A homosexual student who wishes to remain anonymous recalls an event he will never forget. “Last month when I walked into the bathroom, one guy told me that I should leave, because according to him, I didn’t belong in there,” he said.  This incident was never reported to the administration.

This student explains that these instances aren’t even what bother him. “My bigger issue is how some people act afraid of me because I am gay. Sometimes I feel like everyone is judging me. I definitely cannot be myself here. How homosexuals are treated is an issue that is rarely talked about, but it is a very real issue. I think it’s sad that JC hasn’t done something to address this problem yet,” he said.

To address this form of discrimination and all others, senior Scott Novak started Love One Another (LOA), a new group dedicated to fighting discriminatory behavior and attitudes. Novak gained approval from Principal Madelyn Ball earlier in the year to begin the group.

Moderator Carrie Siemsen has had previous experience with equality groups. Siemsen would like the group to become a place for open discussion regarding discrimination. “I would like to see this group as a place where any student who is discriminated against can talk freely about their struggles. To have a safe place to go where they can speak freely is important,” Siemsen said.

At the second meeting on  March 20, Novak described the club’s intentions. “The main goal of the club is to promote kindness and work against any discrimination. Discrimination happens, it’s definitely present at JC, and I don’t think that should be acceptable,” Novak said.

Novak explains the motivations behind the group’s name. “We chose Love One Another because of its simple message and roots in Scripture,” he said.

“The purposes of the club are to reestablish values of kindness and treat other people with respect, and this unfortunately doesn’t always happen for a lot of different reasons,” Novak said.

LOA member junior Morgan Jones explains her reasons for joining the club. “I joined LOA because I think discrimination is always intolerable. People owe each other a certain degree of respect,” Jones said.

While the club aims to fight discrimination in general, certain issues have come into focus. “Currently there is a particular focus on the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] issues at our school, for a couple reasons. One is that they’ve never been talked about before. It’s kind of like the elephant in the room. I think they need to be talked about,” Novak said.

This focus ties into Novak’s motivations for starting the club. “I chose to start this club because one of my friends, Jamey Rodemeyer, was bullied for being bisexual. He committed suicide as a result, so that inspired me to take action in my own school. What happened to Jamey could happen at any school where issues like this are present,” he said.

Jones advocates for local change as well more large-scale change. “My hope for this group is to help campaign against discrimination in the school halls and beyond,” Jones said.

Novak wishes to make it easier for any student to find acceptance by creating this club. “One of the other goals of this club is to make respect and acceptance a given, not something that you’re lucky enough to find,” Novak said.

Novak waited until this year to start the club for multiple reasons. “I’d always talked about these issues in my classes, but  I never talked about them in a more public way than that. Part of it is that I used to be shy, but I’ve had a growing confidence over the years. The other thing is Jamey’s suicide. I realize that I couldn’t be silent about these issues any longer, because kindness can be the difference between life and death,” he said.

The group plans to have a fundraiser in the near future. “April 20 is the Day of Silence for LGBT teens, which we will participate in. We will have jars placed around the school for students to donate money throughout the week. All the proceeds will go to the Trevor Project, a suicide-prevention hotline for LGBT teens. This is the first time the group will really be active in the community,” Novak said.

Adam Kuester is a News Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.