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 States and Canada. Gay–straight alliance is intended to provide a safe and supportive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and all (LGBTQ+) children, teenagers, and youth as well as their cisgender heterosexual allies. In middle schools and high schools, GSAs are overseen by a responsible teacher. The first GSAs were established in the 1980s. Scientific studies show that GSAs have positive academic, health, and social impacts on schoolchildren of a minority sexual orientation and/or gender identity.Goodenow, C., Szalacha, L., & Westheimer, K. (2006). "School support groups, other school factors, and the safety of sexual minority adolescents." ''Psychology in the Schools'', 43(5), 573–589Toomey, R., Ryan, C., Diaz, R., & Russell, S. T. (2011). "High school gay–straight alliances (GSAs) and young adult well-being: An examination of GSA presence, participation, and perceived effectiveness." ''Applied Developmental Science'', 15(4), 175–185.Heck, N. C., Flentje, A., & Cochran, B. N. (2013). "Offsetting risks: High school gay–straight alliances and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth." ''Psychology Of Sexual Orientation And Gender Diversity'', 1(S), 81–90. doi:10.1037/2329-0382 Numerous judicial decisions in United States federal and state court jurisdictions have upheld the establishment of GSAs in schools, and the right to use that name for them.

Terminology

* ally – In the context of the founding in 1988, an ally is a cisgender, heterosexual person who supports equal rights for gay people and challenges homophobia. The meaning later expanded to include rights for all LGBTQ+ individuals, orientations, and gender identities.
* Gay–Straight Alliance – name proposed by Meredith Sterling for the original club in 1988. Sometimes with slash instead of dash.
* Gay Straight Alliance – in title case, and without hyphen on the founder website.
* gay–straight alliances – in lowercase, a generalized term for any club of this nature
* Gay–Straight Alliance Network (GSA Network) – an organization founded in California in 1998 to support and promote GSAs.
* gender–sexuality alliance – updated name for gay–straight alliance, the old name appearing "too binary" for a later generation
* Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network – new name (2016) for the Gay–Straight Alliance Network
* Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) – organization founded in 1990 in Boston
* GSA – originally, designated a gay–straight alliance club, later, a gender–sexuality alliance club
* QSA – is used for more inclusive use, as the community is more than 'Gay', the use of Queer being used allows other students that may fit the queer definition, like transgender or bisexual students, to be represented in these support groups.
* Sexuality And Gender Acceptance/Awareness/Alliance/Association (SAGA) – unspecific general term, used as an alternative to both LGBT and GSA.

History

Founding

Concord Academy

The first gay–straight alliance was formed in November 1988 at Concord Academy in Concord, Massachusetts, when Kevin Jennings, a history teacher at the school who had just come out as gay, was approached by Meredith Sterling, a student at the school who was straight, but was upset by the treatment of gay students and others. Jennings recruited some other teachers at the school, thus forming the first gay–straight alliance. One of the first to join was Sterling's classmate S. Bear Bergman. Jennings credits students for both the establishment of the club, as well as for setting the agenda of struggling against homophobia, and for changes to CA's nondiscrimination policy. Jennings would go on to co-found the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in Boston in 1990.

According to a thirty-year retrospective about the history of the group, Concord Academy reported in 2018 that students at the academy had renamed the group "a few years ago" to "". Faculty mentor Nancy Boutilier said, "That gay–straight language was really important at the time. Times change, though. To students today, that sounds so binary."

Phillips Academy

A few months after Concord started the first Gay Straight Alliance club, another Massachusetts preparatory school north of Boston, Phillips Academy, started one of their own. It began with a meeting called by Phillips student Sharon Tentarelli for February 7, 1989, with little advance notice. A dozen people attended, including a mix of student, teachers, and staff. This was the second such group, after Concord Academy. The group was well-received, and some staff and faculty became supporters, both gay, and straight. Athletic director Kathy Henderson was one of the supporters, and she later went on to co-found the GLSEN two years later, along with Kevin Jennings of Concord Academy.

United States

Described as "perhaps the most important precursor of the GSA movement," Los Angeles' Project 10 is seen as the start of the GSA movement. Founded in 1984, Project 10 was widely recognised as the first organised effort to provide support for LGBTQ youth in schools across the United States. The majority of its facilitators were heterosexual, and was named after the commonly-held statistic that 10 per cent of the adult male population is "exclusively homosexual". Project 10 focused on issues such as substance use, and discussing issues of high-risk sexual behavior.

