PERSON OF THE WEEK: Michael Hans
Written by Saarah S.
Michael Hans isn’t just your typical high school graduate. As a student organizer, Hans dedicates his time to spreading awareness about issues impacting the LGBTQ+ community. Recently, Hans organized a meeting with his county’s school board where he demanded that LGBTQ+ students receive fair treatment within schools and that county policy implements language that is inclusive and protective for these students.
“I would definitely describe it as a success,” Hans states when referring to the county meeting. Additionally, Hans mentions how prior, “...no official there was quite aware of the hardships LGBTQ+ students face,” which indicates that another success of the meeting was that it opened the eyes of many officials who had not known the difficulties, such as bullying and harassment, these students deal with.
In addition to making his voice heard at the school board, Hans was also an active member at his school’s Gay-Straight Alliance club. As a matter of fact, Hans served as the President of GSA his senior year where he dedicated his efforts to promote LGBTQ+ normalization. “We put up handmade posters around campus with fun facts and cute sayings,” but unfortunately Hans was met with constant harassment from peers over GSA posters. Along with constant harassment, Hans also noticed how many of the insults where religiously charged. Insults such as ‘You’re going to hell’ are frequently targeted towards the LGBTQ+ community, and Hans knew it was time for a change.
As a result of such harassment, which not only affects himself but others within the LGBTQ+ community as well, Hans created @queersforchrist.
“I debunk common anti-LGBTQ+ myths within Christian discourse and help promote an ideology of progression and nonviolence” Hans states as the Instagram account’s aim. “Also, making memes for the account is fun and I’ve met a lot of great people through it.”
However, Hans acknowledges that there is still a long road until a massive change is achieved. “LGBT+ people deal with the violation of their rights and with a culture that is antagonistic towards them on a daily basis.” But, with students such as Michael Hans, who dedicate their time and effort to making the voices of the LGBTQ+ community heard we are one step closer to equality.