LLI GOLINE/NORMAN WELLS
When Sarah Kelly moved to Tulita from Toronto in 2011, the recent education grad was not about to leave lesbian and gay advocacy behind in the big city.

Teacher Sarah Kelly and Grade 9 student Stevie Deschene, 14, hold up a sign created by members of the Rainbow United Gay/Straight Alliance, a new student-led advocacy organization designed to promote a safe space for everyone at Mackenzie Mountain School regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Deschene said she feels safe and comfortable being out as a young bisexual woman at her school. - photo courtesy of the Rainbow United Gay/Straight Alliance

As a student teacher in Ontario she had just participated in a successful challenge of the Halton Catholic District School Board's policy of banning Gay/Straight Alliance groups, student organizations designed to provide a safe space for LGBTQ youth.

This alphabet soup of an acronym is an inclusive umbrella term that refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transexual, two-spirited, queer and questioning individuals, as well as people of many other sexual orientations, gender identities and their allies.

"An ally is someone who doesn't identify as LGBTQ but who is still supportive of LGBTQ rights and they want to be a part of that journey," Kelly explained.

During her first year teaching at Tulita's Chief Albert Wright School, she used the social studies curriculum to introduce Grade 12 students to the history of lesbian and gay rights in Canada.

"I had to respect that I was new to the community, but I wanted to find a way to talk about LGBTQ rights in the classroom, especially because I think I had a few boys in the classroom who, honestly, had just never met a gay person before and really didn't know what that meant," she recalled. "I ended up teaching a whole unit on LGBTQ rights through a sociological lens."

One day while Kelly and her class examined same-sex marriage from a legal perspective, a student piped up in protest.

"Ms. Kelly, I just want it to be OK to be straight," he said.

"Dude, it totally is," Kelly replied. "But, it's also OK to be gay."

That student went on to design a poster for his peers that proudly proclaimed: "It's OK to be both."

Sexual identity, diversity and solidarity

Four years later, now approaching the end of her first year teaching at Mackenzie Mountain School in Norman Wells, Kelly, 27, is guiding students in the administration of their newly-formed Rainbow United Gay/Straight Alliance.

Group members meet for lunch on Tuesdays to chat about issues related to sexual identity, diversity and solidarity, and to plot potential projects.

Alliance member Stevie Deschene, 14, is comfortable with her sexual identity and feels safe being open about it at school.

"I'm bisexual," the Grade 9 student proudly told News/North.

Last month, Deschene and a friend helped raise $600 for the student group by selling home-baked rainbow cupcakes.

"This means a lot to me," she said. "I get to meet people who are going through the same things that I used to go through and I think that this is a great place to go to because I didn't have this when I was figuring out my sexuality.

"Not many people are open and out and I think that's why we have the Gay/Straight Alliance - for people to become more comfortable with coming out. Even I haven't really told many, many people, but I'm comfortable with people knowing."

In February the alliance partnered with student council to host a Valentine's dance around the theme "celebrating all kinds of love."

"It was so great to see the student council just being really protective and supportive," said Kelly.

In the weeks leading up to the event, Kelly helped student organizers prepare themselves for a potential backlash.

"Sometimes, when you put an idea out there not everyone is going to love it," she said. "But, the cool thing is we have a lot of really supportive adults in Norman Wells and the dance went off without a hitch. It was awesome."

This month, alliance members are brainstorming about a school-wide Pride Week for the fall.

The teenagers are also in the process of applying for two grants to fund an emerging Safe Spaces Project, a program that involves displaying rainbow triangle stickers on doors, in offices and throughout the school to designate each area as a safe place in which one may be open about sexual orientation or gender identity without experiencing bullying behavior in reprisal.

Mackenzie Mountain School is ready to declare itself a safe space for all students, staff and visitors regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, according to principal Mike Duclos.

"It's important that we recognize that it's OK to be you, whether you like boys or girls or otherwise, and that's been well-communicated," he said.

As for Kelly, she reflected on how she finds Mackenzie Mountain School today to be far more open and accepting than the Ontario high school Kelly attended a decade ago.

"Part of why I became a teacher was a friend of mine was told by a person in a position of authority at our school that he was going to hell because he was gay and that's when I thought, 'I can do things a little differently,'" she said.

And so she did.