When Minnesota’s same-sex marriage amendment passed last May, senior Sophie Macklem-Johnson said she immediately saw students rally in support of gay couples, like her parents.

“People have been nothing but positive toward my family,” Macklem-Johnson said. “As soon as same-sex marriage was made legal, some people even excitedly asked if my parents were getting married.”

In a survey conducted in some English classes, 93 percent of students said they think the school is an accepting atmosphere for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) students. Superintendent Rob Metz said he agrees Park is a comfortable place for LGBTQ students.

Metz said he thinks Park is more accepting than other schools because of its diverse community.

“We have an advantage of being in a worldly environment here, that we tend to accept more and accept people for who they are,” Metz said. “More so than other places that have not had that same diverse experience.”

Although Metz said he believes Park is very accepting, he also said there are issues some students and staff deal with.

One student who faced issues during his time at Park is transgender junior Allie Michaelynn, who now attends Perpich Center for Arts Education in Golden Valley. Michaelynn said he wanted to attend school in a more welcoming environment.

“I wanted a more accepting place. I didn’t feel like people respected me for who I wanted to be and who I was at Park,” Michaelynn said. “I wanted a place where I could be more open and express who I am.”

Although there still are problems like Michaelynn’s, health teacher Amy Berchem said she thinks the health class curriculum can be influential on student’s views toward the LGBTQ community. She said during the creation of the health curriculum, an advisory board of students supported keeping the Matthew Shepard story in the class.

“The kids relate to ‘The Matthew Shepard Story’ because of the age and some of the kids have heard it before and it really hits home,” Berchem said.

This hate crimes unit may resonate among students, but Michaelynn said he thinks the LGBTQ section should be expanded within health class and other classrooms to increase awareness.

“Teachers should be able to openly talk about gay sex,” Michaelynn said. “The topic has been avoided for so long that people don’t recognize that gay people do have relationships. Gay people do continue their lives. They act like normal people and everything.”

As well as educating health students about the LGBTQ community, according to transgender senior Declan Fruchtman, the Park staff is already accepting and helpful.

“I haven’t had problems with students really. The staff has been helpful, offering to do whatever they can to help out,” Fruchtman said.

Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) adviser Kyle Sweeney said she thinks the staff is accepting of all students, but forms of teaching maintain only heterosexual examples.

“In general the teachers are welcoming,” she said. “There is still some heteronormativity, which is assuming everyone is heterosexual. It’s in classes, textbooks and mediums teachers use.”

While often different forms of relationships are not mentioned in teaching mediums, 88 percent of students at Park support same-sex marriage, according to the survey conducted Nov. 27 and Dec. 2-3. Freshman Makayla Jones-Klausing’s moms have been together for 25 years, and Jones-Klausing said she considers Park a safe and welcoming place for the LGBTQ community.

“A lot of my friends are very supportive of me and my family,” Jones-Klausing said. “I hear a lot of people who don’t know about my family talking about the marriage amendment in a supportive way, and that’s really cool.”

Sweeney said she believes part of the reason students are more accepting at Park is because of the confidence of LGBTQ students.

“I think that does really help with the school atmosphere, the kids that come out know they can be comfortable with themselves, then they are comfortable with themselves and other people can be too,” she said.