Gay-Straight Alliance Network

Are you a GSA youth leader in California? Apply for Activist...

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:22:34 -0400

Are you a GSA youth leader in California? Apply for Activist Camp, and learn how to:

Strengthen their GSA clubs through coalition building and strategic organizing.
Understand the legal rights of students and GSA clubs.
Protect students from slurs, bullying and discrimination.
Recognize the ways that homophobia and transphobia are connected to racism, sexism, classism and other oppressions.
Work with school administrators to fight homophobia and transphobia.
Run successful campaigns to change the climate on their campuses.

Deadline is Friday, June 7th! Apply here: https://www.gsanetwork.org/events/activistcamp

We’re gathering pictures of GSA clubs across California and...

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:47:00 -0400

We’re gathering pictures of GSA clubs across California and around the country, with messages of what you give ‘em hope for. Is it a safer school? An end to transphobia? A campus free of slurs? Representation in history textbooks?

Celebrate Harvey Milk Day by creating your PicMeme: http://bit.ly/101W13V

Harvey Milk Day is next Wednesday, March 22! Celebrate by...

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:54:57 -0400

Harvey Milk Day is next Wednesday, March 22! Celebrate by telling us: What do you give ‘em hope for? http://bit.ly/101W13V

It’s National Youth HIV + AIDS Awareness Day! Tell us: why...

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:03:33 -0400

It’s National Youth HIV + AIDS Awareness Day!

Tell us: why does your GSA fight AIDS?

April 10th is National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day! Get...

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:43:00 -0400

April 10th is National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day! Get your GSA involved:http://bit.ly/14Rtft2

fiercenyc: The NYPD has declared a portion of Flatbush a...

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:05:57 -0400

fiercenyc:

The NYPD has declared a portion of Flatbush a “Frozen Zone”, meaning media are not allowed in and people can be subjected to arrest for not following police orders. It basically means the area is under temporary martial law. The last times the NYPD declared a Frozen Zone was on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and during the beginning of OWS.

Please call 311 to demand that everyone in connection to tonight’s Kimani vigil/march be released from the 71st precinct in Brooklyn. There’s one Malcolm X Grassroots Movement member arrested & two Justice Committee (JC) members arrested. A ton of community members who were at the vigil/march were also arrested. If you have friends/family in NYC please tell them to call 311. If you live in NYC please call 311. Let’s get them free! Please share!

NYPD decided not to release community members and Cop Watchers arrested at the vigil for Kimani “Kiki” Gray. Please call 7182502001 to demand NO charges be brought against all arrested

RIGHT NOW, the Westboro Baptist Church is outside Santa Monica...

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 10:30:00 -0500

RIGHT NOW, the Westboro Baptist Church is outside Santa Monica High School, telling LGBTQ students that they’re sinful, tainted, damned.

The GSA is responding peacefully: with a wall of humanity, and a fundraiser to support GSAs nationwide in WBC’s name.

Join them and show WBC we will not give in to hatred!

GSA Network staff and local GSA activists met Rep. Mark Takano,...

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:33:36 -0500

GSA Network staff and local GSA activists met Rep. Mark Takano, the first GSA advisor and LGBT person of color elected to Congress!

Campus Pride: GSA Day 2013: Tweet Chat at 3 pm PST on February 6

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 22:18:27 -0500

Campus Pride: GSA Day 2013: Tweet Chat at 3 pm PST on February 6:

campuspride:

Campus Pride partners with GLSEN, GSA Network, and the Iowa Pride Network to celebrate the wonderful work of GSAs nationwide on GSA Day, February 6, 2013; #gsaday Tweet Chat to occur at 3 pm PST

Gay-straight alliances and LGBTQ campus organizations do invaluable work at schools, colleges…

Don’t miss it! Join us at 3pm tomorrow for the #gsaday chat!

It Doesn’t Inevitably Get Better: Implement the FAIR Education Act

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:38:00 -0500

It Doesn’t Inevitably Get Better: Implement the FAIR Education Act:

LGBTQ students and students with disabilities face some of the highest rates of bullying. They’re also disproportionately suspended and expelled from school, along with students of color, showing that punitive discipline is not the solution to bullying and often hurts the youth it seeks to protect. Excluded from history, tormented by classmates and disproportionately kicked out of school, LGBT students and people with disabilities are often taught at school to feel worthless.

With the enactment of California’s FAIR Education Act, students can learn that these marginalized groups have actually made incredible contributions to this country’s history. They can learn that an openly gay man, Bayard Rustin, played a key role in the African-American Civil Rights movement—but that because of his identity, he was kept out of the spotlight and out of the history books. Students can learn that Americans with disabilities courageously fought for rights and protections under U.S. law, marking an important chapter in legislative history.

The FAIR Education Act gives California a tremendous advantage in the struggle to curb bullying. We just need to use it.

David Phan & the intersection of racism, homophobia, & school responses to bullying

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 12:12:54 -0500

David Phan & the intersection of racism, homophobia, & school responses to bullying:

Racialicious takes a powerful look at David Phan’s suicide:

“As reported in The Salt Lake Tribune, on the day David committed suicide, Bennion alerted his mother, Phuong Tran, to let her know that her son had been suspended. When Tran rushed to the school, she was told by the principal that the reason for David’s suspension was because they found a condom in his backpack. When asked why a condom should justify suspension, she was told that they would discuss it further the following Tuesday.

Apparently, Bennion exists in a universe where the search of an Asian-Pacific Islander American (APIA) student’s body and personal property is warranted, and where a condom on campus is seen as a sign of criminal behavior rather than mature responsibility (not to mention that many public schools freely give out condoms to students to encourage safe-sex practices). Whereas David’s Vietnamese family unconditionally embraced him when he came out as gay, Bennion and Granite turned its back on David as he endured anti-gay bullying–and used the condom to punitively construct David’s sexuality as a threat to the school.”

