group; we were trying to be more productive in the past two years.”

Moore said Raffa tries to include everybody, and to make sure that GSA members feel truly supported. “Taylor is just really super creative when it comes to finding ways to support youth at Bainbridge High School, and when students come to GSA they feel really comfortable in that space,” she said.

“Of course, not all students who attend GSA are LGBTQ; anybody’s welcome. Taylor’s really inclusive; she provides a safe environment for teens to come, hang out, talk, and plan fun activities… It’s really nice when you have a big group of students that says, ‘We don’t get harassed here.’ That’s significant.”

Raffa’s efforts to expand the Bainbridge GSA’s impact will include community outreach in the next year, and she hopes that the club will host more seminars, guest speakers, and island unity events.

She wants the revived GSA to help ease the already difficult transition into high school for students questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity.

“It is my personal goal to make sure that every student at our school feels comfortable with their sexuality and gender identity, and also has respect for the orientations of others,” she said.