LGBTQ Youth’s Views on Gay-Straight Allianc: Buildg Communy, Providg Gateways, and Reprentg Safety and Support - PMC

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.

WHY HAVG AN OFFICIAL GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE BENEFS 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. 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.

THE BIGGT BENEF TO A GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE

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.

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

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.

GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER, ADVOT SAY

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.

GAY STRAIGHT ALLIANC: DO THEY HELP AND HOW?

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! 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.

GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC

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.

" 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.

LGBTQ TEENS: HOW GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC BOOST MENTAL HEALTH

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.

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

"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.

"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.