We exame the lived experienc of high-school stunts who participated lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer (LGBTQ)-centered activism of some kd, highlightg the promise of gay-straight alliance groups by parg the experienc of stunts at schools wh gay-straight allianc (GSA schools) wh the experienc of stunts at schools that did not have an LGBTQ-specific group (no-GSA schools). We pare stunts at GSA and no-GSA schools based on their experienc of harassment, experienc of support om thory figur, and patterns of iendships. We fd that stunts at both typ of schools experienced harassment and heard negative ments about lbian and gay people. However, stunts at GSA schools reported more support om teachers and admistrators than stunts at no-GSA schools, who have stori of teachers and admistrators actively opposg equaly for LGBTQ people. Stunts at GSA schools reported a wi variety of iendships across sexual inti, while stunts at no-GSA schools felt more isolated and whdrawn. This much-need qualative parative analysis of stunts’ experienc brgs a human face to the improved qualy of life that schools wh gay-straight allianc n brg to young people.
Contents:
- GAY-STRAIGHT/GENRS & SEXUALI ALLIANC
- GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC HIGH SCHOOLS
- SAFE SPAC: GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC HIGH SCHOOLS
- GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC SCHOOLS
- HOW TO START A GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE (GSA)
- THE GSA DIFFERENCE: LGBTQ AND ALLY EXPERIENC HIGH SCHOOLS WH AND WHOUT GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC
- GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC MAKE SCHOOLS SAFER, STUDY FDS
GAY-STRAIGHT/GENRS & SEXUALI ALLIANC
Gay-Straight Allianc or Genrs and Sexuali Allianc (GSAs) have been associated wh improvements school safety, a key ponent of school nnectedns, for all stunts. Rearch specifilly lks the prence of a GSA to greater feelgs of school nnectedns among LGBT stunts. * gay straight alliances in high schools *
Rearch specifilly lks the prence of Gay-Straight Allianc or Genrs and Sexuali Allianc (GSAs) to greater feelgs of school nnectedns among Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, and Qutng (LGBTQ) stunts. Combg data on var characteristics of public schools and state anti-discrimatn laws wh anizatnal rerds on the formatn of GSA groups, the thors nsir the ndns unr… 123 Catns49 ReferencAdolcent homosexualy: psychosocial and medil implitns. Usg qualative terviews wh young adults the Uned Stat and Canada who have participated gay-straight allianc, we unpack this plex ncept to nsir some of the dimensns along which safe spac might vary.
Genr and Sexualy Allianc or Gay-Straight Allianc (GSAs) are stunt-anized clubs that aim to create a safe and welg school environment for all youth regardls of sexual orientatn or genr inty.
GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC HIGH SCHOOLS
This article exam the patterns of emergence of gay-straight allianc (GSAs) public high schools the Uned Stat. The extracurricular stunt groups offer safe spac, social support, and opportuni for activism to lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer, and straight stunts. Combg data on var characteristics of public schools and state anti-discrimatn laws wh anizatnal rerds on the formatn of GSA groups, the thors nsir the ndns unr which the groups are likely to form, as well as the social barriers to their formatn. Usg logistic regrsn and lear regrsn analysis, a number of characteristics mon among those schools are isolated that found the first wave of GSAs. The lotn of schools, the number of stunts, regn of the untry, and support groups outsi high schools are among those social forc that promoted the early adoptn of GSAs public schools. * gay straight alliances in high schools *
2009: A Yulee, FL school rejected stunts’ applitn for a GSA, objectg to the word “gay” “Gay-Straight Alliance” as well as an unrelated past cint volvg one of the club members before she was at the high school.
SAFE SPAC: GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC HIGH SCHOOLS
A recent US study found that one five gay and lbian high school stunts reported attemptg suici the prev year — five tim more than straight I was troubled to hear about schools and school boards that do not support stunts who want to start November 2010, the Halton Catholic District School Board near Toronto) banned GSAs. Equy clubs aren’t gog to cut signed to nont homophobic bullyg sound good, but by flectg the purpose away om acceptg GLBT stunts and avoidg the e of words like gay and lbian group nam, the msage to kids is clear: Non-straight inti are not tly accepted by the key rponsibili of schools are flouted when GSAs are not allowed. The study referred to above found that suici attempts by straight youth were ne percent more likely muni that were unsupportive of gays; the prence of GSAs was one ditor of muny schools that don’t allow GSAs will have a hard time nvcg me — and more importantly their muni — that they are dog everythg possible to ensure the safety and acceptance of non-heterosexual, I’m optimistic.
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. (Nati Harnik / AP)Edor’s Note: This article is part of a seri about the gay-rights movement and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall groups have always been about a simple, key objective: Stop all the groups are GSAs—Genr-Sexualy Allianc, though they were origally known as Gay-Straight Allianc—and that was their missn when they first rose to promence the late 1980s. Perhaps, the theory was, jt by existg, the groups uld make gay kids feel ls alone, and that self uld rce suici risk, which was mon among gay teens at the Lipk, a former high-school history teacher, an thor, and a proment LGBTQ-rights advote, was one of the GSA movement’s earlit pneers.
GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC SCHOOLS
(Lipk, now his early 70s, drew spiratn om another queer-advocy school group, the Los Angel–based Project 10, the name a reference to Aled Ksey’s theory that about 10 percent of men are gay. ”Before long, siar mp clubs were croppg up— the Boston area and beyond—“simultaneoly” and “spontaneoly, ” says Sharon Tentarelli, who as a high-school junr 1989 found the GSA at the prtig boardg school Phillips Amy A iendship fed through the gay-rights movementGSAs sprang up anilly bee of the prence of lears who felt a need for them, not a natnal learship stcture that swooped and set them up.
HOW TO START A GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE (GSA)
Though they varied size and strategy om group to group, they tend to share the same basic visn, one articulated by Kev Jenngs, now 56, then a young high-school history teacher at a Boston-area boardg school lled Conrd Amy: Make gay stunts feel ls alone.
In 1988 he found the first club to bear the “GSA” and raised the South a fundamentalist Christian fay whose relativ clud members of the KKK, Jenngs grew up surround by racial tolerance and homophobia, he says.
THE GSA DIFFERENCE: LGBTQ AND ALLY EXPERIENC HIGH SCHOOLS WH AND WHOUT GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC
”Kev Jenngs (purple shirt) alongsi members of the Conrd Amy Gay-Straight Alliance at the 1993 March on Washgton for Gay, Lbian, and Bi Equal Rights (Courty of Kev Jenngs)It was a pivotal moment for Jenngs, who went on to -found the LGBTQ-youth advocy anizatn today known as GLSEN (formerly the Gay, Lbian, and Straight Edutn Network), wre var books on LGBTQ jtice schools, and serve as an assistant secretary the Department of Edutn unr Print Barack Obama.
GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC MAKE SCHOOLS SAFER, STUDY FDS
”People like Jenngs are “the children of the Stonewall Revolutn, ” says Stephen Lane, a public high-school teacher and the thor of the 2018 book No Sanctuary: Teachers and the School Reform That Brought Gay Rights to the Mass.