This blog originally appeared at REDDIT.

In 1999, as a teacher, Tim Walz founded his high school’s first gay-straight alliance. His former GSA students still hold fond memories of him.

Minnesota Governor and Vice Presidential hopeful Tim Walz (D) left a lasting impact on generations of students through his work as the founder of the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) at Mankato West High School. Today, some of his former GSA students are sharing stories about how Walz and his wife, Gwen, provided them with personal support and guidance.

One such student, Jacob Reitan, recalls being bullied for his sexuality. Turning to Walz for help, he found a mentor who made a profound difference in his life.

“Both Tim and Gwen were incredibly supportive of their gay students, and they modeled values of inclusivity and respect,” Reitan shared with MSNBC. “I was bullied in high school, and their values not only helped me, but also, I believe, helped the bully. It showed the bully a better path forward, and I can’t think of anyone better than Tim Walz to guide America on that better path.”

While introducing Tim Walz as her running mate to a crowd of 14,000 in Philadelphia last Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted his work as a high school teacher and football coach in 1999. Walz played a key role in advising the school’s first Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) to support LGBTQ+ students.

“Tim understood the importance of a football coach getting involved,” Harris noted. “He became the group’s faculty advisor, making the school a safer place for everyone.”

At that time, the AIDS epidemic was still fresh in the nation’s memory, having devastated the LGBTQ+ community, and Minnesota had laws criminalizing same-sex sexual encounters and banning same-sex marriage. The U.S. Supreme Court did not overturn these laws until 2003 and 2015, respectively.

Seth Elliot Meyer, a bisexual former student, initially thought he’d clash with Walz, given that Walz was a hunter and football coach.

“I was a leftist punk rock, anti-everything kind of kid,” Meyer told MSNBC. “But in the year that I had him, I learned that he truly cared about everyone and wanted us all to feel seen.”

Meyer added, “High school was tough for me, and I often felt like teachers wanted me to be someone else. But Walz was one of the few who encouraged me to be myself and speak my mind. He welcomed challenges and wanted to challenge things himself.”

Larissa Beck, an ally who attended the GSA and had Walz as a history teacher, ran into him years later at the state Capitol, where he remembered her.

“We’re talking about 20-something years ago, and to have your 10th-grade geography teacher remember you after all that time means something,” she said. “I couldn’t call him ‘Gov. Walz’—he’ll always be ‘Mr. Walz.’ He was the teacher who greeted every kid every morning, giving high fives and fist bumps. He was deeply involved in the school community.”

Another former student, Emily Scott, recalled how Walz inspired her during a trip to China. “We were on a riverboat cruise in Guilin, and I turned to Mr. Walz and said, ‘I love this. I love China. I want to do this for the rest of my life.’”

“And then he set up the next 10 years of my life. He told me, ‘Emily, you’re going to go to the University of Wisconsin at Madison, major in Chinese, and then move to China to get a job.’ That’s exactly what I did for the next decade.”

Walz’s commitment to LGBTQ+ rights has been a consistent thread throughout his career. When he ran for Congress in the early 2000s, he consulted with the Reitan family about running on a platform supporting gay marriage. He wanted to look his gay students in the eyes and say he was on their side.

As a U.S. House member, Walz supported the repeal of the military’s ban on out gay, lesbian, and bisexual service members and worked to secure enhanced funding for and prosecution against hate crimes motivated by anti-LGBTQ+ bias.

As governor, Walz has continued his advocacy. He has opposed bans on trans athletes in school sports and, in April 2023, signed a law protecting people seeking gender-affirming care from out-of-state investigations and prosecutions. He also signed an executive order directing the Minnesota Department of Health to report on the safety and effectiveness of gender-affirming healthcare.

In May 2023, Walz signed a bill outlawing the use of anti-LGBTQ+ “panic defenses” and legislation preventing libraries from removing books with LGBTQ+ themes. In April 2023, he also banned so-called conversion therapy, the widely discredited practice aimed at changing someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.