Q & A

Fountain Valley High student Jennifer Tang

The Fountain Valley Student Alliance, a support group for gays and lesbians, was organized at Fountain Valley High School in October 1993. Its founding led to an emotional public debate before the Huntington Beach Union High School board in January 1994 over whether to ban the extracurricular club, but trustees voted to allow the group to continue to meet on campus. Student Jennifer Tang, 18, now a senior, was one of the original members and is one of the group’s leaders. Tang, who is heterosexual, said she became involved to give support to a close friend who is bisexual. She spoke with Times correspondent Debra Cano about the club, which usually draws about 15 students to its Friday lunch meetings.

Q: Why is it important to have a support group for gay and lesbian teens?

A: I personally believe that it’s important to be accepting of homosexuality. I feel the club provides an accepting environment to those who are homosexual or bisexual because sometimes friends and parents aren’t OK with the idea. I feel we should be there for these people because it’s hard to be homosexual or bisexual in a heterosexual world.

Q: How has your group developed in the two years since it was formed?

A: Our ideals have not changed. . . . Our most important goal is to promote tolerance, not only with sexual orientation, but with race, religion and toward everyone. We talk about important issues relevant to our group. The most recent was the Salt Lake City school board decision. [In that highly publicized February incident, students wanted to form a gay and lesbian support group. The school board banned all extracurricular clubs rather than allow the students to meet.] And we’ve been talking about the AIDS Walk Orange County and Long Beach Pride Festival, both upcoming events.

Q: What was the group’s response to the Salt Lake City Board of Education decision?

A: We were very depressed that they decided to ban all noncurricular groups. We’ve written letters to the president of the Gay/Straight Alliance, and we plan to write letters to the school board asking them to reconsider their decision and allow the [group] to meet.

Q: How has your group helped homosexual and bisexual teens?

A: I think we’ve shown them that it’s OK to come out of closet.

Q: What do you see in the future for your group? Will it survive?

A: The first year was pretty shaky, but as we progress, we find there are still people interested in the group. I think it will be around for a while.