Information on GSAs

With 500 school districts in Pennsylvania, there are well over 100 Gay Straight Alliances/Gender and Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) at schools K-12 in our state. Frequently, GSAs are based in high schools but we are increasingly seeing middle school and district-wide GSAs being formed. In starting advocacy to form a GSA - it is important to know the best practices to do so. You should be prepared with a full legal and moral case to support the club formation in case you run into an resistant school board, school staff, or teachers. Below are some great resources which may prove to be useful for you either as a student, educator, parent/guardian, or administrator.

The Law
The Federal Equal Access Act of 1984 (Department of Justice)
PRIDE v. White County School District - Case Profile (The ACLU of Ohio)
Boyd High GSA v. Boyd Co. Board of Education - Case Profile (The ACLU of Kentucky)
Information on the federal Equal Access Act from ReligiousTolerance.org

Policy Letters
Key Policy Letters from the US Education Secretary and Deputy Secretary - Support LGBT Students and the formation of GSAs (2011)
An open letter to school administrators about why they must allow students to form GSAs (The ACLU)

How-to Guides
Build Your GSA (GSA Network)
GLSEN: GSA Jump-start Guide (GLSEN)

Academic Studies
High School Gay–Straight Alliances (GSAs) and Young Adult Well-Being: An Examination of GSA Presence, Participation, and Perceived Effectiveness (Applied Developmental Science - Volume 15, Issue 4, 2011)

Additional Information
Gay/Straight Clubs Formed by Public School Students: Why School Officials Need to Treat Them Equally (The ACLU)