Gay straight alliance activities
10 Steps for Starting a Gay-Straight Alliance
Would you like to launch a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) at your school, but you’re not sure where to begin? This resource will walk you through the steps to obtain one going, and includes some tips on what to do if your school says “no.”
Download a PDF version of this resource here.
1. Do Your Research – Typically, Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) are student-led, non-curricular clubs. “Non-curricular” means that the focus of the club is not directly related to a school class, such as French Club or Math Club. Find out if your school has other non-curricular clubs, such as Chess Club or Key Club. Your GSA will have to follow the same steps that those clubs took in direct to form. If you’re not sure what the official school policies are for starting a club, ask a teacher or other faculty member.
2. Know Your Reasons – Every successful organization has a mission statement, which is simply a sentence or two that explain the purpose and goals of your group. It might be a good concept for you and the other members of your GSA to think about a mission statement for your club before presenting your idea to your administrators. T
Elements of a GSA
Download a PDF of this version here.
The purpose of this activity is to discuss the other roles a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) can play and to help students distinguish which activities and events they may want to plan over a given timeframe. By identifying what “kind” of GSA you have, this activity can also help the community identify a mission declaration for the club.
To begin: Draw the following Venn diagram on a whiteboard or large sheet of paper. Note: Some will choose to separate “social” and “support”, using four overlapping circles. Use whatever picture works best for you.
Explain that this picture is meant to portray some of the prevalent “elements” of a Gay-Straight Alliance. While every GSA is unique, many clubs plan activities that are social, educational and/or activist in nature. It’s vital to find a even out that best fits your club, so that all the members’ needs are being met. If your club only works on big advocacy events prefer Day of Silence, students who are simply looking for a safe cosmos to talk about LGBT issues might be discouraged from joining the GSA. On the flipside, a club where students only talk might not be
Starting a Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) in Your School
This content is intended to serve as general information; it is not legal advice nor intended as legal advice.
What is a Gender and Sexuality Alliance?
Genders and Sexualities Alliances (formerly known as Gay-Straight Alliances), or GSAs, are student-led and student-organized university clubs that aim to create a safe, welcoming, and accepting school environment for all youth, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. GSAs provide a supportive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual , and gender non-conforming (LGBTQ) students, as well as those who are perceived by others to be LGBTQ, are questioning their identity, have LGBTQ friends or family members, or just care about LGBTQ issues.
Why should I kickoff a GSA at my school?
GSAs help make schools safer for all students by providing support, educating others in your university about LGBTQ issues, and engaging in awareness activities like the national Date of Silence. GSAs also allow LGBTQ and unbent students to work together to take on issues that affect all students, including harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation, gende
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Here’s a list of 11 things your school’s GSA can do. Hopefully these ideas will help you get started.
- Start off with a team meeting to talk about your goals/dreams/visions for the GSA!
What you do as a organization will look different for every GSA but the idea is to own an open discussion about what your GSA wants to focus its force and efforts on this year.
Start off by building community, trust, safety and hopes for the year ahead! Every GSA will have different needs and goals because each educational facility is unique. Make sure you take some second to talk about what your collective goals and needs are; is your GSA focused on social activities, support, education, and advocacy? Could be all of these things, or some depending on your group’s needs and goals! The important thing is to have a discussion and come up with a vision for the group that meets all members’ needs 🙂
- Try Intellect mapping: A great way to start off the year could be to do a mind-mapping practice together! Basically, either on a chalkboard or on some big chart manuscript draw your GSA in the middle and then as a group produce a representation of the values, ideas, issues, activities, events, actions
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