Gay-Straight alliances

March 19, 2008 - 10:05am by stacks21
  • The goal of most, if not all, gay–straight alliances is to make their school community safe and welcoming to all students regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. They participate in national campaigns to raise awareness, such as the Day of Silence, National Coming Out Day, and No Name Calling Week. Many GSAs work with local chapters of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, commonly called GLSEN. The registered number of GSAs to GLSEN is over 3000, as of 2006.
  • A common misconception among the student body and the parents is that GSAs are simply dating services, or places where the gay kids can get together. In actuality, the diversity of a GSA's membership varies widely. Some GSAs find that their members are mostly straight, while some memberships are completely gay. Some GSAs change their name to place less emphasis on the word gay, resulting in creative alternatives such as Project Rainbow, Pride Alliance, Common Ground, Coexist, Spectrum, or even the Straight-Gay Alliance. There are continued efforts to make GSAs and like programs accepting of a wide range of individuals. The common acronym LGBT can include many additional letters including QQASIP: corresponding to queer, questioning, allied, straight, intersex or pansexual. Gay straight alliances should be allowed in schools its just another way for people to express the real them..