With the creation of the new SAGE club, tempers have flared amongst students. Although lots of support has been shown from students, many others have been very vocal about their different opinions, from tweets criticizing the club to the tearing down of posters advertising the meetings. Offended students fought back with their own tweets, and the tension between the two different opinionated groups has only been encouraged since Donald Trump was officially elected president.

“I have been saying that I have my own opinions,” said sophomore Ethan Scroggins, one of the students more vocal about his anti-SAGE views on Twitter. “[SAGE] wants people to respect their opinions, and I want them to respect mine. I was attacked by people who disagreed with me, even people who don’t go to the school. Forty-year-old men were tweeting me. But I don’t give a s***.”

Many students, regardless of sexuality, have felt an emotional reaction from the negative response to the SAGE club.

“I had a lot of people DMing me. I had a couple death threats, actually, but I also had a lot of support coming in as well,” said senior Dianna Morales, the president and founder of SAGE. “I believe both responses, both passionate and bad, will continue on while the SAGE club exists. SAGE club was only trying to promote positivity and the love of all, we’re not trying to promote any kind of hatred toward any specific group.”

Although the negative response to SAGE left some supporters shocked, it was expected by others.

“I think whenever you’re dealing with something-I hesitate to even say controversial just because it’s a lot more acceptable now than it has been in the past-but whenever you have something like that, you expect both sides,” Shahveer Dhalla, principal, said. “My hope is that whichever side of the issue you lie on, you remain positive, and you’re not tearing anybody down. That’s the only time we’re going to have an issue-when we’re negative.”

One of the many responses to the club was the announcement of the formation of the Young Conservative Club, a club for the conservatives of AHS to share their own beliefs. The club was initially introduced by Scroggins and fellow sophomore Logan Vasquez on Twitter, and was met with support from many other conservative students.

“We hope for a peaceful group without all of the controversy,” Scroggins said. “Even if someone is not a conservative, they can come in, talk and learn.”

Because the idea was proposed soon after SAGE formed, some students believe that it was only created as a negative response.

“I do believe it is a club that is trying to protest my club because they don’t really support gay rights, which is totally fine,” Morales said. “I mean, I really wish everyone would but it’s more of you have your own opinion and everyone’s entitled to their own opinion.”

Despite the backlash from students saying the club is anti-SAGE, the formation of the Young Conservative Club is still in the works even though they don’t have a sponsor yet.

“They are forming, but their first step is to find a sponsor, just like any other club,” Dhalla said. “That sponsor would fill out some paperwork, and we would have a meeting between the founding members and the sponsor and myself, and that hasn’t taken place, so I think everyone’s jumping the gun thinking clubs have been formed when they haven’t.”

Despite the negative responses that have been directed towards SAGE, the club is still going strong. The members have proved that they are just a group of people looking for love and support from people just like themselves.