10 Steps for Starting a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA)
From the GSA Network: www.gsanetwork.org
1. Follow Guidelines:
Establish a GSA the same way you would establish any other group or club. Look in your Student Handbook for the rules at your school. This may include getting permission from an administrator, finding an advisor, and/or writing a constitution.
2. Find a Faculty Advisor:
Find a teacher or staff member whom you think would be supportive or who has already shown themselves to be an ally around sexual orientation issues. It could be a teacher, counselor, nurse, or librarian.
3. Inform Administration of Your Plans:
Tell administrators what you are doing right away. It can be very helpful to have an administrator on your side. They can work as liaisons on your behalf with other teachers, parent groups, community members, and the school board. If an administrator is resistant to the GSA, let them know that forming a GSA club is protected under the Federal Equal Access Act.
4. Inform Guidance Counselors and Social Workers About The Group:
These individuals may know students who would be interested in attending the group.
5. Pick a Meeting Place:
You may want to find a meeting place which is off the beaten track at school and offers some level of privacy or confidentiality.
6. Advertise:
Figure out the best way to advertise at your school. It may be a combination of school bulletin announcements, flyers, and word-of-mouth. If your flyers are defaced or torn down, do not be discouraged. Keep putting them back up. Eventually, whoever is tearing them down will give up.
Besides, advertising for your group and having words up such as “gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or questioning” or “end homophobia” or “discuss sexual orientation” can be part of educating the school and can actually make other students feel safer — even if they never attend a single meeting.
7. Get Food:
This one is kind of obvious. People always come to meetings when you provide food!
8. Hold Your Meeting!
You may want to start out with a discussion about why people feel having this group is important. You can also brainstorm things your club would like to do this year.
9. Establish Ground Rules:
Many groups have ground rules in order to insure that group discussions are safe, confidential, and respectful. Many groups have a ground rule that no assumptions or labels are used about a group member’s sexual orientation. This can help make straight allies feel comfortable about attending the club.
10. Plan For The Future:
Develop an action plan. Brainstorm activities. Set goals for what you want to work towards. Contact Gay-Straight Alliance Network in order to get connected to all of the other GSAs, get supported, and learn about what else is going on in the community.
More Reading:
GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) has created this resource for new and already-established Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) or similar clubs. The resources take you through the process of establishing or re-establishing your group, identifying your mission and goals, and assessing your school’s climate. Jump Start your school and your GSA and create safer schools for all regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.
This guide consists of eight self-contained sections; all are designed to help you jump-start – or bring fresh and creative energy to – your student club. They are available as PDF files to download, in full color (high resolution, large file size) and black and white (low resolution, smaller file size).
Topics include:
Part 1: Building and Activating Your GSA or Similar Student Club
This resource provides step-by-step assistance for students interested in forming a Gay-Straight Alliance and offers activities that can help you organize your club.
Part 2: Tips and Tools for Organizing an Action Campaign
The activities in this section are meant to give you a taste of what is known as Direct-Action Organizing. Learn the basics of strategizing, creating a timeline, framing your messaging and creating an action plan.
Part 3: Strategies for Training Teachers
Your GSA can greatly improve the climate of your school by giving teachers the tools they need to combat name-calling, bullying and harassment. A training can also give students the opportunity to present practical solutions – and a chance for teachers to brainstorm ways to achieve these solutions
Part 4: Understanding Direct-Action Organizing
The activities in this section focus on Direct-Action Organizing and are designed to help you apply those techniques and strategies to your work as a student club.
Part 5: Examining Power, Privilege and Oppression
Is anti-LGBT sentiment the only thing that hurts others and contributes to making schools unsafe for many students? Are there other ways that inequalities in society cause harmful situations for students? In this section you will explore individual identities and power and privilege and learn how your GSA can work in an anti-oppression framework.
Part 6: Creating Youth-Adult Partnerships
Bringing youth and adults together in more aspects of the safer schools movement will allow an even larger contingency of students’ voices to be heard. Learn how to identify the barriers that occur while working to create youth-adult partnerships and strategies to create youth-adult partnerships.
Part 7: Making Your Student Club Trans-Inclusive
This resource will help students develop a greater understanding of transgender people and related issues, as well as actions that can ensure that transgender and gender non-conforming people are fully included in all that GSAs do in schools.
Part 8: Evaluation, Continuation, Celebration
One of the best ways to learn from and build upon your group’s experiences is by taking the time to assess your work together. It is also important to stay connected and active when your GSA does not meet. As an added bonus, this resource offers a template for creating a journal for your GSA.
Please note that we have chosen to use gender-neutral language in this resource. We recognize that replacing “he” and “she” with the gender-neutral “they” is grammatically questionable, but we hope you will overlook this in support of students who do not use “he” or “she” to identify themselves.
If you would like to receive more information about GLSEN, or to get involved in the safer schools movement, please register online at www.studentorganizing.org! We welcome your feedback on the activities in this guide – and we salute you for the important work you are doing to create safer schools for all regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.
For more information about GSLEN or to download this resource for FREE go to: http://www.glsen.org
