Sarah Herrmann, Yorke Peninsula Country Times
This Pride Month has an extra layer of celebration for the Copper Coast Gay Straight Alliance.
The alliance has marked five years of providing a safe space for more than 50 local LGBTQIA+ youth and their allies to socialise, having officially formed in May 2019 as an extension of SOS Copper Coast.
A group of 12- to 25-year-olds meets weekly in Kadina with the supervision of counsellor Kerry Pringle and retired teacher Gerry Guerin.
The GSA gives the teenagers a chance to interact freely — from watching films and playing board games, to having deep and meaningful conversations while eating dinosaur- shaped chicken nuggets — and form a support network, Kerry says.
“They don’t have to come here and feel alone, whereas they might go through the whole day at school and not have anyone they can connect to because of their sexuality, but here they know everyone,” she says.
“Every now and then one will grab you aside and have a little chat and that makes you feel worthwhile, like there’s a connection happening.”
Kerry says she joined the alliance to support her daughter, who is pan-sexual, and her daughter’s girlfriend, who felt they didn’t fit in at school.
“This (the GSA) sort of lets them be OK with themselves and made a big change in my daughter,” she says.
“She was very timid and wary of everything but, once she found her crew, it made all the difference.
“Lots of the kids come in very quiet and next thing you know they’re hang- ing off the lounge suites and relaxed and making lots of friends.”
One of Kerry’s favourite memories with the alliance is attending a Pride march in Adelaide a few years ago.
“I saw them blossom after that because up until then this was just it, just their little clan and that was as big as it was, and when they got up there, there was a sea of people who were their clan,” Kerry says.
Sian, 19, who has been part of the GSA for four years and identifies as asexual, aromantic and non-binary, credits the alliance with providing her with a space to talk about her sexuality without judgement while she was still figuring herself out.
“I brought a lot of my friends here, but I made so many more friends through here as well, and it is very much a community of people who understand and have the same wavelength as you,” Sian says.
“You get to connect with someone and understand their side of the story — I’ve met other asexual people who are completely different to how I view things, or have similar experiences.”
Sian has also had the opportunity to become a leader and help others in their journeys.
“One moment I felt was very significant to me was I had come in a bit late ”¦ and a few people were being a bit flat because (of) some things that happened before I got there, but I got everyone to start dancing,” Sian says.
“There was a point where we were all just screaming these song lyrics all together.
“It just made me realise how much of a community we have here.
“Even if we aren’t doing exclusively queer or pride-related things”¦ it’s just us doing stuff together and even if it’s just the smallest thing I think it means a lot to people.”
For more information or enquiries, contact Gerry Guerin at soscoppercoast@gmail.com or 0418 857 017.
This article appeared in Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 18 June 2024.