Inspiration for the week: high school senior comes out at school...

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 13:22:00 -0500

Inspiration for the week: high school senior comes out at school assembly

LGBT youth, advocates oppose more cops in Chicago public schools

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 14:04:00 -0500

LGBT youth, advocates oppose more cops in Chicago public schools:

Illinois Safe Schools Alliance, a member of the National Association of GSA Networks, doing amazing work:

“A student had been relentlessly targeted by other students around sexual orientation,” she said. “It was reported to school leaders repeatedly and they did nothing. The student thought his safety was in danger and he brought mace to school and he was expelled. Had the school actively addressed the bullying situation and ensured safety for that student, the student would never have been expelled.”

Mauro Ortega, 16, a CPS student who identifies as LGBT and is a member of VOYCE, spoke after the press conference about his own experience with bullying and unfair discipline.

“Back when I was younger, I used to be bullied a lot by certain students and this continued for about two years and I’d always tell the teacher, ‘He’s bothering me, he’s picking on me,’” he said. “The teachers talked to him and his mother but he still wouldn’t stop and so it came to a day when I was in a class … and we were in woodworking together and we were partners. He was picking on me and he hit me on the head with a piece of plywood and it snapped and I told him to stop and he started pushing me and we got into an altercation.”

“I think [being an LGBT student] was a really big motivation of it,” he added. However, Ortega was arrested even after he tried to explain what had happened.

“Some teachers notice, and they take action, some don’t notice until you ask them for help, but I think it was around a 75% percent chance that … I was being helped,” he said.

"Five teenagers sat around a table and shared their stories of the trials and tribulations that went..."

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 15:43:10 -0500

“

Five teenagers sat around a table and shared their stories of the trials and tribulations that went with passing through high school as an LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) youth.

One had to transfer schools because of bullying without any administrative help; another almost dropped out of high school altogether. Each story they told had one common, underlying theme: that the school system had failed them, but they chose to rise above it and succeed in spite of it.

The entire time they talked there was an unprecedented silence over the crowd. I go to high school, I have attended assemblies, and never in all of my life in school have I seen such attention, respect, and quiet from such a large group of teenagers. I think it was then that I really understood just how powerful the YES event was, and how relevant it was to all of these kids’ lives.

”

- A student journalist with the Santa Cruz Patch writes about GSA Network’s Youth Empowerment Summit: http://bit.ly/UOeAY9

Brand new research from GSA Network — including a roadmap...

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:12:00 -0500

Brand new research from GSA Network — including a roadmap to implementing LGBTQ-inclusive lessons! One of our findings: Young people feel that schools aren’t safe, but LGBTQ-inclusive lessons would increase feelings of belonging, safety, and achievement

The 2012 Youth Empowerment Summit drew over 700 GSA youth...

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 16:27:00 -0500

The 2012 Youth Empowerment Summit drew over 700 GSA youth leaders to share skills, learn about the school-to-prison pipeline, and show off their fabulousness! Click to learn more.

30 Days Of Holiday LGBT Giving: GSA Network

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:56:00 -0500

30 Days Of Holiday LGBT Giving: GSA Network:

We all know that high school and middle school can be tough for just about everyone. But for preteen and teenage lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer youth, those years can be especially difficult. Since its inception in 1998, the Gay-Straight Alliance Network (GSA Network) has been working with and “empowering youth activists to fight homophobia and transphobia in schools” by starting gay-straight alliance clubs, which are middle and high school student-run clubs composed of LGBTQ and straight students. These groups act as a support system — an affirming, welcoming environment to socialize and a venue for activism to combat anti-LGBT rhetoric.

Thanks, Huffington Post Gay Voices, for featuring us in your 30 Days of Holiday LGBT Giving!

It’s official: the GSA movement kicks ass. Share to...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 13:59:28 -0500

It’s official: the GSA movement kicks ass. Share to support!

Ending the School-to-Prison Pipeline Hearing Before Senate Judiciary Committee

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 14:46:56 -0500

Ending the School-to-Prison Pipeline Hearing Before Senate Judiciary Committee:

On behalf of LGBTQ youth facing harsh discipline and school pushout, GSA Network has submitted written testimony for a hearing happening today before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights. The hearing is at 11 am PST and you can watch it here!

"I remember the night of the 2008 Election when I looked at the bottom of the news feed and saw that..."

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 17:02:00 -0500

“

I remember the night of the 2008 Election when I looked at the bottom of the news feed and saw that Proposition 8 passed. My mom and dad commented on how happy they were that it passed, and I, being in the closet, was silently hurt and in shock. At school, all of my teachers talked about it, voicing their support of the proposition. It was as if everything changed for me. I was amidst a society that actually voted to classify me as a second-class citizen. The passage of Prop 8 made me feel wrong, immoral, and unsafe. It was a message from my state that I was not welcome or free to be who I was.

Now it is 4 years later, and after coming out to my parents, friends, and community, I have educated many on what it really means to be gay. My mom still tells me in tears about how much of a mistake she made voting Yes on Proposition 8. She regrets it every day of her life and longs for its repeal. Now as we both watch on the news court after court rule Prop 8 unconstitutional, we have a new hope that the Supreme Court next year will stand up for everyone and strike Prop 8 down in California. The Supreme Court’s decision can change my life forever.

”

- Anthony Barros, GSA Network activist, in response to today’s news that the Supreme Court will hear DOMA and the Prop 8 case: http://www.gsanetwork.org/news/blog/breaking-supreme-court-review-doma-and-prop-8/12/07/12