Eagle County Gender and Sexuality Equality Alliance Receives $10,000 Grant from LGBTQ+ Empowerment Organizations

The Alliance for Gender and Sexuality Equality in Eagle County Schools has received a $10,000 grant to implement a student-led plan to make schools safer and happier for LGBTQ+ students.

The grant comes from It’s getting bettera nonprofit organization that uplifts, empowers and connects LGBTQ+ people around the world through storytelling initiatives. The funding is part of the It Gets Better program 50 states, 50 grants, 5,000 votes grant initiative, the largest in the organization, to provide LGBTQ+ youth with resources to make their schools a comfortable and joyful place for them.

Student members of the Gender and Sexuality Alliance applied for the scholarship last year in partnership with Mountain Pride, an Eagle County-based nonprofit founded in 2022 to improve the experiences of the LGBTQ+ community and its allies in Colorado’s mountains. Eagle County is the only It Gets Better recipient in Colorado among this year’s 25 grant recipients and the third It Gets Better recipient in Colorado over the three years of the grant.

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Mads Partridge, executive director of Mountain Pride, said receiving the scholarship was “extremely exciting.”

“The students were thrilled,” Partridge said. “I think it really shows them that their voice matters and that Mountain Pride, It Gets Better and Eagle County want to speak up and show that they have power and can make an impact. We can take this money and do powerful work that will impact not only our space but the culture of the school.”

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Why are gender and sexuality equality alliances important in schools?

There are several gender and sexuality equity alliances in middle and high schools throughout the Eagle County School District, all of which are “student-led and supported by Mountain Pride,” Partridge said. “The pillars of Mountain Pride’s work are community, education, advocacy and resources, so we have worked with student leaders, teachers, counselors and the school district to help support or build these student groups in schools.”

Clubs provide a safe space for LGBTQ+ students and offer student-led activities ranging from fun events to discussions on topics that impact them in school and life, giving students a platform to advocate and express their voices.

“The primary goal of all GSAs in Eagle County is to make them a safer place for children,” said Liam Dunn, a senior at Eagle Valley High School and co-chair of the school’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance.

“You hear a lot of experiences from … LGBTQ+ youth in school and how much it can impact a person’s mental health and how much it can impact people’s education,” Dunn said. “It’s a place of education and unfortunately LGBTQ+ youth face discrimination on a daily basis, which shouldn’t be the case, but GSA… is a place where kids can come together to find community and a sense of belonging. “

When I heard about the grant, “I was very happy because it opens a lot of doors to things we can do to benefit our school,” Dunn said.

Working with the students was “amazing. These students are incredibly energetic and make me want to be a better person and live in the authentic way so many of them show up,” Partridge said. “The reality is that they can show up this way, but there is still bullying and opposition to having a GSA and being out openly. So it’s really a snapshot 22 of this powerful authenticity, but at the same time the reality of what’s still happening in schools.”

“(Students) want a space where they can truly be free from bullying and harassment and where their peers can thrive in school. “What’s exciting about ‘It Gets Better’ grants is that they show students that people believe in their ability to make changes to create a better environment in our schools,” Partridge said. “With this grant, we can support youth-led initiatives that speak up, advocate for teacher education and safe spaces, and celebrate it all in the same effort. It was great to witness this.”

How do students plan to use the It Gets Better grant in practice?

By applying for the “It Gets Better” grant, the students wanted to “make school a better place for our LGBTQ+ youth,” Dunn said.

Their grant application included three specific goals: educating teachers about LGBTQ+ student experiences, more inclusive policies and access in schools, and a fun end-of-year celebration with Queer Prom.

The teacher education component will include content aimed at LGBTQ+ students and exploring the impact of incidents such as bullying, misuse of pronouns and misunderstanding of their identity, as well as ways teachers can intervene on behalf of students who are victims of bullying.

“Our teachers do so much in the classroom and it is amazing. They have to stand up to every student, and standing up to every student also means understanding their experiences,” Partridge said.

“Some teachers can be disrespectful, but they don’t really understand,” Dunn said.

While some schools, such as Eagle Valley High School, already have gender-neutral bathrooms, they are not always easily accessible to every student. Some of the grant funds are intended to increase access to these toilets for students who need them.

“A lot of kids think that gender-neutral bathrooms are really important because they may be afraid to go into any of the bathrooms because of the bullying that might come with it,” Dunn said.

Queer Prom, which is open to all Eagle County high school students, is both a dance with fun activities and a space where LGBTQ+ youth can come together and meet others who are like them, “and have that safe place being who you want to be, they are and they are not judged,” Dunn said.

The Eagle County School District supports student efforts to improve schools

While the school district has consistently supported alliances for gender and sexuality equality, anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric is not uncommon in Eagle County, and Partridge is prepared for the backlash as students implement her action plan in schools.

“I definitely see there being a backlash. Since Mountain Pride has been an organization, we have been met with pushback saying we shouldn’t be here, we shouldn’t be working with youth in our schools. We’ve had school board meetings and city council meetings where we still hear that,” Partridge said. “But the district supports LGBTQ+ youth in our schools. They support them in having a GSA and being able to use their voice.”

“We are thrilled to see our students show initiative, compete for the national grant and win $10,000,” said Phil Qualman, superintendent of the Eagle County School District. “We believe it is important for students to develop independence and leadership skills, and this scholarship award shows they are moving in that direction.”

The scholarship gives students the opportunity to influence school culture in ways that improve their own lives and those of incoming LGBTQ+ students. Receiving the scholarship “makes me an even more proud student to be able to attend school at a school where we can influence change,” Dunn said. “I am proud of every person at GSA; we achieved this, we really worked together to make this change. And it makes it a safer place for me too… It gives me a little more peace of mind knowing that we’re taking steps to make sure kids feel safe at school.”