GSA: Why Gay/Straight Allianc Are Even Better Than You Thought

Contents:

• GAY-STRAIGHT/GENRS & SEXUALI ALLIANC
• WHY HAVG AN OFFICIAL GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE BENEFS STUNTS
• THE BIGGT BENEF TO A GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE
• ONLY 3 STAT HAVE A GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE MORE THAN HALF OF THEIR HIGH SCHOOLS
• GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER, ADVOT SAY
• GAY STRAIGHT ALLIANC: DO THEY HELP AND HOW?
• GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC
• LGBTQ TEENS: HOW GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC BOOST MENTAL HEALTH
• LGBTQ YOUTH’S VIEWS ON GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC: BUILDG COMMUNY, PROVIDG GATEWAYS, AND REPRENTG SAFETY AND SUPPORT

GAY-STRAIGHT/GENRS & SEXUALI ALLIANC

Gay-Straight Allianc or Genrs and Sexuali Allianc have been associated wh improvements school safety, a key ponent of school nnectedns, for all stunts. 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.

Sara Green '23Graciela Tiu ’23 pos next to the Gay-Straight Alliance bullet board senr I walk past the bullet boards the senr hallway, I stop to look at one of them particular.

WHY HAVG AN OFFICIAL GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE BENEFS STUNTS

The study, which looked at school districts Brish Columbia, Canada and analyzed data om a total of 21, 708 stunts, found a that benefs of a Gay-Straight alliance clu a rced rate of suicidal thoughts both gay and straight study was fund by the Canadian Instute of Health Rearch and vtigated whether or not school polici really were effective fightg discrimatn and suicidal thoughts among the stunt populatn.

In schools where a GSA had been prent for three or more years, homophobic discrimatn was signifintly rced and suicidal thoughts among lbian, gay, and bisexual stunts creased by more than half.

Of urse, 's hard to say that jt startg a GSA will tomatilly brg about the kds of amazg benefs – schools wh active GSAs are probably more likely to be ls homophobic anyway, meang not all of the difference between schools wh and whout GSAs n be directly attributed to the clubs themselv. But 's also likely that havg a Gay-Straight Alliance really do have an impact on the culture of school, or at the very least giv bullied stunts a source of support and report also found that schools wh anti-homophobic polici also saw benefs for gay, lbian, and bisexual stunts, along wh heterosexual boys. In 2016, we formally changed our name to Genrs & Sexuali Alliance Network (formerly Gay-Straight Alliance Network) after hearg om untls youth lears who unrstand their genrs and sexuali to be uniquely theirs and have moved beyond the labels of gay and straight, and the lims of a bary genr system.

THE BIGGT BENEF TO A GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE

Asi om a quick AOL search for “Am I Gay” onle quizz my fay’s puter room, there wasn’t much terms of support for navigatg the qutns the early 2000’s (that I knew of) asi om turng to the ter.

Genr & Sexualy Alliance Clubs (or GSAs)—formerly known as Gay-Straight Alliance Clubs—are youth-led school or muny-based groups anized for the purpose of supportg LGBTQ+ youth and straight alli through discsn, actn, iendship, and advocy. The first Gay-Straight Alliance Club emerged 1988 when Kev Jenngs—a history teacher at Conrd Amy (a private, tnal boardg and day school for high school aged stunts) Massachetts—who had jt e out as gay, was approached by a stunt at the school who was straight but was upset by the treatment of gay stunts by her peers.

Jenngs creds stunts for both the tablishment of the club, as well as for settg the agenda of battg homophobia, and for chang to Conrd Amy’s non-discrimatn policy. Jenngs went on to -found the Gay Lbian and Straight Edutn Network (GLSEN) 1990—so ’s no wonr why we’re sharg so many credible rourc om GLSEN wh you today!

ONLY 3 STAT HAVE A GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE MORE THAN HALF OF THEIR HIGH SCHOOLS

Wisns has long been a forenner LGBTQ+ advocy, ever sce was the first state to pass anti-discrimatn legislatn for the LGBTQ muny 1982, givg the tle of "the first gay rights state. "Here are five stori that scratch the surface of the Fox Ci' LGBTQ muny and Lambda Lounge: Appleton's first gay barThroughout the late 20th century, gay people primarily found muny through the bar scene, often seen as a safe space for LGBTQ people to socialize. Appleton's first gay bar, the Lambda Lounge, opened downtown 1977 by partners Pl DeB and Gene DeB, Pl's sister, said the two bought the bar om Claire Kempky who ran Doris' Super Bar, a bs wh a reputatn as a hangout spot for gay people.

GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER, ADVOT SAY

" The bar opened 1977 and was Appleton's first gay the bar wasn't openly advertised as a gay bar for the safety of s patrons, people knew of through word of mouth and natnal gay bar guis, such as the Damron Gui. Rearcher for the Universy of Wisns-Green Bay's "Our Voic: LGBTQ+ Stori of Northeastern Wisns" Dennis Jab said bar patrons often experienced backlash om Appleton rints who believed homosexualy was wrong and didn't like havg a gay bar patrons were safe to be themselv si the bar, Jabs said people knew to not enter or leave the bar alone as they faced vlence om straight people and many fights took place outsi the bar.

However, the Lambda Lounge's prence Appleton paved the way for other LGBTQ bars, such as The ReMixx Neenah, Rasls Appleton and the now-closed Pivot A Neenah LGBTQ club is creatg a growg love for drag shows the Fox CiMore: Rasls has long been a gay refuge AppletonBook clubs allow gay people to fd munyBook clubs have often been a place for people wh shared inti to fd muny while discsg lerature pertag to their liv and provi a safe space for gays and lbians to socialize, Appleton Public Library llectns ordator Michael Nz and Lawrence Universy Profsor Dick Wslow found a book club named the Lavenr Salon 15 years, the group met each Sunday members' hom wh potluck meals and discsns on books and club was exclive to gay people, so members — whether they were openly gay or not — were able to be themselv and safely meet other people the LGBTQ muny. "For some, was their first time knowgly meetg other people who were gay and lbian so beg a safe space was really important, " Nz told The Post-Crcent.

