The mascot for the conference was created by Ansonia High School Mandarin Chinese teacher Yizhi Wang.
ANSONIA – Thanks to being one of just 50 schools across the nation to win a $10,000 grant from the It Gets Better Project, Ansonia High School is set to host high schools from across Connecticut this Friday (April 28) for the first ever Valley Pride Conference.
“The goals of this conference are to bring students together to support each other, to learn from local LGBTQ+ leaders and to celebrate,” said AHS teacher Libby Abraham, who serves as the schools’ Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) advisor.
Abraham said GSA student members helped develop the grant proposal last year by creating an inspirational video. The message caught the eye of the It Gets Better Project’s ’50 States, 50 Grants, 5,000 Voices’ initiative. The grant money is enabling AHS to host the largest LGBTQ+ conference for students in the state.
The state Department of Children and Families since 1994 has annually held its ‘True Colors’ statewide conference in support of LGBTQ+ youth. Abraham, however, said that conference stopped in 2019 due to COVID-19. The interest and excitement for AHS’ Valley Pride Conference has gained so much traction, Abraham said, that attendance had to be capped at 100, and there’s now a waiting list.
During Friday’s event, Abraham said Valley high schools, along with students from Newtown High School, Common Ground High School, New Haven Academy, High School in the Community, Metropolitan Business Academy, Emmett O’Brien Technical High School, Bacon Academy and Amity High School are among the groups that will join the event at AHS.
Students who attend the free conference will experience a day of workshops, speakers and friendship in “a safe, non-judgmental space,” Abraham said. Presenters will be coming from UCONN, Yale, Q+ and the Pride Center of New Haven, and include keynote speaker Sarah Prager, an author and speaker on LGBTQ+ history.
“This is, to my knowledge, the largest LGBTQ+ gathering of youth in the state of Connecticut this year,” Abraham said. “We have purchased materials and services from many local businesses. For example, we are buying dozens of popular LGBTQ+ themed books from a local bookstore to distribute at a ‘Book Club’ workshop.”
All students who attend will also be walking away with plenty of swag to take home special memories of the day’s events, according to Abraham.
Student Maqila Mosley-Williams, a junior at AHS, has been working alongside fellow GSA club students to prepare for the conference, and is excited that AHS is hosting such a meaningful event.
“I am looking forward to meeting new people and learning about their experiences and connecting with them,” Mosley-Williams said. “I think an event like this is very important for LGBTQ+ students so they can connect with other people like them and feel less alone. But it is also important for students who are allies to learn more about the LGBTQ+ experience and meet people from different backgrounds.”
Mosley-Williams and Abraham concurred that their hope is that all students walk away from the conference feeling good about themselves.
“I hope they would gain a sense of belonging within the Valley community,” said Mosley-Williams.”
“We want to bring geographically isolated students together in a safe space, offer inspiration and education for students on issues that matter to them and add joy to the lives of these students,” Abraham said.
Ansonia Schools Director of Equity and Communications Reese Morales said the school is proud to host the event.
“At Ansonia Public Schools, we pride ourselves with inclusion and belonging,” Morales said. “The fight for justice, inclusion and equality is demonstrated throughout our school district. We are very proud to host this year’s Valley Pride event.”
Abraham has served as the GSA club advisor for more than a decade. She said the club was born out of the formation of the It Gets Better Project, which began in 2010 in response to youth taking their own lives when faced with harassment based on their gender of sexuality.
More information about the It Gets Better Project can be found online by clicking this link.
