Editorial: In Support of Northwest High School’s Newspaper
July 1, 2023
NESPA Winner: Editorial, 2023
The Gator, Brimmer and May School, Brookline, MA
From 1,500 miles away, our Editorial Board stands in solidarity with the brave student journalists of the Viking Saga at Northwest High School in Grand Island, Nebraska. We say gay, and student newspapers all over the world should too.
Last June, Northwest High School’s newsroom published its latest edition of the Viking Saga. They challenged ‘Don’t Say Gay’ legislation and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments across the country and in their home state of Nebraska, aiming to educate readers about what gender and sexuality really are. Then, they were shut down.
According to an August 29 report by The New York Times, the Northwest High School administration enacted homophobic and transphobic rules for the newsroom last March, including requiring transgender reporters to use their deadnames—their names assigned at birth, which may differ from their chosen name. Students created the June issue in response, and the school administration subsequently shut down its journalism program in its entirety. This is unacceptable.
