How to Mobilize Students to Ally for Safe Schools: The Growth of Gay Straight Alliances

GLSEN members, Philadelphia. Photo: Conrad Ventur

Leif Mitchell needed little time to think when asked about heartbreaking stories he remembered from his more than 10 years volunteering for the Connecticut chapter of GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

"We're all sort of following this grand idea of creating safer schools," said Mitchell, who is an assistant director at the Yale Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS. "The individual stories you hear from students, teachers and administrators, it brings the whole movement together. And you hear some heart-wrenching stories."

Mitchell immediately transitioned into his most vivid memory that depicts what lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth often face in a society that too often turns its back on young people because of intolerance. It came from a student Mitchell encountered in his first couple of years with GLSEN Connecticut.

This particular high school student decided it was time to tell his mother he was gay, to "come out" as it is called, something that anecdotally seems to be happening at younger ages during the past 10 or so years. The mother reacted angrily, moving her son's belongings out to the sidewalk and telling her son he that was no longer her son.

Such a declaration is a common reaction for some parents. But this particular parent went further. She actually sent an obituary to the local newspaper declaring to the community that her son was dead to her.

Life isn't much, if any, better for many LGBT youth and their allies in school, which is why GLSEN formed as a national organization in 1995 to ensure safe schools for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. GLSEN envisions a future in which every child learns to respect and accept all people and ascribes to the philosophy that it is necessary to achieve this vision by bringing people together rather than dividing them.

You're Gay and I'm Straight

That idea is the basis behind GLSEN and the 4,000 Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) student clubs that are registered with GLSEN, a true coalition of LGBT students and their straight allies who believe that all students have the right to an education free of bullying and harassment. In fact, the idea for the first GSA came from a straight student who was tired of being harassed because she had lesbian moms.

"You're gay and I'm straight, so let's call it a Gay-Straight Alliance," the student said to GLSEN executive director Kevin Jennings, who was a history teacher at Concord Academy in Massachusetts at the time in 1988. With that, the Safe Schools Movement began.

Only a handful of GSAs existed when Jennings founded GLSEN seven years later. As often is the case, it took a horrific incident for momentum to build and word of GSAs to spread.

When Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered in Wyoming in 1998 because he was gay, awareness of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools started to enter the national consciousness. Students and educators looked for actions they could take in their schools to improve hostile school climates.

Meanwhile, GLSEN was growing and beginning to receive national attention and acceptance within the education community. By 2001, more than 1,000 GSAs had formed and registered.

As the Internet increased in prominence so did stories of how students could organize GSAs in their schools. Suddenly, students who previously felt isolated and alone had a forum to exchange ideas through part of GLSEN's website, Error! Bookmark not defined..

By 2004, the number of GSAs registered with GLSEN doubled to 2,000. GLSEN surpassed 3,000 registered GSAs the following year. Today, there are 3,800, with at least one in every state, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

"I wish GLSEN could take credit for the amazing organizing that has taken place across the country," Jennings said. "We provided resources and a place to register and connect with other GSA leaders. What is so amazing about the Safe Schools Movement is how organic it truly is. Talking about tolerance, respect and the right to feel safe is important. Empowering students is what has brought about so much change.

"Creating safe schools is not a gay issue. It's not a straight issue. It's a student issue."

Homophobic Bullying:Still the Norm

Even today, in an environment that is supposed to be more welcoming for LGBT people, anti-LGBT bullying and harassment is the norm. "That's so gay" or "You're so gay," with "gay" meaning "stupid," can be heard in almost every hallway.

Sixty-four percent of LGBT students say they do not feel safe at school because of their sexual orientation and three out of four say they hear homophobic remarks such as "faggot" or "dyke" frequently or often in school, according to GLSEN's 2005 National School Climate Survey. In a Harris Interactive Survey of all studennts, (commissioned by GLSEN), students were asked why others are harassed at their school. The top three reasons: physical appearance, actual or perceived sexual orientation, and gender expression.

But national organizations are only as strong as their community-based efforts, which is why GLSEN relies heavily on its 37 chapters and various grassroots activists to work with school districts and schools.

Chapter leaders are often students, parents, or educators whose personal experiences or those of their friends, family, or students have led them to be a part of the Safe Schools Movement. They seek to make school better for themselves, and for those who follow in the future. There is one consistent reason people become involved: caring about youth.

GLSEN's approach has always been about changing behavior, not beliefs. The more people learn about GLSEN -- such as its work with the Christian Educators Association International on guidelines for schools regarding issues of sexual orientation -- the more they understand that GLSEN's work is for the betterment of all students.

"The more people find out about us, the more they embrace us," Karger said. "When they don't fear hearing from us, they get the message of safety and respect. Once they hear that, they say, 'Oh, that's good.'"

The key to opening doors is through coalition building. The Connecticut chapter partners include: the Connecticut Education Association, Planned Parenthood, the Anti-Defamation League, True Colors, and Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

"There's just no argument with the idea that students should feel safe in school," Mitchell said. "It's a very easy thing to sell."

While GLSEN chapters have been able to flourish and work with schools on a range of issues, GSAs can have a much tougher time gaining recognition.

Despite a federal law -- the Equal Access Act -- that protects the forming of non-curricular clubs, many schools attempt to thwart their formation or limit their access.

The only way schools can legally do either is to ban all non-curricular clubs or limit access equally. Sadly, some do in an effort to avoid any possible mention or acknowledgement of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment. Some schools are now considering forcing students to get parental permission before they can join any club, though the direct intention is to limit attendance at GSA meetings.

"It's seems outlandish that, as far as we've come as a society, schools would embrace a culture that encourages bullying and harassment, but this is still something far too many young people experience when they go to school," Jennings said.

How to Get Involved

The good news is that in schools that have GSAs, LGBT students feel safer, skip school less often because they do not feel safe and feel a greater sense of belonging in their school, according to GLSEN's 2005 National School Climate Survey.

There are easy ways to support the Safe Schools Movement.

Only 10 states: California, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, have anti-bullying laws that protect students from bullying and harassment with enumerated categories that include sexual orientation. Only five states: California, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, and New Jersey , and the District of Columbia ,include gender identity/expression.

Support the passage of such a law if your state doesn't have one. Ask your area schools and school districts if they have such a policy. Send an email or place a call to educators and policy makers and let them know you support addressing anti-LGBT bullying and harassment. Join or start a GLSEN chapter or support a GSA.

Even better, show solidarity on April 25 when an estimated half a million middle, high school and college students will participate in GLSEN's National Day of Silence (www.dayofsilence.org).

The Day of Silence is the largest youth-oriented day of action in the country on LGBT issues. The premise is simple: by joining together in silence, we can bring attention to the anti-LGBT bullying and harassment that goes on in schools and across the country -- in effect, the attempted silencing of an entire group of people.

"Every day I go to school and I notice the same thing that everyone notices -- students saying 'that's so gay' and stuff like that," said Ashleigh Pippin, a senior from Sanderson High School in Raleigh, N.C. "I wish I would say something every time, but it's hard to stand up and say don't do that every time someone makes an offensive comment. "The Day of Silence is the one day I can stand up, without having to say something every five seconds, and make a difference."

P.S. A gay Oxnard, CA Junior High student, Larry King, was murdered in school on February 12, 2008, allegedly by a homophobic classmate. One thousand students protested in Oxnard on February 16.