A GSA (also called a Gay-Straight Alliance, a Queer-Straight Alliance, or a Genders and Sexualities Alliance) would provide a much-needed safe place for students to meet, support each other, talk about issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity, and work to create positive change on campus. Under the Federal Equal Access Act (http://www.gsanetwork.org/federal-equal-access-act), any school that receives government funding and has at least one other non-curricular club is legally required to also allow a GSA. Legally, public schools with other clubs must let students start a GSA -- and must treat the GSA like any other student club! Schools can't make up rules that only apply to the GSA and nobody else. GSAs have been proven to make schools safer for all students. Allow us to start a GSA so that ALL students can succeed.

My daughter and many other students have been excluded and made to feel shame for her sexual orientation at Burnet CISD. A Genders & Sexualities Alliance club, or GSA, would provide a much-needed safe place for students to meet, support each other, talk about issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity, and work to create positive change on campus. Under the Federal Equal Access Act (http://www.gsanetwork.org/federal-equal-access-act), any school that receives government funding and has at least one other non-curricular club is legally required to also allow a GSA. Legally, public schools with other clubs must let students start a GSA -- and must treat the GSA like any other student club! Schools can't make up rules that only apply to the GSA and nobody else. GSAs have been proven to make schools safer for all students. Allow us to start a GSA so that ALL students can succeed.

Joining and supporting our GSA is important because the LGBTQ+ community needs members and allies who will come forward to support the community and make them feel safe no matter what.

Many children are questioning their sexuality by the time they get to high school. Once they come out, they are sometimes unable to have a role model because everyone around them is straight. If we were to teach these things to them while they are in school, they can learn about their history, culture, and how others fought for their representation or lack thereof now.

LGBTQ+ youth at our school are afraid of being themselves because of intolerable bullying and homophobia that exists at St. Mary's. We must stand up to the pushback of the Archdiocese and become a place of love, comfort, and acceptance for all students regardless of gender, sexuality, race, or anything at all. A Genders & Sexualities Alliance club, or GSA, would provide a much-needed safe place for students to meet, support each other, talk about issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity, and work to create positive change on campus. Under the Federal Equal Access Act (http://www.gsanetwork.org/federal-equal-access-act), any school that receives government funding and has at least one other non-curricular club is legally required to also allow a GSA. Legally, public schools with other clubs must let students start a GSA -- and must treat the GSA like any other student club! As a private institution, we should go above and beyond in providing all people with their rights and freedoms, not be below public education's Constitutional standards. GSAs have been proven to make schools safer for all students. Allow us to start a GSA so that ALL students can succeed.

It is important because LGBT and especially Black LGBT people are not treated equally in our world. We want to continue to make positive changes in our school. People require counseling and more conversations around diversity, discrimination and LGBT rights should happen within our school.

At Shamokin, members of the LGBT+ community are constantly put down and slammed. There isn't really a safe space, even in places I thought there were. I'm lucky to have a good group of friends, but it doesn't stop people from making hateful comments. And I know it happens to the people who have even less support than I do. Our school NEEDS this. A Genders & Sexualities Alliance club, or GSA, would provide a much-needed safe place for students to meet, support each other, talk about issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity, and work to create positive change on campus. Under the Federal Equal Access Act (http://www.gsanetwork.org/federal-equal-access-act), any school that receives government funding and has at least one other non-curricular club is legally required to also allow a GSA. Legally, public schools with other clubs must let students start a GSA -- and must treat the GSA like any other student club! Schools can't make up rules that only apply to the GSA and nobody else. GSAs have been proven to make schools safer for all students. Allow us to start a GSA so that ALL students can succeed.

Coldwater is a time capsule into the mid 70s, and I want to help change that and bring students to the 21st century and make our school a safer place. I was in a GSA in my old school and with it there was a place for me to be free of all my worries and a place for me to help others now I don't have that freedom and place that I can help others. A Genders & Sexualities Alliance club, or GSA, would provide a much-needed safe place for students to meet, support each other, talk about issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity, and work to create positive change on campus. Under the Federal Equal Access Act (http://www.gsanetwork.org/federal-equal-access-act), any school that receives government funding and has at least one other non-curricular club is legally required to also allow a GSA. Legally, public schools with other clubs must let students start a GSA -- and must treat the GSA like any other student club! Schools can't make up rules that only apply to the GSA and nobody else. GSAs have been proven to make schools safer for all students. Allow us to start a GSA so that ALL students can succeed.

A Genders & Sexualities Alliance club, or GSA, would provide a much-needed safe place for students to meet, support each other, talk about issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity, and work to create positive change on campus. Under the Federal Equal Access Act (http://www.gsanetwork.org/federal-equal-access-act), any school that receives government funding and has at least one other non-curricular club is legally required to also allow a GSA. Legally, public schools with other clubs must let students start a GSA -- and must treat the GSA like any other student club! Schools can't make up rules that only apply to the GSA and nobody else. GSAs have been proven to make schools safer for all students. Allow us to start a GSA so that ALL students can succeed.

Bullying and harassment is abundant. Kids have no outlet or support groups to help them feel accepted and supported. Recently a teen Nigel Shelby committed suicide due to bullying and other LGBTQ teens are speaking out about the lack of support when reaching out about bullying A Genders & Sexualities Alliance club, or GSA, would provide a much-needed safe place for students to meet, support each other, talk about issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity, and work to create positive change on campus. Under the Federal Equal Access Act (http://www.gsanetwork.org/federal-equal-access-act), any school that receives government funding and has at least one other non-curricular club is legally required to also allow a GSA. Legally, public schools with other clubs must let students start a GSA -- and must treat the GSA like any other student club! Schools can't make up rules that only apply to the GSA and nobody else. GSAs have been proven to make schools safer for all students. Allow us to start a GSA so that ALL students can succeed.

We cannot break the chains that bind us if we do not strive for a world without the very systems that put them on our wrists. We cannot work alone towards this goal either, because no one struggles alone; the white, heterosexual and cisgender patriarchy harms all us. When LGBTQ+ youth come together, when the most marginalized of us are uplifted, and when those more privileged acknowledge and use it for the fight, our community has a voice that will not be silenced and the power to create a just world for all.

My middle school experience was filled with some hate and bullying at the start until I found a couple of people like me. We started talking about starting a petition and even went to our school counselor about it. We didn't think about it that much afterwards so it was forgotten about. A couple of months later the idea came back to me and I decided to go all the way with it. A Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club would provide a much-needed safe place for students to meet, support each other, talk about issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity, and work to create positive change on campus. Under the Federal Equal Access Act (http://www.gsanetwork.org/equal-access-act), any school that receives government funding and has at least one other non-curricular club is legally required to also allow a GSA. Legally, public schools with other clubs must let students start a GSA -- and must treat the GSA like any other student club! Schools can't make up rules that only apply to the GSA and nobody else. GSAs have been proven to make schools safer for all students. Allow us to start a GSA so that ALL students can succeed.