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Los Gatos High School #MeToo Movement Continues As School Year Begins

Students listen at Los Gatos Me Too rally on August 10.
Katherine Simpson
/
KALW
Students listen at Los Gatos Me Too rally on August 10.

Students from Los Gatos High School held a rally on Tuesday, August 10, as a part of an ongoing #MeToo protest movement.

About 50 students gathered at Los Gatos’ town square where activists, speakers, and survivors shared their stories about the community’s ongoing reckoning with sexual assault.

The movement started in June 2020 when Mia Lozoya posted on Instagram claiming that she had been raped while drinking with a fellow student.

Soon students formed the group "For Survivors, From Survivors" and created the @MeTooLGHS Instagram page. Since then, 134 LGHS students and alumni have come forward as survivors of sexual violence.

At the rally, former editor-in-chief of the LGHS newspaper Alaina Fox argued that the school system isn’t doing enough about a prevalent culture of sexual assault.

“The administration's strategy is, and always, has been to maintain the facade of the perfect school that belies the endemic violence underneath. The goal isn’t to make things better. The goal is to avoid having to deal with them. The culture hasn't changed, but we have changed," Fox said.

Mia Lozoya and her parents went to the police and filed a report with the school district. The case was eventually dropped due to insufficient evidence.

Students will return to classes at Los Gatos High School on Thursday, August 12.

Katherine Simpson is a teacher and journalist in the Bay Area. She's been working in public radio since 2018.