Editors tell their stories; change minds

Telling an unfiltered story to peers is sometimes difficult. Telling your own story about your sexuality can be even more difficult. Three editors of The Howler at Monarch High School In Louisville, Colorado, found a way to tell the stories they knew needed to be published. The end result created a place where all kids in the LGBT community could feel safe and appreciated at school.

According the their adviser, Bonnie Katzive, the “editors deliberately presented the interview subjects telling their own stories, as opposed to letting them be filtered by a writer. Editors initiated a conversation with administrators to establish whether or not the profanity would be seen as problematic. Our principal merely said she would forward complaints about content or language to our Editors in Chief. (No one complained.) The adviser for the school Gay Straight Association believes the openness of these three seniors allowed younger students to feel safer being out at school, observed a noticeable increase in same-sex couples attending Prom this year, and attributed increasing openness in part to the article.”

The double page spread can be accessed here. Monarch HS – Issue 3 Page 8&9 (1).