Remember how health class in middle school felt? Awkward. Now imagine how it felt for middle schoolers who did not see themselves represented in the lesson. What do you do if you do not fit into the box of a boy or a girl? What if the relationships that you want to have are not with someone of the opposite sex?
The LGBTQ Task Force, a volunteer group, was founded in 2021 by physics teacher Julia Mangan and social studies teacher Kate Leslie to address concerns like these. It aims to connect students, teachers, administrators and family members across the town to solve problems facing the LGBTQ+ community.
According to Leslie, she and Mangan had been planning a way to advocate for unity between students and the Brookline LGBTQ+ community.
“One of the interesting things about LGBTQ+ issues in Brookline is that there’s not already a network built between [separate] GSA advisers as well as teachers who identify as LGBTQ+ [and] students who identify as LGBTQ+,” Leslie said. “There are pockets of support and activism around the district, but there hasn’t been any chance to get to know each other, let alone work on issues together.”
The task force is broken down into multiple subcommittees, whose goals are determined by the members of the task force. This year, there are three subcommittees: Health Curriculum Reform, Trans and Non-binary Access and Education for Adults.
The Health Curriculum Reform Subcommittee is focused on making the health curriculum within schools more inclusive. Mangan said for many years, LGBTQ+ students have said this curriculum feels as though it is geared towards heterosexual, cisgender students.
Leslie said this subcommittee is constantly pushing on issues that affect all grades across the town.
“[The health curriculum subcommittee] is now thinking about 7th and 8th grade, but it’s not yet to 9th through 12th,” Leslie said. “The idea is to slowly move up the chain and to think about what is needed in the health curriculum for each year. I think that that’s going to have a trickle-out effect.”
Senior Rafaela Datel leads the Trans and Non-binary Student Access Subcommittee. The group wants to tackle the lack of gender-neutral bathrooms and other relevant issues.
The final subcommittee handles education for adults. It aims to help adults make their classrooms more inclusive and to educate parents about how they can best support their LGBTQ+ children.
Mangan said many LGBTQ+ students have expressed having bad middle school experiences regarding their identity.
“A lot of times our kids come to us hurting. I think that BHS could be a better and stronger place if kids have more positive experiences from middle school that they then bring into high school,” Mangan said. “Then maybe our kids wouldn’t be so hurt.”
The task force is not currently funded by the district; despite their important work, without funding, the task force is limited in terms of its impact.
“I think a lot of times the district loves showing off some of the forward-thinking work that’s happening here,” Mangan said. “I am not embarrassed to use this opportunity to remind folks that to make [the task force] last longer and have more of an impact, it does require funding. We’ve lost some incredible people because they just couldn’t commit to one more thing that wasn’t funded.”
Datel said, ultimately, one of the Task Force’s principal aims is to ease students along their journeys of self-discovery.
“I think it’s important to make sure everyone is included, can access the same opportunities and feel comfortable in their gender,” Datel said. “High school is a time when people figure out their identity, and it’s important to have physical places where people can go [to feel safe] and social support to help them with that.”
