Free to be Me: A look into the current state of LGBTQ rights

A classroom right before passing period can reveal a lot about the treatment of LGBTQ students at the school. Pro-LGBTQ stickers cover the laptops and water bottles of some students, while simultaneously other students jokingly use anti-gay slurs to mock each other.  This scene is a microcosm of the treatment of LGBTQ people at Mill Valley. Some corners of the school are teeming with acceptance...

The “purple area,” as Zebley nicknamed the community around Mill Valley for its blend of liberal and conservative views, maintains a lot of variance in the way its LGBTQ residents are treated. In some places, LGBTQ people are treated well and accepted as members of the community. In others, LGBTQ people are ostracized and feel unwelcome. According to Augustine, one of the scariest places for LGBT...

While it appears that LGBTQ people are making progress towards acceptance at school and in Shawnee, this progress has not been matched by the rest of America; instead, some LGBTQ people like Augustine believe that their rights “have never been closer to being ripped away.” Evidence of this rise in hatred for LGBTQ people can be seen in rising hate crime rates: in 2017, the hate crime rate i...