LWHS Students Walk Out For LGBTQ+ Rights

Posted on May 23, 2023 by Olivia Bye and Celia Clark

On March 31, over 200 students from private, independent, public and parochial schools across the Bay Area gathered on Patricia’s Green in San Francisco and marched to San Francisco City Hall, all the while chanting the phrase, “trans rights are human rights!”

The walk-out was a part of a nationwide “March for Queer and Trans Youth Autonomy” movement that united LGBTQ+ youth in all 50 states and Washington D.C. The event was coordinated by Queer Youth Assemble, a queer youth-led nonprofit, in response to the recent uprising of anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in state legislatures across the United States.

This year’s Trans Day of Visibility was unlike any other. 543 anti-trans bills have been proposed since the start of 2023 as of May 16, according to Trans Legislation Tracker. Of these bills, 70 have been passed and 372 are currently active. Most of the bills target transgender rights and range from limiting trans peoples’ ability to play sports to their ability to receive gender-affirming care.

Many of these laws target LGBTQ+ education in classrooms. On March 28, 2022, the original Parental Rights in Education law was signed, often referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which banned instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation for kindergarten through third grade students in Florida. On April 19, 2023, the bill was expanded to all grades. According to data from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), nearly 250 anti-LGBTQ+ education-related bills have been introduced in 2023, more than twice the number of similar bills introduced in 2022.

Three students at Lick-Wilmerding High School, Will Yu ’23, Cole Tao ’24 and Jack Mireles ’25, held leadership roles in the planning of the Walkout for Queer and Trans Youth in San Francisco.

They all expressed their content with the walkout’s success. “From the start, we had a lot of people contacting us through Instagram DMs,” Tao said. “The Sisters of Indulgence were willing to sponsor the event, and we had a lot of support. It was also fairly easy to ask Honey Mahogany, Matt Dorsey and Kena Hazelwood to speak at the event. The turnout was also a huge success.”

The Sisters of Indulgence, also known as the The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence of San Francisco, are a charity, protest and street performance organization that uses both drag and religious references to fight for issues of gender and queer rights.

“It showed me more and more that the queer and LGBTQ community shows up. It gave me so much confidence that we stand in community together and will stand up for each other’s rights. It’s what we need to hear in these times of anti-trans and queer legislation,” Mireles said.

While these three students expressed their gratitude for the supportive LWHS and San Francisco community, they also noted that these communities can often feel like they are in a protective bubble when it comes to social issues. They believe that this bubble of privilege and protection has given them the voice to stand up for issues that are important to them.

“It’s easy to get caught up in the bubble of Lick and the bubble of San Francisco. It is so easy to forget what is going on in the nation and when you look at the news, there are so many awful things happening across the nation. I think it’s important that we stand up for these things. The walkout was a great way for people to move beyond the Lick community and just be immersed in the queer community of the Bay Area,” Yu said.

As much as the three walkout leaders at LWHS felt supported by their community, they were also met with a lot of confusion from the student body about why this event was necessary at LWHS.

“Even though this legislation isn’t directed at us in California, it is still really hard to see this in the news because it is part of our identity. People at Lick asked why we needed a walkout for this if it doesn’t affect us, but a walkout is not just an event – it is a space. It can feel lonely sometimes, and this created such a sense of community,” Tao said.

“If you are in the queer or trans community, whenever you see something like that, it feels like a little blow to your heart. It can happen to you anywhere, it feels personal,” Yu added.

Erin Merk, LWHS Department Chair of Body-Mind Education, believes that LGBTQ+ education for high schoolers is vital to understanding and destigmatizing the community. “Because so much education is heteronormative, it naturally leaves out so many people,” she said. “Having a separate education or a defined focus on LGBTQ+ identities and history allows for students to unpack all kinds of cultural myths and ways that they are being socialized in heteronormative culture.”

Percy Vermut ’24 believes that lack of LGBTQ+ education directly correlates to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. “I’ve seen visibly on people’s faces how my identity has challenged their worldview. Most people do not think that they know a transgender person or that they have an actual grasp of what being trans is,” he said. “Education is so incredibly limited around trans issues. And I think that’s a huge reason why we see so much anti-trans legislation, because people are scared of what they don’t know. Being able to provide education on marginalized identities is key in saving our lives.”

Yu voiced his personal struggles with the division that the walkout created. “It felt like you had to choose academics or this social issue that you care a lot about. In life, you shouldn’t have to choose. You should be able to hold both in your life. But I think it is important to recognize the grand scheme of things. It is in Lick’s mission to be a private school with a public purpose. Are you at Lick to take a test or analyze a book or write an essay, or are you here because you want to make an impact in the world? It is easy to lose sight of that at Lick, but we must be able to hold awareness for these important issues,” he said.

For Nia McCracken ’24, attending the walkout was a way to connect with her community and fight for legislative change. “It was sad that we had to attend in the first place for a march like that, but I also felt very seen and in my place,” she said. “It was really nice to hear other people’s stories and speeches, and it’s just a good way to connect with the community and see that action and change.”L

Mireles saw the walkout as a success, and felt particularly inspired by a conversation that he had with Dee Johnson, the LWHS Director of Adult Equity and Inclusion, while planning the walkout. “One thing that Dee said to me that had a huge impact was, ‘as little disruption, as much impact,’ and I think that ‘as much impact’ sticks. Disruption and disturbance are ultimately core parts of a walkout, but our goal of having an impact, having dialogue and conversation and getting people to understand the relevance of this issue truly packed the punch. It is not something we are going to stay silent about,” Mireles said.

However, not all students attended the walkout, either for academic reasons or other various reasons. Vermut did not walk out, a choice that he viewed as his own form of resistance. “Part of my identity as a trans person is making sure that I am able to go to college so I can transition medically as well as socially. And part of that is making sure that I have near perfect attendance and good grades,” he said. “So while it does seem kind of counterproductive as a trans person, I didn’t go to the walkout. For me that was my own form of resistance, to make sure that I give myself as many opportunities as possible to be able to have a successful and safe future.”

LGBTQ+ celebrations have a longstanding history in San Francisco, and while this year’s Trans Day of Visibility saw several celebratory events such as a citywide celebration and a Trans Day of Visibility Cabaret, recent anti-LGBTQ+ legislation has motivated walkouts, rallies and other forms of resistance.

Vermut believes in the importance of Trans Day of Visibility because of the platform it provides for transgender people. “Trans Day of Visibility is a very important movement in making sure that we are known, we are visible and we aren’t going to go away either. We’re a part of the community, we’re part of the world and I think it’s important for society to recognize that.”