While the LGBT community thrives in pop culture with faces like Ellen DeGeneres, Tyler Oakley, Tegan and Sara, and Neil Patrick Harris, here in the closed world of public schools being LGBT isn’t as widely accepted.

Experiencing some form of bullying is practically inevitable for LGBT people. According to bullying statistics from the National Youth Association, nine out of ten LGBT students have been harassed in the school environment.

“The hardest part of being LGBT in school is dealing with people who don’t accept you,” said senior Lauren Eyler. “I know that there are people who will judge me immediately without a second thought to who I am as a person.”

Two ways to change the culture of bullyling in school include (1) creating more effective ways to stop acts of bullying and (2) providing safe environments where students can learn more about each other and celebrate differences.

To tackle the first need, an online form to report bullying is available this year for Frederick County Public Schools at https://education.fcps.org/publicforms/bullyingform . Rather than going and filling out papers in a school office, anyone can report bullying from the comfort of their home with just a few clicks.

“It’s designed to make the process of reporting bullying more convenient and, hopefully, get more people to report it,” said Renata Emery, counselor.

To stop bullying before it happens, there needs to be more education and more awareness that differences are what make each of us individuals.

The Huffington Post reports that a Family Acceptance Project study “found that students whose schools had a GSA were less likely to experience depression and more likely to have higher self-esteem. Additionally, students at a school with a GSA were found to be less likely to drop out and more likely to succeed in higher education.”

The Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) club has been active for about 10 years. It was formerly led by Beth Ericsson, but this year there’s a new advisor, Jessica Dillon, who advised a GSA club for two years at a previous school.

“I’d like people to be more aware that we have a growing population of students who don’t have a lifestyle in the mainstream,” said Dillon. “I think people should just give them a chance to express themselves openly and for people to not be ‘weirded out’.”

The GSA club meets once a month, every club day. If one is interested in joining the club, see Ms. Dillon in room B123 to receive a club pass.

Eylers’ advice for closeted or struggling LGBT is, “Take pride in who you are. It may seem scary at first but I promise it’s worth it. Love who you are because you are beautiful.”