Is STA gay-friendly?
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Anonymous
| Previous poster who graduated high school in the early 2010s again. I'd still say please do your due diligence before deciding to enroll your child at any school that may not be the most inclusive or welcoming environment. There's a difference between teens (or adults) liking a tv show that has diverse characters and actually treating diverse people as equals in real life. I realize a lot of progress has been made even over the past few years, but as someone who had experiences more similar to the PP who graduated high school in the 1990s than anything that would be considered "not a big deal" or "no issues whatsoever" I feel qualified to tell others to proceed cautiously. |
Anonymous
| You want GDS. |
Anonymous
Those are not the only 3 options, OP. Unless you thing bullying is the same as "educating kids attending a Christian school in Christian values." |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
I am not at all sure what the prior poster means by "Christian school" and "Christian values," but it bears repeating that St. Albans is an Episcopal school in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. The Episcopal Church is fully accepting of homosexuality, including having gay ministers and performing same sex Episcopal marriage ceremonies. St. Albans as an Episcopal school values, accepts, embraces and supports boys who are gay. Does the school need to continue educating its students and parents of that position? Yes, always. But please don't try to frame the school as having any sort of "Christian values" to the contrary. |
Anonymous
| Believe there is at least one or two families in the school with same-sex parents |
Anonymous
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/page/lgbt-church: 'To our lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender brothers and sisters: “The Episcopal Church welcomes you!”' |
Anonymous
| I'll just point out that the world has changed a lot since the 1990s when I was at school, and I do mean a lot. I attended a "progressive" private school that was closer to Sidwell and GDS in spirit than STA and by today's standards, the students were still homophobic. I won't claim that STA is now a bastion of inclusiveness (I am not affiliated with the school so it is not my place to comment) but I do know of same-gender couples who have sent children to "traditional" private schools quite happily. If you are interested in STA, do visit, speak with the faculty and parents and go with your instincts. |
Anonymous
| I don't have a son at STA but based on my sons' experience at co-ed high schools and co-ed colleges. Being gay is not the issue it once was. My sons have gay friends, gay roommates and gay fraternity brothers. Just not much of an issue for them. When I show my surprise, they are point out the real problem. I'm old. |
Anonymous
He is in A Form (6th grade) |
Anonymous
| I go to the cathedral schools and they have gotten a lot better over the years. Any behaviors judged as 'feminine' are still not as tolerated as they should be at STA, but the GSA (and you could say the administration (through hosting coordinate discussions w/ the kids)) is putting in some hard work to change the realities of the school. GDS is the most queer friendly big DC private school in my opinion, NCS and Sidwell are also pretty great on those fronts (w/ a grain of salt, I am not as familiar with Sidwell as the other schools mentioned). Hope this helps. |
Anonymous
Just hearing about some of this this week. Bit sad and surprising. |
Anonymous
| What was the response from school? |
Anonymous
I have no idea. I've never heard about anything like this personally until just this week so I've never mentioned it to the school. |
Anonymous
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Probably. But I think you and your DC will be happier withe GDS.
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