“Stronger as a whole”

Growing up in this generation is hard enough as it is. With all the technology and social media, hiding from judgement is nearly impossible. Teens are afraid to show their true colors because they feel like they won’t be accepted by others.

Will Cairns, a junior at Milford High School, had enough of this. He wanted to make a difference in this school. He wanted to make a change.

So, the Equality Club was born. They meet after school every Wednesday until 3 p.m.

“We focus on awareness of differences between ethnicities, sexually orientation, and gender identity,” said Mrs. Prior, the adult supervisor of the club.

“It’s bringing us the opportunities to talk about our differences and learn more about other cultures, religions, and things we don’t know about.”

Even though Prior is the supervisor of the club, she made it clear that Cairns has most of the control over the club.

Cairns mentioned how even though they’re a new club, progress has been made and he was excited that the group already has 14 members.

One of these members includes Katy Trame, a junior at Milford High School.

“People should be able to feel comfortable in their own skin,” Trame explained. “It’s not fair that kids dread coming to school because they feel like they’re not being accepted by their peers.”  

Cairns has many of the same thoughts. “I definitely feel like Milford has a problems of accepting people,” he said. “I hear the words “fag” and “faggot” almost every day while walking through the halls.”

The Equality Club is all about helping people feel comfortable being who they are. They’re currently working on a video for the WinterFest pep assembly. The video will partly promote the Equality Club, but its main goal will be to inspire people to be themselves.  

“People will talk about others who didn’t do something right or didn’t conform to what other people think,” Cairns said.

He continued to explain how one of their main goals is for people to feel safe being who they are and for other people to be aware of equality. Trame feels like the club is beginning to help students.

“We respect each other here,” Trame said as she talked more about the meetings. “Everyone knows it’s a judgment free zone here and they can truly be themselves.”

The Equality Club wants students to know that they’re not alone. They show kids that they’re there to help them and they can give them the support that they need.

“If we all stand together, we’re stronger as a whole,” said Cairns.