This fall, my son started middle school, that land of greater independence, the beginnings of puberty, and a bigger and not necessarily all LGBT-friendly student population. I was therefore thrilled to see that LGBT legal advocacy group GLAD has launched a new campaign to encourage the creation of more gay-straight alliances (GSAs) in middle schools.
GLAD notes that LGBT youth are coming out at younger and younger ages, but that support may not be there for younger students as it is for older ones:
LGBT middle school students are significantly more likely than their high school peers to experience verbal and physical harassment and assault, with 35.5% of middle school students reporting regular physical harassment compared to 21.4% of high school students. Yet while 52.6% of LGBT high school youth have access to a GSA, only 6.3% of LGBT middle school youth do.
I’d add that many, if not most, children of LGBT parents are aware of difference based on LGBT status just as soon as they enter school of any kind, if not before. Middle school certainly isn’t too early to provide a supportive group for them as well, regardless of their own sexual orientation and gender identity.
The campaign consists of a short video about the benefits of GSAs and the help available to overcome obstacles, as well as links to various resources, including a primer on the right to form GSAs. More content will be available throughout the year, and GLAD will also assist students who meet resistance from their school administration in setting up a GSA or who believe their school is treating their GSA unfairly compared to other school clubs.
GLAD has partnered with the Boston Alliance of LGBTQ Youth (BAGLY, Inc.), GLSEN Massachusetts, Greater Boston PFLAG, Hispanic Black Gay Coalition, the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth, and True Colors: Out Youth Theater and the Theater Offensive to create the campaign. Their focus is Massachusetts and New England, but really, the information here could be used by students and schools across the country.
Will I push my son to start a GSA at his school? No — that’s up to him. But if he ever expresses an interest in doing so, this video is the first thing I’d show him.