OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford Dunkirk High School’s Gender Sexuality Alliance Club is pictured in this screenshot taken from this month’s Dunkirk School Board meeting.

Dunkirk High School has a new Gender Sexuality Alliance Club, and the Dunkirk School Board formally approved it at a recent meeting.

Teacher and club advisor Mary Allaire-Gifford told the board the club has met informally four times and is composed of about 10 students.

“The purpose of the GSA is to create a safe, accepting and welcoming place for LGBTQ+ students and straight students,” Allaire-Gifford said. “It’s a place where they can work on issues that affect them — harassment, discrimination. It’s a place where they can tackle issues both in school and in the community. It’s a place they can feel safe.”

Like any other high school club, the GSA members want to hold bake sales and other fundraisers. At the same time, “they want to be a group that promotes change and promotes acceptance,” Allaire-Gifford said.

The Dunkirk School Board approved the club without comment. The club approval was on a lengthy list of so-called “consensus items” which are passed by a single vote of the board.