.
Gay-Straight Alliance Networkhttp ( www.gsanetwork.org ) is a youth-led organization that connects school-based Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) to each other and community resources. Through peer support, leadership development, and training, GSA Network supports young people in starting, strengthening, and sustaining GSAs and builds the capacity of GSAs to:
1. create safe environments in schools for students to support each other and learn about homophobia and other oppressions,
2. educate the school community about homophobia, gender identity, and sexual orientation issues, and
3. fight discrimination, harassment, and violence in schools.
History
GSA Network was founded in 1998 to empower youth activists to start Gay-Straight Alliance clubs and fight homophobia and transphobia in schools. GSA Network began working with 40 GSA clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1998-99 school year. The organization quickly expanded and by 2001 GSA Network became a statewide organization. In the past six years, GSA Network has:
• grown the network of GSA clubs in California from 40 clubs to over 400 clubs (representing more than 1/3 of the state's high schools);
• provided training and support to over 5,000 youth activists and organizers across the state;
• played a leadership role in grassroots organizing for the passage of ground-breaking, statewide legislation, AB 537: The California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000 which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity;
• achieved a critical victory as plaintiff in the first lawsuit filed under AB 537; the three-year settlement agreement required the Visalia schools to enact sweeping reforms including mandatory teacher and student trainings.
GSAs draw on the courage of LGBT youth and the commitment of straight allies working in partnership to build bridges, change school climates, and reform school policies. Strong, well-supported GSAs can have a major impact on the education environment and possess the power to transform individuals, school cultures, and educational institutions. All of our work with students focuses on leadership development and activism that prioritizes building alliances not only across sexual orientation and gender identity lines, but also across race, ethnicity, and class lines, and our resources and trainings are designed to facilitate alliance-building. Our programs benefit our constituents in three critical ways:
1. Ending Isolation through Building GSAs: Our GSA support programs help students start school-based GSAs, clubs that have proven to be vital support systems or "safe zones" for enhancing the well being of youth suffering from isolation, harassment, discrimination, and violence.
2. Developing Leaders: Our networking and leadership training programs develop youth leaders capable of effecting positive change in their schools and communities.
3. Making Schools Safer: We help student organizers learn how to educate teachers and student peers to reduce slurs and work with the school administration to implement school policies that prevent harassment and violence.
Our overall strategy for fighting homophobia and transphobia in schools is to work with grassroots, youth-led groups, and GSAs, empowering them to educate their school communities, advocate for just policies that protect lgbtq youth from harassment and violence, and organize in coalition with other youth groups across identity lines to address broader issues of oppression. Our organization is led by youth because we believe that youth have the power to create solutions and lead the fight against homophobia and transphobia. Representatives from GSAs around California serve on the organization's Youth Councils in Northern California, the Central Valley, and Southern California. Youth Council members make decisions about GSA Network's programs, plan and present at conferences, and lead trainings such as our regional GSA Leadership Trainings and summer GSA Activist Camps. Representatives from each Youth Council serve on the GSA Network Governing Board.
In October 1998, the Gay-Straight Alliance Network became a fiscally sponsored project of The Tides Center which gave us status as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and allows us to receive tax-deductible donations from individuals and organizations. Carolyn Laub is the founder and director of the Gay-Straight Alliance Network. She writes, "I wanted to start this organization, not only because I understand from personal experience how empowering it is to fight back against homophobia and transphobia, but also because I believe that LGBTQ and straight ally youth are leading an emerging youth movement--community-driven with multi-issue political organizing happening across the lines of race, socio-economic status, gender, and sexual orientation, which have been obstacles in other social justice movements."
Gay-Straight Alliance Networkhttp ( www.gsanetwork.org ) is a youth-led organization that connects school-based Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) to each other and community resources. Through peer support, leadership development, and training, GSA Network supports young people in starting, strengthening, and sustaining GSAs and builds the capacity of GSAs to:
1. create safe environments in schools for students to support each other and learn about homophobia and other oppressions,
2. educate the school community about homophobia, gender identity, and sexual orientation issues, and
3. fight discrimination, harassment, and violence in schools.
History
GSA Network was founded in 1998 to empower youth activists to start Gay-Straight Alliance clubs and fight homophobia and transphobia in schools. GSA Network began working with 40 GSA clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1998-99 school year. The organization quickly expanded and by 2001 GSA Network became a statewide organization. In the past six years, GSA Network has:
• grown the network of GSA clubs in California from 40 clubs to over 400 clubs (representing more than 1/3 of the state's high schools);
• provided training and support to over 5,000 youth activists and organizers across the state;
• played a leadership role in grassroots organizing for the passage of ground-breaking, statewide legislation, AB 537: The California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000 which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity;
• achieved a critical victory as plaintiff in the first lawsuit filed under AB 537; the three-year settlement agreement required the Visalia schools to enact sweeping reforms including mandatory teacher and student trainings.
