GLSEN

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Head back to school with a pack of brand new rainbow composition books for your GSA! Register your GSA for all the lastest GLSEN resources and a chance to win 10 notebooks!

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Not only did we send a Safe Space Kit to every school in the country, Andy Cohen also hung up a sticker in his Bravo clubhouse!

To learn more about the kit or get one for yourself, visit http://glsen.org/safespace

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Each year, we select a group of outstanding students from around the country to serve as GLSEN Student Ambassadors.  These hard-working and enthusiastic young people help advance our work by sharing their stories and advocating for LGBT issues in K-12 education in all forms of media.  Watch this video and meet our nine newest Ambassadors for the 2013-2014 school year!

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Apply for GLSEN’s Student Ambassadors team (and a free trip to LA)

Inspired by today’s Supreme Court decisions? Like social media? Like networking with fellow students? Like sharing your story to advocate for safe schools for all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression?

If the answer is yes, yes, yes, yes, then you could be a perfect fit for our Student Ambassadors program.

Click here to learn more about the program. Students entering grades 8-12 next school year are eligible to apply. A select group of ambassadors will be part of an all-expenses-paid summit taking place in Los Angeles from Aug. 7-10 so submit part one of your application today!

GET STARTED

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Rogers High School is in Spokane, WA. Their GSA was a finalist for the GSA of the Year 2013 award!

When I started high school, I already knew about the GSA here but I didn’t start going until the end of my Junior year.  I was just so scared I wouldn’t be accepted for who I truly am (I am physically a girl but identify as a male).  Since going, I have participated in my first Drag Show and have had people call me by the gender I prefer.  I have met some amazing people, not only in our GSA but in the entire LGBT community.  We have had some guest speakers (Members of the Spokane Imperial Court and Kris Wood, a Rogers grad who actually began the GSA here in the 1990′s) and I have learned that things do get better after high school, or even in high school.

One of my favorite activities we have done in our GSA is organizing the Day of Silence.  When we set up our table in the commons and hand out ribbons and instructions, we got almost 300 participants!

I really see our fight against bullying succeeding.  This also has helped in my own battle against bullying and harassment at our school.  I don’t think I could have done it without the GSA at John R. Rogers High School.

In addition, I don’t think we could have been as successful as we have been at making our school and safe and accepting place for all without the help and leadership of GLSEN.  They really helped shape who we are.

- Teddie, club secretary

I didn’t know what GSA was or even if we had one when I started here.  So, my friend told me about the GSA at our school. I attended a meeting and after that day, I was a member, a part of a family, kind of scared of what would happen.  But I always had the support of our advisor, Ms. Silvey.  My first two years were rocky and we were really trying to just figure out what type of role we should have in our school.  Up until we found GLSEN, we saw all the things we could do to reach out to our school and community.

We started with holiday parties (Valentine’s and Christmas) where we invited other high schools and even though we had a small turnout at first, we were starting to reach out and connect.  During my junior year, I became Vice President. That was a huge step for me.  I started being more involved with my club and our school.  We started writing to teachers and other staff members and thanking them for supporting us.  We also sent thank you notes to Starbucks for their support of Gay Marriage.  We marched in the PRIDE Parade with a giant banner.

We were really becoming visible and the more visible we became, the more powerful we became.

Let’s just say the last four years in our GSA made me stronger and prouder, safer and truly loved. I couldn’t have even imagined that when I first got to Rogers I would be a part of this community.  I can’t thank our Advisor, Ms.Silvey, enough for letting me join and Rogers High School for supporting our GSA

-Jessica, co-president

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aradovahkiin-deactivated2013061 asked:

I wish my school had a GSA. How do you think I should suggest the idea of it to the principal? I go to a public school in central Texas, and I am in seventh grade. Our school is only from 6-8, so I'll be out of this place in only a bit more than a year. But I want future students, as well as the kids now, to have a place and an organisation in which they can feel safe and loved. Should I gather a group of some of my LGBTQ/LGBTQ-supportive friends/teachers to ask?

That’s a great idea! Talking to your administration will be much easier with supportive friends and teachers by your side. Chat with your peers about why you think having a GSA will be helpful in your school, and then get a faculty member to agree to be a sponsor. After, ask your new sponsor to help set up a meeting with the administration to discuss starting a GSA! Hopefully, things will go over smoothly and you can start making changes at your school! Check out our Jump Start Guide for GSAs for more tips: http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/library/record/2226.html?state=tools&type=student

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What my GSA did for Day of Silence

As President of my school’s GSA to do for the Day of Silence I feel like sharing what we did. We broke the silence that most people in the LGBT community and its allies become a part of toady, we spoke out against bullying. Our school has about an hour of straight lunch and in our school’s Forum we had people talking about their experiences from bullying and what it did to them, as well as musical performances by two of our school’s most talented singers, there were some VERY intense moments making me and the people who were in the audience choke up. Everyone enjoyed the event and I am very glad it went on without much of a hitch, I was so glad to do this for the Day of Silence because I’ve wanted to ever since I started my proposal for a GSA last year. The ending of the event was beautiful, one of our performers played Jason Mraz’s I’m Yours on her ukulele and everyone joined in singing and my heart just melted. I hope that this becomes an annual tradition at my school every year now, maybe even twice a year. 

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Day of Silence is in just two days!!! We want to make sure that you know your rights–and that they’re protected–so we asked Jeremy from North Dakota to record a short video explaining them.

If you think your rights are being violated, let us know and our friends at Lambda Legal will investigate! http://www.dayofsilence.org/legalhelp

Signal boost this so everyone knows!

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Linda Harvey, an anti-LGBT extremist, said some ridiculous things about Day of Silence and LGBT people. So, naturally we had to fact-check her.

And show off just a small fraction of the powerful, courageous, and world-changing people who are using Day of Silence to take a stand and make a difference.

Whose side are you on?