2015-2016 SCHOOL YEAR
TAOS MUNIC IPAL SC H OOL S
Taos Academy eo d i v t n e Stud e h t e d i s n ‘I s e k a t ’ w Rainbo s e u s s i Q on LGBT hool c s s o a T at Katharine Egli
Sebastian Moulton, who created the short film, “Inside the Rainbow” about LGBTQ issues in Taos, poses for a portrait outside Taos Academy Charter School in February.
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By Cody Hooks
the spot” thoughts.
rmed with a video camera, his school’s digital media arts lab and the support of about 25 other students, Taos Academy student Sebastien Moulton produced “Inside the Rainbow,” a video project about LGBTQ issues in school and the path to creating a safer space for learning and living.
Even though “current issues aren’t that widely talked about in school,” he said, students at Taos Academy “know what the issues are and how they feel.”
The video, Moulton explains in the introduction, is about “how much a strong, supportive community can help you find out who you are.”
While the reactions aren’t blasé, most were positive, supportive and reflective of the community Taos Academy strives to create, Karin Moulton explained. When asked about marriage equality, one student responded with commentary on the institution of marriage at large, calling the idea of being with one person forever, quite simply, weird.
“Inside the Rainbow” gauges the strength and support within the community of Taos Academy, a charter school catering to online learners in middle and high school. As the school’s co-founder Karin Moulton said, conversations about LGBTQ issues fall in line with broader conversations about bullying on campus. Karin Moulton is also Sebastien’s mother. “Inside the Rainbow” wasn’t a school project, but was created on behalf of the Taos chapter of PFLAG, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, where Sebastien Moulton was an intern. PFLAG —which holds monthly meetings, supports students via a scholarship program and collaborates with other nonprofits around Taos — commissioned the video to use when speaking at schools. Barbara Sheppard, president of PFLAG-Taos, said the video is especially important because it captures the voices, attitudes and personal stories of young people working through questions of identity. Many of the students interviewed identified as gay, bisexual or allies — straight people who proudly do their part to support LGBTQ people. Taos Academy proved an auspicious venue for the project not only because Moulton had access to his school’s digital video equipment, but also because most students, he said, “are gung-ho to talk about their opinions. They’re comfortable talking about [LGBTQ] issues.” “We took the camera out at our break time and just asked their thoughts on LGBTQ issues and the communities. Then go find the next person until the time ran out,” he said. Students weren’t given prompts. Instead, the video caught their honest, “right there on
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Most students responded to questions about LGBTQ issues — including those about equal rights, raising children and getting married — with “yeah, that’s fine,” Moulton said.
And one college student who graduated from Taos schools a few years ago said that while his family and friends were easy in their reaction to him coming out as gay, it was more challenging feeling acceptance from the wider community. Indeed, though Taos Academy is working toward being an accepting community, “Inside the Rainbow” demonstrates how a general lack of basic knowledge can still present a barrier to a truly safe environment. One student said she didn’t know what the word “gay” meant until sixth grade. Identity struggles compound without a vocabulary to speak about one’s experience. Karin Moulton said that teachers and administrators tell students, “If you want [safety] at school, it starts with yourself. But it also takes stepping outside of yourself and saying something. If someone’s alone, say hi — don’t leave people sad and lonely,” she said. She said that simply having the conversation about bullying — “It’s about acceptance, in a broad terminology” — has helped foster a more inclusive and safer school climate. What lapses the school does experience are met with a strictly informed discipline policy, she said. “As teachers, we want to work in a place where people are kind and respectful,” she said. Sebastien Moulton said that while LGBTQ issues were the focus of this video, when it comes to having a school where all students — regardless of sexuality, gender identity, race or class — are on a level playing field, “safe is safe.”