Gender Justice, one of the newest clubs at Southwest, is getting their footing and starting to shape its safe space to be a place for action and discussion alike. Originally, the club’s goal was to be a discussion-based club focused on creating a safe space for all people, but especially young women. Their goal has since shifted during the first quarter of the school year. 

As the group took on the challenge of gender-neutral bathrooms their focus stretched  further. The all-gender stalled bathroom idea has come to a bit of a stop due to district rules, but they have also fought for the unlocking of pre-existing gender-neutral bathrooms, which has led to some success. As they started doing more action items like this they realized that there was a large lack of trans voices on the board and in the club. This was an issue that arose  as the goal shifted, and the board wasn’t quite ready for. Talking to one of the presidents, Aoife Mokalla, she says that it is something they are aware of and are looking to change in the club’s future; “…a problem we have faced so far is representation, and so not necessarily rebranding, but getting the idea out there that we really do what to include everyone and we’re up for having other people’s goals be apart of our agenda.”

 Moving on from their original idea for the year the board has thought about making the club a starting point for small group actions. Aoife says that there is room in Gender Justice as a whole for all types of smaller discussions and actions. 

Looking forward Gender Justice wants to support both the Body Org. and the Trevor Project. Two organizations that are working on issues similar to what Gender Justice wants to address. They also recognize the lack of diversity in their board, and it is something that the club is working on addressing when they start to re-assign roles. You also might have noticed posters for a movie night a few weeks ago, a showing of the film Moxie to raise money. This was postponed due to a purple freeze that canceled most afterschool activities. The board members want to use the opportunity to reschedule the event and try to get more information and awareness about the event out there, which is scheduled right now for December 14th at 3:30.

The new club has gone through a lot of changes, and is still trying to figure out what their end goal will be. The future is flexible and open for Gender Justice, making a lot possible.