![GSA network (9181856218)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/GSA_network_%289181856218%29.jpg)
GSA Network is a nonprofit organization that assists students with starting
gay–straight alliance
A Gay–Straight Alliance, Gender-Sexuality Alliance (GSA) or Queer–Straight Alliance (QSA) is a student-led or community-based organisation, found in middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities. These are primarily in the United ...
s (GSA) to fight
homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, ...
and
transphobia
Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger to ...
in schools. GSA Network originally focused on supporting youth in California, and still has its headquarters in Oakland, California, but is now active nationwide.
History
GSA Network was founded by Carolyn Laub in 1998 working with 40 GSA clubs in the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...
. The organization expanded and in 2001 GSA Network became a statewide organization. In 2005, GSA Network began operating programs nationally. In 2008, GSA Network incorporated as a
501(c)3
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 5 ...
non-profit organization. Prior to that, GSA Network was a fiscally sponsored project of
The Tides Center
Tides Foundation is an American public charity and fiscal sponsor working to advance progressive causes and policy initiatives in areas such as the environment, health care, labor issues, immigrant rights, LGBTQ+ rights, women's rights and human ...
.
In 2015, Ginna Brelsford and Geoffrey Winder assumed the roles of co-executive directors of GSA Network.
In the spring of 2016, GSA Network changed its name from "Gay Straight-Alliance Network" to "Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network" to better reflect the diverse range of identities of the youth participating in its programming. At the same time, the organization adopted its current tagline of "trans and queer youth uniting for racial and gender justice."
GSA Network currently has staff based in Oakland, Fresno, and Los Angeles, California, as well as New Orleans, Louisiana, and Chicago, Illinois.
Programs
GSA Network activities and programs currently active include:
; Supporting GSAs
: Helps students start GSA clubs and provides resources and opportunities for GSAs to network and receive support. As of 2012, there are over 880 GSA clubs in California alone.
; Student leadership training
: Provides students with training on most effective ways to operate a GSA club.
; Safe schools advocacy
: Helps GSA clubs become activist clubs that can educate teachers and students to improve the school climate.
; Public policy advocacy in California
: Youth-led advocacy of non-discrimination laws. The organization supports the youth by providing resources to help address issues related to creating safer schools.
; Supporting the national GSA movement
: Helps build the capacity of organizations in the United States to network and support GSAs in states other than California. As of 2012, 37 states have organizations in the
National Association of GSA Networks The National Association of GSA Networks is a nationwide federation of state-level gay–straight alliance networks. It was created in 2005 througGay–Straight Alliance Network(GSA Network), a California non-profit organization that organizes gay†...
.
; #GSAs4Justice campaign
: Supports student advocacy for school districts to adopt recommendations around restorative justice and push back against punitive discipline policies that create a "school-to-prison pipeline" for youth of color, youth with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth.
See also
*
LGBT rights in the United States
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in the United States are among the most socially, culturally, and legally permissive and advanced in the world, with public opinion and jurisprudence on the issue changing significantly si ...
*
List of LGBT rights organizations
This is a list of LGBT rights organizations around the world. For social and support groups or organizations affiliated with mainstream religious organizations, please see ''List of LGBT-related organizations and conferences''. For organizations ...
References
{{reflist
LGBT youth organizations based in the United States
1998 establishments in the United States
LGBT political advocacy groups in the United States