The first GSA was started in 1988, in Concord, Massachusetts at Concord Academy by Kevin Jennings. The first public school gay–straight alliance was started at Newton South High School (Newton, Massachusetts) by teacher Robert Parlin. GSAs made headlines in 1999 with the Federal Court ruling in ''Utah–East High Gay/Straight Alliance v. Board of Education of Salt Lake City School District''. This ruling found that denying access to a school-based gay–straight alliance was a violation of the Federal Equal Access Act giving students the right to use facilities for extra curricular activities at any school that receives public funding—regardless of private standing or religious affiliation.

On January 24, 2012, the United States Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, released a video on YouTube commemorating GSA Day and endorsing GSA clubs in schools.

Inclusivity

Approximately 28 per cent of participants at GSA Network identify as heterosexual.

Opposition

Some students face opposition from school administrations, elected school boards, or local communities in starting a school GSA.

In 2015, students at Brandon High School in Rankin County, Mississippi, attempted to start a GSA, but the school board met and publicly stated they wanted to prevent the formation of "gay clubs" in the school district. They then created a policy requiring parents to provide written permission before a student can join any club. Students then protested with support from the ACLU.

Students at West Carteret High School in Morehead City, North Carolina tried to start a GSA but the Carteret County Board of Education turned it down. In 1999, the Orange Unified School District in Orange County, California moved to prohibit the formation of a GSA at El Modena High School. The students then sued the school board, claiming that their rights under the First Amendment and the 1984 Equal Access Act had been violated. In the first-ever ruling of its kind, Judge David O. Carter of the United States District Court for the Central District of California issued a preliminary injunction ordering the school to allow the GSA to meet.

The right of students to establish a GSA at school is guaranteed by both the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (with regard to every level of schooling) and the federal Equal Access Act (with regard to secondary schools as long as other student clubs are allowed, with the definition of secondary school for purposes of the federal law including middle schools and high schools).

Case law

In the United States, the right of students to establish a GSA at school is guaranteed by both the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (with regard to every level of schooling) and the federal Equal Access Act (with regard to secondary schools where other student clubs are allowed, with the definition of secondary school for purposes of the federal law including middle schools and high schools). Since 1998, there have been at least 17 federal court cases in which high school and middle school students have conclusively prevailed in defending the free exercise of their civil rights on this issue, with federal courts consistently ruling that students have both a right to establish a GSA at school and to use the name ''Gay–Straight Alliance'' instead of an alternative name. In 2000, the United States District Court for the Central District of California ruled in favor of high school students whose attempt to form a GSA had been blocked by the school board, in the case of ''Colin v. Orange Unified School District''. In 2009, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida ruled in favor of high school students whose attempt to form a GSA had been blocked by the school board, in the case of ''Gay–Straight Alliance of Yulee High School v. School Board of Nassau County'', with the federal court also ruling that the school must allow the students to use the name ''Gay–Straight Alliance'' instead of an alternative name that excludes the term ''Gay''. In 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit unanimously ruled in favor of middle school students whose attempt to form a GSA had been blocked by the school board, in the case of ''Carver Middle School Gay–Straight Alliance v. School Board of Lake County, Florida''.

Outside the United States

Worldwide, gay–straight alliances are not as common as the organizations are in the United States, but are beginning to spread, particularly in Canada.

Australia

As of July 2020, as reported by the media Star Observer, Australia has one gay–straight alliance set up within the Melbourne Grammar School. However, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada and some parts of the United States have had gay–straight alliances within schools for decades.

In Australia, the group Safe Schools Coalition Victoria piloted a system of reducing homophobia though teacher training and student groups that promote inclusion of LGBT young people, which ran from 2014-2017. Started by The Foundation for Young Australians and Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria, along with La Trobe University, the program was expanded to run Australia wide. The program was supported by Beyondblue, Headspace, the University of Canberra, Macquarie University, University of Western Sydney, Curtin University, various family planning and HIV prevention groups, government bodies and Uniting Church organizations.

Bulgaria

In 2016, Bulgaria became the first country in the Balkans to open a gay–straight alliance in Sofia American College.

Canada

As Canada has two official languages, LGBT student clubs may be referred to as gay–straight alliances (GSA), queer-straight alliances (QSA), alliance allosexuelle-hétérosexuelle (AAH), or alliance gaie-hétéro (AGH).

In May 2010 Egale Canada launched MyGSA.ca, a website focused on GSAs and their role in making Canadian schools safer and more LGBTQ inclusive. Their website includes educational resources for GSAs and information about available bursaries and funding. While MyGSA previously included a directory of registered Canadian GSA, this feature is no longer available on their website. Prior to closing the public directory, more than 283 GSAs had registered with the website.

Currently there are no federal laws in Canada regarding GSAs. Any laws are specific to each province or territory.

