A Brooklyn school won’t allow students to form an LGBTQ+ club, families say

Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to keep up with NYC public schools.

Families at a Brooklyn elementary school say the school administration resisted their efforts to start an LGBTQ+ club, even though a city official acknowledged to a parent that the students were entitled to the club.

Johanna Neufeld, whose daughter recently graduated from kindergarten at PS 139 in Flatbush, said families began pushing for a Rainbow Club more than a year ago. Parents and students wanted to create a space for those who identify as LGBTQ+ or have family members within the LGBTQ+ community.

But those efforts have stalled as the administration puts up more and more obstacles, Neufeld says, and she feels her family’s and others’ experiences are being excluded.

“It’s really important for kids to feel seen and recognized and to have their lives recognized at home,” Neufeld said. “We do a lot around food, culture and people’s backgrounds and where their families come from, and that’s really important and it’s been wonderful for my daughter … But she didn’t have the opportunity to say, ‘I have two moms, this is how we live, this is our experience.'”

The school’s principal did not respond to a request for comment. Department of Education officials did not comment on why the PS 139 club was not approved.

The ongoing push for the club stems from a petition calling on city, county and school officials to support its creation. More than 65 families from the school, which has about 700 students, have collected their signatures – the signatories share the hope that the club will provide a supportive and affirming space for students to learn about and celebrate all identities. Studies have found that such clubs, often referred to as Gender and Sexuality Alliances, or GSAs, can have a positive impact on youth mental health and development.

“By and large, these clubs exist like any other,” said Clark Wolff Hamel, director of educational programs at PFLAG NYC, an organization that supports LGBTQ+ youth. “They provide a space for students to find other people with similar interests. That’s the point of an after-school club: to build community.”

“It’s incredibly important to build community from a young age because that’s the age when kids start to develop a sense of identity – not just personal identity, but family identity,” he added. “There are kids from LGBTQ+ families – whether they’re families with same-sex parents, whether they’re families whose siblings are part of the community, whatever that looks like – (these clubs help them) understand that they’re not alone in this.”

Despite the potential benefits to school communities, Hamel said he has encountered many schools that have resisted establishing such schools for fear of opposition from other families.

GSAs and other LGBTQ+ student groups have existed in schools for decades—a group of New York City students started one of the first such clubs at their high school in 1972. Across the country, the number of schools with GSAs can vary considerably from state to state. New York was among a handful of states that reported in 2018 that more than half of their high schools had a GSA, according to an analysis of data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The city’s Department of Education has not provided data on the number of GSAs in New York City schools.

Initially, PS 139’s administration told families they couldn’t start the club without a teacher advisor and financial support, Neufeld said. But when parents addressed all of those concerns — finding a teacher willing to lead the club and securing funding from the parent association — the school continued to resist the club’s formation.

Eventually, families were offered a “Respect for All” club instead, whose curriculum addressed LGBTQ+ issues to a limited extent while focusing largely on combating bullying and creating a supportive student community, Neufeld said.

“These are all important things, but not what we asked for,” she said.

Orli LeWinter, a member of the Parents Association board, said the Parents Association was not directly involved in the effort to create the club, but confirmed it would fund the club if it is approved.

Under federal law, students generally have the right to form GSAs in high schools. Although the Equal Access Act’s club protections only explicitly apply to high schools, Hamel said there was “massive precedent in NYC that … elementary schools should be protected in the same way.”

And emails obtained by Chalkbeat show that a city Department of Education official confirmed to Neufeld in January that the school’s students were “entitled to spaces for special interest groups” under federal law.

“NYCPS students are entitled to special interest group spaces as set forth in federal policy, the Equal Access Act,” wrote a member of the Department of Education’s Office of Safety & Youth Development, directing local district officials to facilitate the club’s formation. “Please contact the school and make them aware of this legal compliance, as we are a public school system.”

“Please also inform them that NYC Public Schools fully supports GSA groups at all grade levels,” the Department of Education official added, according to the email obtained by Chalkbeat.

Despite the commitment of city and district officials, the club was never founded, Neufeld said.

City officials told Chalkbeat that there is no policy regarding GSAs in elementary schools, adding that the Department of Education’s LGBTQ Supports team offers programs and general support to schools to ensure they are meeting the needs of LGBTQ+ students.

Neufeld expressed frustration with the PS 139 administration, as well as the city’s Department of Education and officials in her district – all of whom have been informed of the situation, she added. It remains unclear why the club cannot be formed at the school, she added.

“It’s become clear that the government doesn’t want this to be something that’s visibly pro-LGBTQ,” Neufeld said.

Julian Shen-Berro is a reporter for New York City. You can reach him at [email protected].