Before students at Johnston High School organized a Gay-Straight Alliance last year, one of 17-year-old Adam Helgeson’s friends didn’t feel safe going to class in the suburban school district located northwest of Des Moines.

“He felt like it was socially unacceptable to be who he was…He would skip class so people wouldn’t see how he acted and presented himself because he felt he would be labeled as gay,” said Helgeson who is straight and is vice-president of Johnston’s GSA. “Now because of our GSA, he feels a lot safer to go to class.” Last summer, Iowa enacted its Safe Schools law, which requires public and private schools to establish policies that prohibit harassment and bullying against students. The law makes it illegal to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, among other things. The Iowa Civil Rights Act also was changed to include sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected classes.

Even so, the laws didn’t wipe out the daily harassment and discrimination that gay and lesbian students face, said a panel of students this week at the Des Moines Human Rights Symposium. The conference, which celebrated Fair Housing laws, included sessions on a wide variety of topics about civil and human rights.

The panel of students and members of the Iowa Pride Network, which encourages and supports gay-straight alliances, said GSA’s can help improve the school climate for all students.

Helgeson, who referred to himself as a “straight ally” said he experienced harassment after he gave a speech in class about a family member who is gay. He said students stopped speaking to him, asked for him to be removed from the school locker room and called him names.

“Homophobia affects students gay and straight alike and has no place in our schools,” said Ryan Roemerman, executive director of the Iowa Pride Network.

According to the network’s 2007 Iowa School Climate Survey, students who have GSA’s in their schools report lower rates of absenteeism, name calling, harassment and assault.

Photo Cutline from L to R: Ryan Roemerman, Rachel Johnson, outreach coordinator with the Iowa Pride Network, Christen Bain, Drake University student and network board member and Adam Helgeson