GSAs

This year my school started our first ever Gay-Straight Alliance, instead of just calling it the GSA we decide to give it an actual name. My co-leader came up with the name True Colors and we ran with it. The thing is we go to a super small charter school. 68 students’ grades 7-12 small. In the beginning we decided that we were going to keep ourselves and the GSA a secret. Only the school staff and the students in the group knew about the meetings True Colors. Three other students and I would leave school at 2:30 every Thursday and meet outside of school.  We did this every week for a few months, than we as a group decided we wanted to become an actual GSA, like with straight allies. That’s when we decide to move our meetings into school and open the meeting to the whole school. We now have been meeting for a few months and we have about ten members in our group which is amazing for such a small school. The main thing True Colors has done is our Breakfast Fundraiser, we made breakfast and charged three dollars per person, it went over really well and ended up making over $70. We used the money to buy Day of Silence buttons.  The 2009 National School Climate Survey found that students in schools with GSA heard fewer homophobic remarks like “faggot” or “dyke” and fewer expressions where “gay” was used in a negative way than schools without GSAs. They also found that students with a GSA to attend felt a greater sense of connectedness to their school community than students without a GSA. I have found that having True Colors has made my school a better places, and our members are happy that they have a place to learn and talk about LGBT issues. If your having a hard time starting a GSA or have one that is not being treated the same way as the other non-curricular club look up the Equal Access Act. It’s the a law that protects GSAs.

Have a Great Day! 

Love Stephanie

Why I am doing this

Hey I’m Stephanie, an 18 year old cisgender pansexual from WI. I have a lot of stories and life experiences for my young age. And I want to share them with anyone who is LGBTQ who maybe be struggling in life. So here is my reason for doing this blog.  In May of 2010 I met a boy, who changed my life. We met at the GLBT Partnership, a youth group for 14-18 year olds who identify as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender. I have been a youth leader for the past three year, and I had never met someone so outgoing and loveable then him. His name was Cody and he was gay, but that didn’t matter to me, I saw him for much more then just a gay teenage who loved Lady Gaga. I saw him for his love of people and his drive to make the world a better place for LGBTQ people. He was my best friend for the five month I knew him. We would go shopping and have sleepovers and talk about boys and girls and Lady Gaga. In September nine boy across the U.S took there lives because of anti-gay bullying and harassment, Cody was one of those nine. He took his life on September 13^th, and I have missed him every day since. I am here to reach out so any youth who feels alone, know that they have someone out in this world that cares.

Lots of Love

Stephanie