= British Columbia

=
The first GSA in Canada was started in 1998 at Pinetree Secondary School in Coquitlam, British Columbia. The start of the Pinetree GSA garnered national media attention, and its members continued to play a role in public affairs by meeting with successive provincial Ministers of Education, testifying before the B.C. Safe Schools Task Force on anti-bullying, and delivering workshops to students and educators about LGBT-sensitive inclusive language and how to start GSAs. In early 2002, the Pinetree GSA held the first Pride Day at a high school in Canada. The Pride Day included an information fair with booths from various local LGBT organizations, PrideTalk workshops delivered in numerous classes, and an assembly with a talk on transgender rights and a performance by G.L.A.S.S., a local LGBT youth choir.

As of 2011, 41% of schools in British Columbia were reported to have a GSA.

= Alberta

=
The first GSA in Alberta was started in 2000 at the Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School in Red Deer. While members initially feared backlash, there was little-to-no negative reaction to the club.

In 2011, the Edmonton public school board introduced a policy which mandates that all school principals must establish a GSA if asked for one by students. The same year, the school board assigned a district consultant to provide support for GSAs within the city and host a monthly meeting for GSA members to network.

In 2017, the NDP government of Alberta introduced Bill 24, the ''Act to Support Gay–Straight Alliances'', which mandated that all schools within the province allow student to create a GSA, allow them to explicitly name it a gay–straight alliance or queer-straight alliance, and prohibits school officials from notifying parents if their child joined a GSA. Schools that do not comply with the bill's requirement are subject to lose government funding. Following the release of the bill, there was disapproval from some politicians and parents. In April 2018, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) filed a Court of Queen's Bench challenge application claiming that prohibiting school officials from notifying parents when their child joins a GSA violates their constitutional rights.

The New Democratic Party of Alberta filibustered for changes to the Bill 8 (The Education Amendment Act) since the United Conservative Party (UCP) defeated all amendments that would protect LGBTQ teachers and staff over their sexual orientation and gender identity. The UCP have removed protections that were in the 2017 Bill 24, Bill 8 allows for students to be outed by school teachers, administration or staff if a student asks for there to be a GSA or QSA. Albertan schools are no longer compelled to act in an urgent manner in the student's request for a GSA or QSA, allowing the school to take as much time as desired without facing penalties that were in Bill 24.

= Saskatchewan

=
In Saskatchewan, Carlton Comprehensive High School houses one of the first GSA movements in the city of Prince Albert. The first GSA in the city of Saskatoon first met on March 18, 2003, at Mount Royal Collegiate. Since then, GSAs have been established at Nutana, Walter Murray, Evan Hardy, Marion Graham, Bedford Road and Aden Bowman Collegiates. The city of North Battleford Saskatchewan, had their first GSA in 2004 at Sakewew High School, a First Nations school.

Saskatchewan's first GSA summit took place on April 15, 2016, in Saskatoon.

= Manitoba

=
In 2013, the Manitoba government introduced Bill 18, ''The Public Schools Amendment Act (Safe and Inclusive Schools)''. This act required school board to accommodate all student requests to form GSAs.

= Ontario

=
The first elementary school GSA in Ontario was started in 2008 at the Sunnyside Public School in Kitchener.

In Ontario, Arnprior District High school, a small rural Ottawa Valley town started a GSA created by the students in 2009. This GSA won one of three Jer's Vision "Youth Role Model of The Year" awards in April 2009. The next year a GSA was founded by students in 2010 at Renfrew Collegiate Institute in the town of Renfrew.

In December 2011, the government of the most populous Canadian province, Ontario, announced it would bring a legislation making it mandatory for all publicly funded schools to support the formation of "tolerance clubs" and student associations. Gay–straight clubs were to be specifically mentioned in that act. The main focus of that Bill 14 would be to counterattack bullying of students, particularly those of a racial or sexual minority.

Beyond a school group the Toronto District School Board has been committed to an unwritten alliance with their students. In addition to co-hosting the OUTShine GSA National Summit in 2013, they funded the Triangle Program at OASIS Alternative School, designed for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students who are at risk of dropping out or committing self-harm because of harassment in regular schools.

As of 2011, 37% of schools in Ontario were reported to have a GSA.

= Quebec

=

= New Brunswick

=
In 2008, the non-profit organization Pride in Education was founded to protect the safety and wellbeing of LGBT students in New Brunswick. In 2010, they held the first annual Pride in Education GSA Conference for students and teachers interested in creating GSAs.

The first GSA in New Brunswick was founded in 2013 at Woodstock High School following the suggestion of Svend Robinson.

= Prince Edward Island

=
The University of Prince Edward Island's Social Justice Studies program founded shOUT!, an annual conference aimed as GSAs but open to the public, in 2013.

