Butler Traditional High School has dozens of clubs, with one of them being the GSA, standing for the Gay and Straight Alliance. The official name for the club, however, is the Butler Skittles. Tatyana Malkin, the sponsor of the club, shared some information about the history of the GSA as well as how to get involved.

Malkin teaches Biology, Zoology, and Marine Biology at Butler. She said, “This year I have started my 18th year of teaching. Aside from the GSA, I’m also sponsoring the Anime Club and coaching the Archery Team.” 

Malkin went on to say that she has been the GSA sponsor for 15 years, and she became the sponsor for the club because she sees it as a “great way to get to know and help out students.” She also reported that Butler had the “first established GSA in JCPS.” 

When asked who the GSA is for, she responded with, “Everyone. The GSA is for students who are LGBTQ and their allies. Anyone can be a member.” No matter who you are or what you identify as, you are welcome to join Butler’s GSA.

During GSA meetings, members “talk about current topics that matter to anyone who attends the meetings.” Malkin says that they’ve done “arts and crafts projects, made posters for the school, discussed LGBTQ issues and watched movies.”

For anyone interested in joining the GSA, Malkin shared these details that could be helpful: The GSA meets “every other Wednesday [after school]. Our next meeting is March 5th.” To join, “show up to any of the meetings. We have a Google Classroom and you can join on that.” Click here for the link to join. 

To anyone unsure about joining the GSA, Malkin recommends simply coming to a meeting to see if you like it.