Every Button Tells a Story: Hirsch Students Show Their Pride

At Hirsch Metropolitan High School on Chicago’s Southeast Side, something bold happened this week—something small in scale but massive in meaning. For the first time in school history, students and staff came together to celebrate Pride Month with a button-making event. No parade, no speeches—just raw creativity, natural sound, and students pressing their truths into color, words, and art.

Each button became a mirror of identity, resilience, and self-expression. From phrases like “They/Them Power” to symbols of rainbow fists, it wasn’t just about decoration. It was a declaration. It was resistance. It was a joy.

“I made this one to represent both sides of me,” one student shared while holding up a split-color pin. “I didn’t think it mattered before, but seeing others make theirs—I don’t feel alone.”

The quiet act of pressing buttons echoed louder than many assemblies. In a school where conformity often feels like a matter of survival, this Pride event offered something rare: a safe space to be fully seen. The Human Rights Campaign reports that over 45% of LGBTQ+ youth experience discrimination in school. At Hirsch, at least for this moment, the atmosphere flipped.

The hum of conversation and laughter blended with the ping of button presses and scratching of markers on sticker paper. Students worked at tables, creating designs while etching their presence on the school’s culture.

This wasn’t just arts and crafts—it was a cultural shift. In a building where many young people battle stereotypes, poverty, and peer pressure, pride is more than a flag. It’s survival. It’s courage. And at Hirsch, it’s finally being recognized.

Principal Tiffany Gore, who approved the event, shared: “Visibility matters. These students need to know that they belong here, exactly as they are.”

 

Indeed, belonging is the word that echoed through the space more than anything else. It’s a word often fought for, especially in schools like Hirsch, where the intersection of race, poverty, and identity hits hard.

As the GLSEN 2023 School Climate Survey shows, inclusive environments reduce dropout rates, increase academic performance, and lower depression among LGBTQ+ youth. Hirsch’s Pride Button Day may seem small, but it could very well be the beginning of a bigger legacy—one where every student’s truth gets pinned, seen, and protected.

In a city where headlines often capture violence, this story captures something else: presence. These students showed up—for themselves and for each other.

So yes—every button tells a story. And this time, those stories were pressed with pride, held with purpose, and worn like armor in a school where learning to love louder was the goal.