= Nova Scotia

=

In 1998, The Youth Project, a non-profit focused on LGBT youth in Nova Scotia, received funding from Health Canada to increase education about LGBT in schools. Through this initiative, the organization was able to found the first GSA in Nova Scotia at Millwood High School. The Youth Project currently hosts a list of all GSAs in the province on their website.

= Newfoundland and Labrador

=
The first GSA conference in Newfoundland and Labrador was held at Corner Brook Regional High in 2013.

= Yukon

=
While the Yukon Department of Education does not have specific legislation regarding GSA, it does have a policy which mandates safety and inclusion for LGBT students which has been used in the justification for GSAs. Additionally, the territory mandates that all schools must appoint a staff member as a "safe contact" to provide support for LGBT students.

In 2013, a group of student requested to start a GSA at Vanier Catholic Secondary in Whitehorse. The school initially denied this request as it conflicted with the school's Catholic, anti-gay policies. Students of the school protested the denial by wearing pink shirts and holding a sit-in at the Yukon legislative building and wearing rainbow socks to their graduation ceremony. Following the protests, the Yukon Department of Education overturned the school's policy regarding GSAs as it did not meet the mandates outlines in the department's Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Policy

= Northwest Territories

=

= Nunavut

=

The only GSA in Nunavut is at Inuksuk High School in Iqaluit.

Hong Kong

In 2008, students at The University of Hong Kong founded Queer Straight Alliance (QSA), a registered society under Hong Kong laws. For several years it was the only GSA in the city, and it serves students in all campuses through social activities, career support and advocacy. In more recent years, university students in the city have formed other student LGBT groups. However, GSA efforts in secondary schools remain limited, if any.

India

The first GSA in India was started in Tagore International School in New Delhi in 2014 by a group of students and their mentor Shivanee Sen who had formed a pro-LGBT group initiative known as 'Breaking Barriers' which was the first student-led campaign in India to address LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex) issues. This group was first inspired to care and focus on the lives of oppressed students and hijras, a community of transgender women, intersex individuals, and eunuchs in India who are marginalized both socially and economically.

At Presidency University, Kolkata, around 100 students have formed a GSA group called Ardhek Akash, which also produces a magazine of the same name. In recent months the group has formed new chapters at Jadavpur University and St. Xavier's College—also in Calcutta—and is looking to expand further.

Mexico

The first GSA in Mexico was begun by a group of students in 2004 at the American School Foundation, a private American school in Mexico City. The GSA was initially opposed by several school board members and a small group of religious conservative parents. But the students eventually won and formed the student club. The GSA's co-advisor, Ian K. Macgillivray, wrote several articles detailing his students' experiences, as well as the book, ''Gay–Straight Alliances: A Handbook for Students, Educators, and Parents'' (2007, Harrington Park Press).

Netherlands

The first GSAs in the Netherlands were started in 2009. At the beginning of 2011, a nationwide campaign was started on television to promote GSAs in Dutch schools, featuring several well-known young actors and singers. A number of GSAs already exist in a wide variety of Dutch schools throughout the country, most of them at the university level, but increasingly popular on secondary school level.

New Zealand

Nelson College, the Nelson College for Girls, Nayland College and other schools have had GSAs set up, often with the support of youth mental health bodies. Kira Byrne, a GSA leader at Nelson College for Girls, says that the legalization of same-sex marriage in New Zealand in 2013 created shifts in attitudes towards LGBT people in New Zealand, but that boys at Nelson College were afraid to go to the GSA there because "other boys would wait outside to beat up anyone that came out."

Portugal

Inspired by the gay–straight alliance model, ILGA Portugal released the project Aliança da Diversidade (ADD), in English "Diversity Alliance", aimed to promote the creation of secondary level student groups (and teachers) from the north of the country.

This aimed to make Portuguese schools safer and more inclusive for everyone regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression or sex characteristics, the integration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) students, and the eradication of homo, trans and biphobia, intersexism and gender expression based prejudice and discrimination in the school context, always promoting citizenship, human rights and gender equality.

The project was co-financed by the Programa Operacional de Inclusão Social e Emprego, Portugal 2020 and the European Social Fund.

As a complementary initiative to ADD, the Estudo Nacional sobre o Ambiente Escolar (ENAE), Portuguese for the "National School Environment Study", was launched to collect the experiences of LGBTI or questioning young people. According to Telmo Fernandes, ADD project coordinator, the responses confirmed the persistence of isolation and discrimination, reinforcing the urgency of the change that was intended with the project.

''Alianças da Diversidade'' were created in various schools around the country, such as in Ovar municipality, Ramada parish and in the city of Ermesinde

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