Gay-Straight Allianc | Lambda Legal Legacy

Contents:

• WHY ATRALIAN SCHOOLS NEED GAY STRAIGHT ALLIANC
• NEW ‘GAY WATER’ LOOKS TO AVOID BUD LIGHT DISASTER
• HOW TO START A GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE (GSA)
• GAY-STRAIGHT/GENRS & SEXUALI ALLIANC
• GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC
• LGBTQ YOUTH’S VIEWS ON GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC: BUILDG COMMUNY, PROVIDG GATEWAYS, AND REPRENTG SAFETY AND SUPPORT

WHY ATRALIAN SCHOOLS NEED GAY STRAIGHT ALLIANC

Photo: suppliedThe Gay Straight Alliance at Melbourne Grammar changed Ben Bonnici’s high school Bonnici, was only year 2 when he started experiencg homophobic bullyg. Although he endured homophobic slurs year 7 and 8, year 9 Mr Bonnici was troduced to somethg that would shift the urse of his schoolg life – a Gay Straight Alliance (GSA).

“Seeg kids who are really open about their sexualy at 16…and seeg them havg a good re of iends around them who don’t really re if they’re gay or straight is jt really wonrful, ” Mr Bonnici said. “There was a young promisg drama stunt and… his fal semter he end up dyg of suici after sufferg several months of homophobic bullyg by a pack of girls. “I wasn’t his teacher, but his iends were my homeroom and they told me he did seek unsellg at the school but he got the party le which was…maybe you uld jt turn down the gay, that’s why you are beg bullied.

NEW ‘GAY WATER’ LOOKS TO AVOID BUD LIGHT DISASTER

“They were basilly blamg the victim so for me that was , I uldn’t ntue to work such an overtly homophobic and transphobic place, ” Ms Callaghan said. Durg his fal year of high school, Gabriel Dartnell and other stunts tried to start a group to help addrs the homophobic culture at the all-boys relig school he attend Melbourne. Even though the school Gabriel Dartnell (left) attend failed to addrs homophobic bullyg they did allow him to brg his bt iend Rich Bartell (right) to his year 12 formal.

HOW TO START A GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE (GSA)

“We suggted they n a program specifilly about homophobia…but they would said would be too ntroversial or we don’t want to promise our ntraly, ” he said. “I did have queer iends high school but I wasn’t out…bee of all the homophobic and transphobic language and behavur you feel like you have to e out later life, ” she said.

A new nned cktail lled Gay Water is lookg to attract LGBTQ drkers and avoid the pfalls of Bud Light’s disastro marketg partnership wh transgenr fluencer Dylan Mulvaney. He noted that the nctn aims “to stigmatize the word ‘gay’ by brgg reprentatn to spac that have not tradnally featured queer products, such as bars, liquor stor, grocery stor, rtrants, hotels and more.

He told CNN that he worked wh a queer signer to base Gay Water’s red, purple, green and orange lor scheme on pop art and 1990s televisn shows om Nickeloon, a ble work for children. “Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg.

GAY-STRAIGHT/GENRS & SEXUALI ALLIANC

In other words, where Bud Light has buckled unr prsure as bigotry grows agast the LGBTQ+ muny, Gay Water’s creator Spencer Hodson wants his new boozy brand to be the anthis of that. “The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them,” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer.

GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC

Hodson built up a strong social media followg on TikTok and Instagram durg Covid-19 and is g some of the money om that (as well as om iends and fay) to help fund Gay Water.

“Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg.”. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails,” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN.

LGBTQ YOUTH’S VIEWS ON GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC: BUILDG COMMUNY, PROVIDG GATEWAYS, AND REPRENTG SAFETY AND SUPPORT

“There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns,” Roth said. Of urse, other drks e the word “gay,” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space.

The urt found 303’s ADF’s rightwg advocy extends further, however, as the anizatn has donated to more than a dozen anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortn found that the ADF donated $85, 000 to the Child and Parental Rights Campaign, a group which, acrdg to a Poli report, helped Florida Republins shape the state’s so-lled “don’t say gay” law, which prohibs discsn of sexual orientatn and genr inty group has also sued two school districts Florida over issu relatg to the rights of trans youth. School-based clubs lled Genr-Sexualy Allianc (GSAs, also known as gay-straight allianc) have emerged to gather youth of all sexual orientatns and genr inti to addrs SGM ncerns.

Gay-Straight Allianc, or GSAs, are stunt-led and stunt-anized school clubs that aim to create a safe, welg, and acceptg school environment for all youth, regardls of sexual orientatn or genr inty. GSAs provi a supportive environment for lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) stunts, as well as those who are perceived by others to be LGBT, are qutng their inty, have LGBT iends or fay members, or jt re about LGBT issu.