Forming a Gay-Straight Alliance May Get Students Suspended

High school and college students are at an advantage if they want to support a gay friend: many of them can simply join a Gay-Straight Alliance. These clubs exist at educational institutions around the country (and the world) as safe-spaces where gay teens can mingle with each other, and with straight students who want to be affirming. In an age where gay teens are committing suicide at four times the rate of straight ones, it’s easy to see why having a Gay-Straight alliance could make a huge difference in students’ lives.

Despite the clear importance of these groups, a high school in Tennessee has threatened to expel students who are lobbying to form a GSA. The school itself is clearly a hostile environment for gay and trans teens, making it even worse that the administration is standing in the way of creating an oasis:

Carroll says he has been bullied and sexually harassed for being gay most of his life. He says there are a lot of misconceptions about the GSA.

“The Gay Straight Alliance is not a club to talk about sexual orientation,” he said. “It’s about sexual orientation, but it’s not talking about sex in general. It’s a support group. It’s where you can go and you can talk about how you feel.”

Carroll and the other students have approached school officials about starting the GSA, but have been told they cannot.

That is when they started to pass around a petition to get support.

“These students have been following policy and they approached the principal,” said Linda Sigler, who has two children involved in getting the alliance started. “They’ve done this petition and now the school is telling them if they continue with the petition, they will be suspended.”

(via Wate.com)

This misconception, that a Gay-Straight Alliance is an excuse to talk about inappopriate sexual topics, is both dangerous and ignorant. While sexual orientation is sometimes a topic for discussion, mostly teens come together for support. The clubs don’t encourage deviant behavior, they give kids a place to talk about being different, a place where they can be among friends. By threatening to punish students for trying to create a safe space, the school is only reinforcing the negative messages gay teens are already receiving from their environemnt: that there’s something wrong with them, that they don’t deserve support.

Take Action: ”Like” this post if you were ever involved with a Gay-Straight Alliance — we’d love to hear your stories about how a club like this made a difference to you and your friends in the comments!

Should gay students disclose their sexuality in college applications?

Elmhurst College may be starting a trend by asking prospective students to indicate their sexual orientation on an application form, according to the Sun-Times:

Elmhurst College (img courtesy of Sun-Times)

“Would you consider yourself to be a member of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) community?”

With that one line,[Elmhurst] became the first college in the country to ask potential students directly about their sexual orientation or gender identity.

“Increasing diversity is part of our mission statement,” said Gary Rold, Elmhurst’s dean of admissions. “This is simply closing the loop, in many ways, of another group who has a very strong identity. It may not be race and religion but it’s an important part of who they are.”

According to the article (and a gut instinct about any school offering a liberal arts education), the information will be used only for good: to provide scholarships to gay students and connect LGBT teens with support services once they matriculate. But like any other identity survey question, the threat of Big Brother looms somewhere in the shadows.

Take action in the comments! The question’s optional (as are other demographic inquiries like race and religion); would  you answer it, or encourage your child to do so? Do you think giving students a place to disclose this information is a step in the right direction? Chime in!

Ffriday Link Roundup: Your quick guide to the week’s Gay-B-C’s

Hey friends hey! Welcome to the first weekly installment of the Friendfactor Ffriday Link Roundup (for Ffriends, obviously). This is the place to come for the very most important stories affecting your gay friends’ lives this week, and a solid dose of just plain awesome info for folks who support gay folks. So without further ado…

Marriages, Mentors, and Muppets after the jump!

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