GSA Unveils New LGBTQ+ Mural

Progress picture of GSA’s new mural | Photo Credit: Stephen Kosar

The Gender-Sexuality Alliance (GSA) is one of many clubs offered by Hamber, and is dedicated to providing a safe, positive place for LGBTQ+ students and allies to hang out. Recently, the GSA has been working on a mural next to the third floor staircase, and students passing by the colourful letters and flowing rainbow might be wondering about the purpose behind it.

The mural, the GSA’s most recent initiative, represents the spectrum of LGBTQ+ identities throughout the world, intending to extend a place of comfort for Hamber’s queer community.

“I hope that the mural will help LGBTQ+ people feel safe in the school,” said GSA member Chloe Tam (10) when asked about the purpose of the mural. “It’s also just a beautiful piece of art that adds to the school’s design.”

Zoë Van Den Heuvel (12), another member of the GSA, explained that “each of the letters in the mural has a different colour code that corresponds with an LGBTQ+ flag.”

The majority of the GSA contributed to the mural in some way, either through the planning or painting stages. “I think that it displays how many people are willing to help show solidarity,” continued van den Heuvel.

Creating the mural was a relatively smooth process. “The approval was not the challenging part; it was finding a location and designing the mural. That took us multiple weeks,” said van den Heuvel, who had helped design the mural.

Tam, who had helped in the planning and painting processes, also thought that the designing was the hardest part.

“Our original design had frogs and just a bunch of different things, so it’s more simplified now,” they said. “Painting it was really fun though. We would often meet at FIT time and just grab the buckets from the art room and get painting.” Tam hopes that the mural will spread awareness about the diversity of Hamber’s LGBTQ+ population, and that it will encourage students to be welcoming.

Van den Heuvel hopes that the mural will inspire more Hamberites to join the GSA. She encourages everyone to “check out the mural!”

Making murals is just one aspect of the GSA as a whole. For many members, GSA meetings are a place to socialize and make new friends.

“Sometimes we just talk,” said Tam. “We also do events like the mural and button making.”