111: Advocating for LGBTQ Youth in School – Michelle Belke

Michelle Belke currently works as a Mental Health School Counsellor at an independent school in Metro Detroit, Michigan. She has a part-time private practice in psychotherapy and sex therapy in Birmingham, Michigan. In her school setting, Michelle does a lot to make students feel comfortable coming to her and discussing sexuality and sexual identity, such as decorating her office with pride symbols and doing outreach through the school, and even setting up the school’s first Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) and that a surprisingly large amount of her work for the school deals with LGBTQ+ issues and concerns.

Forming Gay-Straight Alliances
She shares that the GSA she and some students created at her school, is not an official Gay-Straight Alliance, but it serves the same purpose. Belke mentions that Gay-Straight Alliances are a key element in helping sexual minorities feel safe while on school grounds especially for transgender students but to all LGBTQ+ students in a broader sense, the risk of violence and suicide is much higher than in the general population. Michelle believes a GSA creates a safe space to discuss and find support amongst other LGBTQ+ students and allies, increasing the feeling of safety marginalized students can feel on school property. According to Belke, independent schools can be more conservative than public schools. In her case, establishing a GSA necessitated a group of students directly approaching the administration in person and making a case for the group’s establishment. Belke is careful to make clear that a GSA isn’t for talking about sex all the time but is meant to establish a safe place for sexual minorities.

The Student Counseling Interview Process
Michelle openly tells us that she’s often the first person LGBTQ+ students at her school speak to about their sexual identity. When speaking with people in these groups, she suggests listening without judgement, moving at the student’s pace, and reinforcing the confide