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Want to start a GSA, but how?

Discussion in 'General Support and Advice' started by IgiariBeast, Oct 15, 2013.

  1. IgiariBeast

    Regular Member

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    Gender:
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    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    I have just recently let my whole school know that I'm gay, and the majority of the students are accepting. I am aware that the school administration supports the LGBT community, and I have the idea of starting a GSA. If you do not know what GSA stands for, it stands for Ga-Straight alliance. I'm working on flyers and posters for the alliance if it is accepted, and I am preparing to talk to my guidance counselor, and then the school administration. I tend to turn into a nervous wreck when discussing my sexuality, and I'm still lost as to what to do after my talk with the administrators. Any advice?
     
  2. LD579

    Full Member

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    It would be helpful if you could acquire some aid from fellow students as well as a teacher/school staff member who could help oversee this. It's not hard... It's just that you better be sure that whoever is working with you also has the drive to actually do work and thinking. Tag-alongs who want to put this on their resumé but not actually do anything are not helpful in the slightest.

    I speak from experience, and so while your experience may differ from mine, perhaps what I say could be of assistance to you.

    Come up with a short and long term goal for the GSA, and explain why the GSA would be helpful and useful for the school to have. Find a teacher sponsor for the club. What kind of GSA do you want? A politically active one? One to chit chat in a safe space? One to discuss certain issues? Would you plan events (Day of Silence, Pink T Shirt day, etc.)?

    Again, it's all pretty straightforward; brainstorm, preferably with others, about what your projected goals are and what the club would function like. Expand on those points and put them together in a nice kind of report to present to the administration, and it really should be good to go. A teacher overseeing this process could also offer input and aid. No matter how this goes, remember that the administration should already be impressed by the leadership that you and perhaps others would display, and that the formation of a GSA would be something long-lasting that would serve the school as soon as it's established, as the very existence of one sends the message that diversity is okay at the school.

    I don't know where you live or what the city/town's general attitude towards LGBT people are, but those could be factors against forming the GSA. If so, bringing up statistics and how the school should serve to uphold anti-discrimination values in the report and discussing/thinking about those things should help.

    As you can see, this is all kind of vague; it's up to you and whoever may be assisting you to come up with your own ideas of what you want to accomplish. I wish you the best of luck, and I find it absolutely wonderful that you're thinking about starting this. All that's left is to follow through =]