If high school walls could talk; they’d probably say: “Why are you using ‘gay’ like that?” or maybe “Why do you keep calling people ‘sluts’?”

For the last week, our school’s gender-sexuality alliance has been working on a mural that was recently approved by our principal. Murals had been painted on the walls before, so at first; this was nothing too unusual.

The design centralizes around two eyes; one closed, and one wide open. On the closed eye are all of the detrimental words and phrases people use, such as “Slut”, “That’s gay”, or “What a wimp”. The bolder, more colorful eye that is open uses words such as “Beautiful” and “Strong” and centralizes around the word “HUMAN”. Below it is a quote from Laverne Cox, which says “…We are not what other people say we are, we are what we know ourselves to be, and we are what we love”.

Soon, however, this design started sparking controversy in the school. The use of the word “Slut” had been criticized by a couple of people before spreading like wildfire in the school. If you look at the wall, however, “Slut” is actually the smallest word on the entire wall- and it’s being taken out of context. Soon twitter featured lots of people from our school planning to petition to get the word “slut” removed. I like to imagine the controversy starting like this:

Person 1: “Wow the word ‘slut’ is on that new mural”

Person 2: “Woah, they painted ‘slut’ on the wall?”

Person 3: “I CAN’T BELIEVE THE WALL SAYS SLUT ON IT WE CAN’T HAVE A SLUT WALL IN THIS SCHOOL WHAT THE HECK”

So, naturally, the entire school is now up in arms about the mural. We’re hoping that the attitude will change once the wall is completely done. One thing we have certainly learned throughout all of this is that good art generates good discussion.

Many people have come up to me and the artist, asking about the wall, with generally underdeveloped arguments.

Their side consists of this argument solely: “What if children walk by and ask their parents what that word means? I want this high school to be a good place for everyone”

Our side goes like this: “First of all, ‘slut’ is not the only bad word on that wall- in fact, it’s one of the less significant ones to children. One child, in particular, walked by and asked his mom about the word “stupid” and talked about how that’s a bad word that people shouldn’t say. His mom simply responded, ‘That’s right, and the painting tells you that you shouldn’t’. The son’s only response: ‘Oh.”. Second, we combat the use of the word ‘slut’ by proving that it is only a negative word when that power is given behind it, much like the use of the phrase ‘That’s gay’. There is no negative connotation to it when people realize the true implications of what they’re saying. If you want to remove the stigma, support the mural. Finally; Art is supposed to make an impact on your life. Good art will raise discussion, and you may have differing viewpoints, but this mural is our space to express our ideas. Do not fight our movement unless you truly see it as corrupt, and do not interfere with others’ beliefs if it might not coincide with yours; because after all, that doesn’t make you opinionated; that makes you a scumbag.”