In schools, it is very common for students who are a part of the LGBTQIA+ community to feel excluded or ostracized in an environment where they should feel safe and supported by not only their peers but the entire school system.

Just as there are many different sexualities, there are also and have been many different genders. It is important that in schools we affirm all of students identities. 

On the NYC DOE Name and Gender Change request form, there are only two genders to choose from; male and female, which can prove to be a problem for those whose genders are non-binary, trans, gender-fluid, etc. 

We, the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) of Academy for Young Writers, in East New York Brooklyn, hope to rectify this by demanding that NYC DOE includes 2 additional boxes for students who identify as non-binary and gender expansive.

We acknowledge that just 2 additional boxes, does not cover all of the lived experiences of the near 1.1 million public school students in NYC or will encompass all of the gender identities of our city's transgender, non-binary, and gender expansive students. But in this we hope to ensure that there is more room for all gender identities to feel acknowledged and heard in their school community and that no one is forced to pick a box that does not fit.