A new club called Rainbow Alliance was formed at the start of the school year as a place for students to come together to find support.

Rainbow Alliance is an LGBTQ+-centered club for LGBTQ+ students and allies at THS. LGBTQ+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and more.

The club was organized by senior Karli Christ with the support of teacher Lisa Dunton, who helped the club come to fruition. 

“I had the idea and then I reached out to Mrs. Dunton who helped things get started. Alayna Ragozine, Niche Jurkowski and Liz Post also helped organize some stuff like fundraising and marketing,” Christ said.

Rainbow Alliance represents inclusivity and acceptance towards all people, not just LGBTQ+ persons. 

“[I wanted to help organize Rainbow Alliance because] I support LGBTQ rights and want to be a part of reaching out to staff and students on behalf of educating others and supporting a group of people who have been marginalized,” Dunton said.

Rainbow Alliance will be holding meetings every Friday, alternating between Academy B and after school around 5 p.m.. The meetings will be held through Google Meets over video call due to the coronavirus.

“We’re prioritizing the support aspect of the group at the moment, so first thing every meeting will be any questions or issues or anything like that from members needing support. We also have an anonymous way to submit talking points in case members aren’t comfortable bringing something up themselves during meetings,” Christ said.

During the next few meetings, they plan on bringing up LGBTQ+ issues at Tallmadge and things they wish their teachers knew. 

Christ has a lot of plans for the group, including spreading more awareness on matters relating to LGBTQ+ people and their experiences.

“We also want to start educating the community on LGBTQ+ issues as well as starting to show THS staff members how to best support their students who identify in the LGBTQ+ spectrum. I know a lot of teachers who want to support and care for their students but simply don’t know how, so that’s what we’re here for,” Christ said.

Rainbow Alliance is focused on helping LGBTQ+ people by giving them a place to be able to open up and speak their mind about any issues. The other goal is to help others on the outside to understand what members are going through.

Christ said, “I wanted to start the club to give LGBTQ+ students a safe space in Tallmadge since there really wasn’t a place for that before. I know, at least in my experience, I had a really hard time finding people who understood what I was dealing with when I first started high school. My hope for the group is that people won’t have to feel like that.”