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Safe Space kits coming to campus

Insulting slurs are hurtful to those in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community.

To help make MCCC a safer campus, the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) recently received a grant to order lunchboxes, which are essentially Safe Space kits.

The kits are designed to help a campus protect those in the LGBT community from harassment and bullying.

When the kits arrive, members of the Gay-Straight Alliance will be first to undergo training on how to use them.

Then the GSA hopes to get other clubs involved and trained.

Penny Bodell, one of three coadvisers for the GSA, said it’s important for the GSA to have the Safe Space Kits.

“These allies have to be trained in order to understand what being an ally truly means and the responsibility that goes hand-inhand,” Bodell said.

Amanda Bennett, another coadviser for the GSA, said members of the club really need the kits.

“It is important that we have allies for you guys everywhere. It is long overdue,” she said.

Many members of the group are also happy to hear that the club received an enhancement grant from the MCCC Foundation to order the kits.

Brandon VanBelle, one of the co-chairs of the club, said the kits are needed.

“We need to teach people that it is not okay to say certain things,” he said. “We have every right to disagree on something. To use just certain words toward a certain group just makes an unwelcoming environment.”

Terri Gower, secretary for the GSA, said the group needs to stand up against bullying.

“We should watch out for things like that because once you correct one, you can correct the others,” Gower said