As LGBTQ rights come under attack, high school art club works to create safe space

When Leyla Ortiz walks into her school at Boston Green Academy in Brighton, she’s proud of what she sees. In the lobby of the charter school, her art hangs on the wall. A rainbow flag with horizontal stripes with words that make her feel empowered. On it, the junior wrote, “girlfriend, family and protection.”

Ortiz’s creation is among about two dozen signs hanging around the building that were created by the school's Art Love club. The group supports LGBTQ students and their allies at a time when the country is divided and hate is on the rise. GLADD, one of the world's largest LGBTQ advocacy organizations, says it logged a 5% increase in anti-LGBTQ incidents last year, from verbal threats to assaults.

Ortiz's hope is that classmates see her art and feel safe at school.

“A lot of people actually have said that they feel like [the signs are] doing a lot to make them feel more comfortable and at ease … and not feel like they have to be so like, closed in about their sexuality or who they are as a person,” Ortiz said.

School nurse Marta Bausemer started the charter school's Art Love club during the pandemic. Bausemer has also been an advisor for the school's Gender/Sexuality Alliance, or GSA. The clubs are connected and share members. She said participation in both grew dramatically at the beginning of the school year, after the start of President Trump’s second term.

The Trump administration has implemented new restrictive policies on identity and gender-affirming care. The ACLU said it tracked more than 600 anti-LGBTQ bills filed last year in states across the country.

Bausemer decided the group’s first project this year would be to make signs to post in the school, each containing words that the creators and their classmates could see. Members were asked to design words that make them feel safe and comfortable, with the hope that they help their classmates, too.

“I can't control what's going on out there,” said Bausemer, who identifies as queer. “When they're here in the building with me ... I can decide what's on the walls.”

Boston Green Academy Head of School Matt Holzer said regardless of who’s in the White House, his job is to be there for students.

“What they're telling us is they want support, they want care, they want space, they want love, they want challenges,” Holzer said.

Senior Areli Lopez has been a member of the club since it started. She colored in a sign that had the word love.

“ It makes me feel empowered because if I know I'm loved in any sense of the word, I could do anything,” Lopez said.

Lopez identifies as bisexual and gender fluid. She said it’s been a “difficult transition” to get to know herself, but having the Art Love club has helped her — and her friends.

“Having this community right now with how everything's going on in the world, it makes a safe place for kids that aren't safe outside of here,” Lopez said.

Ortiz, the junior, agrees, saying the signs have had an impact.

“ I feel like it definitely brings other people to want to come out and have that confidence to know: I am enough, or I am beautiful the way I am,” Ortiz said.

The signs will hang until the students take them to the state’s Youth Pride Parade in May.