To the editor:

Hello, I’ve come to talk about a concern towards the middle school in this community. Not only does the high school have its struggles with LGBTQ+ related terms, so does the middle school. I am in 8th grade now, and being here with all my peers, the normalizing of homophobia and racism is sad. Many slurs are said within the halls while just walking to class, being called a f** is a daily thing. Students here being known to say slurs tend to be higher up in privilege. Being a favorite of a teacher, having a parent with money, or being a sports team member, all of these categories have privilege here. Though, when LGBTQ is positively talked about, it gets shut down, pushed away. This school, has also multiple clubs/groups that get publicly spoke about but when it comes to the LGBTQ club, nothing is spoken of it and is only brought up when asked about. Change is needed here.

Avery Trautmiller

New Ulm