MURFREESBORO, Tenn. —An MTSU alumna who has chronicled the formation of an innovative high school student organization will be the guest on the next “MTSU On the Record” radio program.
Host Gina Logue’s interview with Robin Fair, a social worker with Tennova Harton Hospital in Tullahoma, Tennessee, will air from 9:30 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, May 29, and from 6 to 6:30 a.m. Sunday, June 3, on WMOT-FM Roots Radio 89.5 and www.wmot.org.
Under the mentorship of assistant professor Justin Bucchio and associate professor Ariana Postlethwait from the MTSU Department of Social Work, Fair, a Winchester, Tennessee, native, went back to her hometown to conduct her honors thesis prior to graduating in fall 2017.
“Gay-Straight Alliances in Rural High Schools Important But Still Controversial” was published Nov. 20, 2017, at www.youthtoday.org, a website for youth service professionals that is supported by eight nonprofit foundations.
The Winchester GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) drew protests and national media attention when it was created at Franklin County High School in 2016 to provide a support network for LGBT youth who felt they were being bullied.
“There were some parents who felt that being LGBT was almost like a disease, like you could catch it if you were around someone who was LGBT,” Fair said. “One person actually said that it was similar to Marlboro Reds — you know, second-hand smoke.”
Fair said that, under the federal Equal Access Act, the student group was permitted to continue because ending it would have obligated the high school to end all other student groups. She maintains that LGBT teens need support networks like GSAs because they are at higher risk for truancy, substance abuse and suicide.
To hear previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, go to http://bit.ly/mtsu-otr.
For more information about the radio program, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.
No comments:
Post a Comment