Rebecca Macey, a senior who leads the Gender Sexuality Alliance, would be the first to admit that she has strong opinions about everything, and she isn’t afraid to express them.
“I love being an activist,” she said. “I love being outspoken. I love when people argue with me because I love having an opinion and feeling like my opinion is the truth, but knowing there are other truths out there.”
It was not always that way. Rebecca came to AFS in ninth grade after attending public schools, where she felt the questions she was asking herself about her sexual orientation could not be said out loud. At AFS, she found a safe, open and supportive environment, and wants to make sure that inclusive opportunity is available for everyone at the school.
“I got involved in GSA at the end of my freshman year when I came to the club after a realization of my own queerness and a need for a place where I could have a voice in this community,” she said. “It gave me a voice in the GSA, but it also encouraged me to start doing diversity work and learn about all different kinds of diversity at our school.”
Now, as clerk of the club, she has made the availability of resources and information a priority this year. “I want people to have a place they can go to when they feel like they are unheard or feeling a sense of discomfort in the community related to their sexual orientation or their gender identity.”
What is it about activism that appeals to her? “I think everybody deserves a voice. Because I think sometimes people feel silenced, and that’s not okay,” she said.
The GSA this year has grown to about 25 active members. Though she’s grateful for the inclusive environment at AFS, she sees a need to do more. Rebecca hopes to push for more inclusion of different gender and sexual orientations in the school’s health curriculum and the literature that is being read in classrooms. It’s all about helping students who are questioning their own identity to know that “gender and sexuality are things
that are fluid, and you can be any way you want, and that’s okay.”
Her parents have suggested a career in politics is ahead for her, but for now, Rebecca is thinking of studying psychology in college. “I really want to help people and better understand their situations and what they’re going through,” she said.
The hallways at Abington Friends are brimming with students who are on a journey, exploring fresh ideas and pursuing deep interests as they search to find their places in the world. Their eyes shine as they talk fervently about wanting to learn all they can in a field of academics, athletics or the arts.
Read more about “The Discoverers” in the Fall/Winter 2016 issue of Oak Leaves.
