GSA Day

The work of gay-straight school organizations will be recognized with the first National Gay-Straight Alliance Day.

By Laura Latzko

Work of GSAs to be recognized with National GSA Day

The first National Gay-Straight Alliance Day will recognize the work that organizations of gay and straight students have been doing promote greater tolerance and end bullying and hate in their schools.

Created by the Iowa Pride Network, the National GSA Day will take place on Jan. 25.

During the national day, GSA members are encouraged to wear T-shirts, conduct events, create videos for a GSA Day video campaign and find other ways to show that they have a presence and are part of a larger social justice effort.

Savannah Campbell, president of the GSA at Red Mountain High School in Mesa, said organizations like hers often face challenges from administrators, teachers, students and parents. But she said GSAs are important because they can help to bring social change in schools and provide a safe place for students who are labeled as different.

"A GSA shouldn't be a problem for anyone," Campbell said. "It is really supportive."

Campbell recently organized a summit of Gay Straight Alliances in the East Valley.

Campbell said it is important for GSAs to cultivate strong leaders who are brave and committed so that the organizations continue to grow and leaders take what they've learned out into their larger communities.

"It is fostering leadership and making sure it is cultivated from one generation to the next," Campbell said.

Keiko Dilbeck, adviser for Red Mountain High School's GSA, said that students who aren't a part of other clubs find a safe haven at their school's GSA.

Michael H. Baughman, a community activist, provided support to students who started a GSA at Yuma High School in 2009. He said that a GSA should help LGBT and straight youth to reach out to others, including youth struggling with identity and coming out issues, in a way that betters a school.

"A GSA by its very nature creates a liaison between gay and straight students," Baughman said. "It is how to get people to talk and be respectful of each other regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity."

Madelaine Adelman, co-chair of GLSEN Phoenix, said during the national observance GSA organizations can reflect upon the strides they have made in changing their communities. She said GSA members can also consider and the work they still have to do to gain further acceptance for all groups labeled as different.

"What I think is exciting about it is it is a student activity to celebrate student activism," Adelman said. "Because it helps to celebrate and bring attention to GSAs, it has the potential to bring change. Students are saying it's not acceptable to have anti-LGBT bias in schools."

The first recognized school program that provided support services and anti-bullying and suicide prevention advocacy for LGBT youth was Project 10 in Los Angeles, which started in 1984 at Fairfax High School.

The first school-based organizations to use the term GSA developed during the 1988-1989 school year at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., and Concord Academy in Concord, Mass. -E