Participatn the club grew om seven members to over 60 at a time, brgg people om Marette and Sheboygan for the weekly stunts' fight for gay-straight alliance clubDurg the turn of the century, stunts Madison and Milwkee high schools started creatg gay-straight allianc, or GSA clubs, to provi supportive environments for LGBTQ word about the clubs grew, a number of stunts at Neenah High School 2001, cludg Nick Ross — a current Appleton School Board member — wanted to create an official club for LGBTQ stunts to discs experienc and issu they were gog of the stunts were already LGBTQ support groups at the school and the muny, but Ross said was important for them to create an official group to give visibily to LGBTQ stunts and let other stunts know there was a safe space the school to discs their, when the stunts applied for club regnn, Neenah High School Prcipal Mark Duerwaechter nied them, sayg a GSA has polil goals and would go agast district policy, acrdg to Post-Crcent archiv.

GAY STRAIGHT ALLIANC: DO THEY HELP AND HOW?

"It was extremely terrifyg and sry for all the reasons of beg out public as LGBTQ, but also super excg bee we put ourselv out there and ma thgs happen, " Ross Neenah stunts' ph for a GSA and the attentn gathered the Fox Ci spired other stunts to create the club their own schools and a year later all three Appleton high schools had a High School Gay Straight Alliance club om an Oct. "In the last 15 years wh the cy of Appleton, we were dog some pretty active support of LGBTQ folks bee we were tired of seeg teens harmed and havg hate crim our parks, " Flor, who also prevly served as Appleton's diversy ordator, told The first time Appleton got volved LGBTQ issu was 2012 when the cy passed domtic partnership protectn for gay cy employe and their a time when same-sex marriage wasn't legal, domtic partnership benefs allowed cy employe and their partners the same benefs as spo, such as health surance and sick next time the cy got volved LGBTQ issu was Augt 2013 when the cy passed fair hog based on genr inty and exprsn, beg the third cy the state to ban hog discrimatn for transgenr people.

GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC

In 45 stat and the District of Columbia, ls than half of all high schools report havg a gay-straight alliance (also known as a genrs and sexuali alliance, or GSA), acrdg to 2016 data om the Centers for Disease Control and Preventn. In a recent review of LGBT-foced school polici and practic, rearchers noted that, of all reviewed terventns, GSAs are supported by the most nsistent evince showg that they improve school climate and amic out for lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer/qutng (LGBTQ) youth.

LGBTQ TEENS: HOW GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC BOOST MENTAL HEALTH

Specifilly, the rearchers intified several studi that documented rced homophobic victimizatn of lbian, gay, and bisexual stunts schools wh GSAs. Stunts who are bullied for their actual or perceived sexualy or genr exprsn (that is, victims of homophobic bullyg) are more likely than stunts who are bullied for other reasons to experience prsn and suicidal thoughts.

Gay-straight allianc often aim to promote a supportive school climate for stunts of all sexual orientatns and genr exprsns, to crease bullyg, and to provi stunts wh a space to be themselv. The earlit gay-straight allianc emerged Massachetts the late 1980s when stunts and teachers at three different private schools began to hold meetgs between LGBTQ and straight stunts. Today, there are over 4, 000 lol chapters of gay-straight allianc, officially registered wh the Gay Lbian and Straight Edutn Network, illtratg their populary addrsg homophobic bullyg the Uned Stat.

Consirg the high risk that LGBTQ stunts face for beg bullied, harassed, or victimized at school, we sought to terme whether gay-straight allianc were associated wh lower rat of homophobic bullyg. We believed our partnership was perfect to explore this qutn: One of (Robert) is a former high school teacher and gay-straight alliance advisor, and the other (Heather) is a soclogist who studi genr and sexualy. Together, we wanted to explore the existg rearch on gay-straight allianc to terme if there were any uniform fdgs that uld be important for policymakers and school lears.

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

We bed and analyzed data om approximately 63, 000 adolcents who participated 15 pennt studi about their experienc wh gay-straight allianc and bullyg. We found that, although dividual studi offered mixed rults (as some said gay-straight allianc were associated wh lower reports of stunt victimizatn, while others said there was no associatn), data dited stunts at schools wh gay-straight allianc reported ls bullyg. Addnally, the stunts were 36 percent ls likely to be fearful for their own safety and 30 percent ls likely to experience “homophobic victimizatn, ” such as beg harassed or physilly asslted bee of their sexual orientatn or genr exprsn.

That means LGBTQ stunts may rive the potential benefs of havg a gay-straight allianc at their school regardls of whether they participate the clubs themselv. Perhaps havg a gay-straight alliance promot an acceptg school climate by sendg the msage that a school is welg and mted to the succs of all s stunts and, therefore, homophobic acts will not be tolerated. Perhaps gay-straight allianc raise awarens of LGBTQ issu among all stunts and, th, create a supportive environment for all LGBTQ stunts, not jt those who are gay-straight alliance members.

Our fdgs ditg that gay-straight allianc are associated wh lower rat of bullyg are right le wh prev evaluatns of general anti-bullyg programs that do not specifilly target homophobic bullyg. That means that gay-straight allianc, which are stunt-iated, stunt-n anizatns that require ltle fundg beyond an advisor’s stipend, may promote benefs siar to those rived om outsi programs that n require nsirable funds and rourc to implement.