Adolescents are constantly trying to navigate the unchartered territories of social acceptance, while concurrently attempting to identify a sense of self, particularly in regard to society and the greater world around them. Many adults tend to make the detrimentally ageist (and ignorant) mistake of simply labeling adolescents as naïve, moody youths who are unequipped to truly make informative life decisions. All of this external doubt placed upon adolescence, in addition to the biological fluctuations and peripheral pressures that come with the age make the time an extremely trying one; thus it is exponentially more difficult to even begin to imagine the struggles of the more marginalized population of the self-aware gay, lesbian, bisexual, and questioning adolescent youth.

This marginalized population, though increasingly more accepted my major facets of society, faces multiple jeopardies: age, sexuality, and oftentimes race. Dominant society oftentimes poses a hostile affront to this population, leading them to desire a “safe space” where they can escape oppression, establish and foster community, and ponder resistance, all while facing the adversity of not fitting in due to the adversities of their sexuality. Unfortunately, as adolescents, adult society thinks that these youths are not fully equipped/mature to stand by their “labels” or decisions to declare sexuality, thus engendering a stance of ageism (the presumption that these “kids” are too young to comprehend the magnitude of such a large decision does, in fact, exist). This alienates the population of adolescents and reinforces the need for a “safe space,” especially when adults are so patronizing toward them, deeming them “at risk” based off of their own closeted experiences (not taking into account these students’ openness), or bringing in prejudices based off of culture.
In my public high school we had “safe spaces” throughout the school that were denoted by rainbow stickers on each classroom door; these were sponsored by the school’s GSA (Gay Straight Alliance), which was an active and visible presence on campus, hosting monthly events to support the large LGBTQ community in my town (which was greatly and earnestly supported). In my college, however, such was quite antithetical. We were banned from having any clubs with the word “Gay” in it (#catholiccollegeprobs), and instead had to name the GSA-comparable club “Shephard” after Matthew Shepard. This club lacked any and all visibility, and was essentially forced underground, with little to no budgeting due to politics of the College (just as Barry referenced); though the LGBTQ students on campus tried very hard (and passionately) to “carve out” a safe space for their kin on campus, administration made it nearly impossible, and the consequences were staggering. LGBTQ students felt alienated, and the dominant majority of students on campus were uninformed and ignorant, throwing around slurs such as “faggot” and “dyke” like it was nothing. I was disgusted by my peers and so incredibly empathetic to the plight of my friends, who were struggling with such incorrigible estrangement. This experience truly exemplified the need for safe spaces.