GSAs draw on the courage of LGBT youth and the commitment of straight allies working in partnership to build bridges, change school climates, and reform school policies. Strong, well-supported GSAs can have a major impact on the education environment and possess the power to transform individuals, school cultures, and educational institutions. All of our work with students focuses on leadership development and activism that prioritizes building alliances not only across sexual orientation and gender identity lines, but also across race, ethnicity, and class lines, and our resources and trainings are designed to facilitate alliance-building. Our programs benefit our constituents in three critical ways:
1. Ending Isolation through Building GSAs: Our GSA support programs help students start school-based GSAs, clubs that have proven to be vital support systems or "safe zones" for enhancing the well being of youth suffering from isolation, harassment, discrimination, and violence.
2. Developing Leaders: Our networking and leadership training programs develop youth leaders capable of effecting positive change in their schools and communities.
3. Making Schools Safer: We help student organizers learn how to educate teachers and student peers to reduce slurs and work with the school administration to implement school policies that prevent harassment and violence.
Our overall strategy for fighting homophobia and transphobia in schools is to work with grassroots, youth-led groups, and GSAs, empowering them to educate their school communities, advocate for just policies that protect lgbtq youth from harassment and violence, and organize in coalition with other youth groups across identity lines to address broader issues of oppression. Our organization is led by youth because we believe that youth have the power to create solutions and lead the fight against homophobia and transphobia. Representatives from GSAs around California serve on the organization's Youth Councils in Northern California, the Central Valley, and Southern California. Youth Council members make decisions about GSA Network's programs, plan and present at conferences, and lead trainings such as our regional GSA Leadership Trainings and summer GSA Activist Camps. Representatives from each Youth Council serve on the GSA Network Governing Board.
In October 1998, the Gay-Straight Alliance Network became a fiscally sponsored project of The Tides Center which gave us status as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and allows us to receive tax-deductible donations from individuals and organizations. Carolyn Laub is the founder and director of the Gay-Straight Alliance Network. She writes, "I wanted to start this organization, not only because I understand from personal experience how empowering it is to fight back against homophobia and transphobia, but also because I believe that LGBTQ and straight ally youth are leading an emerging youth movement--community-driven with multi-issue political organizing happening across the lines of race, socio-economic status, gender, and sexual orientation, which have been obstacles in other social justice movements."
4 σχόλια:
Με αφορμή τα άρθρα για την ομοφυλόφιλία στην εκπαίδευση να προτείνω το link του
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network
http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/home/index.html
Μου φέρνουν λίγο σε επιστημονίκή φαντασία για την εκπαίδευση στην Ελλάδα αλλά σκέφτομαι θετικά.
Την Καλημέρα μου απο το Μπισκοτάκι
Εξαιρετική πρόταση, να και κάτι καλό από τις ΗΠΑ...
Πράγματι ενδιαφέρουσα πρόταση. Ωστόσο, alex a, προσωπικά προτιμώ την ευρωπαϊκή πρόταση που φαίνεται να συνδυάζει κατασταλτικά μέτρα και θετικές διακρίσεις μέχρι να επιτευχθούν οι επιθυμητές ισορροπίες. Νομίζω ότι ο νόμος έχει μακροπρόθεσμα έναν περισσότερο σταθερό παιδευτικό χαρακτήρα απ’ όσο οι προσπάθειες επίτευξης κοινωνικής συναίνεσης που γίνονται με ιδιωτική πρωτοβουλία. Μια τέτοιου είδους συναίνεση, το έχουμε δει πολλές φορές, είναι πολύ ευμετάβλητη κι εύκολα χειραγωγείται.
Μπισκοτάκι, ήρθατε Αθήνα εν κρυπτώ; Μπράβο σας.
Από το site τη διεύθυνση του οποίου μου έδωσες αντιγράφω:
A Message from the Founder and Executive Director
What binds us is truly greater than what divides us.
This is a truth that we have recognized from the very beginning. When I, a gay teacher, and one of my students, a straight daughter of lesbian moms, founded the very first Gay-Straight Alliance at Concord Academy in 1988, we did it to bring different people together around a common vision for our community. Our vision was a school where every student felt safe and respected. Our belief was that every student deserved an education free of bullying and harassment, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, or that of their friends, family or loved ones.
It turned out that our beliefs are shared by many. Our vision for our school community is shared by students and parents, educators and administrators across the country. Gay-Straight Alliances, and other student clubs working on LGBT issues, are now present in over 3,000 high schools across the country, bringing together allies in those communities to create the safe and inclusive learning environments we all envision.
I’m glad to report that our efforts are working. As GLSEN and our allies promote awareness of the issues, develop policies to address them, and build the leadership to create change, we are seeing results. Our 2005 National School Climate Survey found that LGBT students in schools with GSAs were less likely to feel unsafe at school and less likely to miss school because of a lack of safety. LGBT Students who could identify supportive teachers had higher GPAs and were more likely to plan on attending college. And, as we reported in From Teasing to Torment: School Climate in America, when schools have anti-harassment policies that include categories like sexual orientation, not only does harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity decrease, so does the incidence of other forms of harassment. In fact, students at schools with an inclusive anti-harassment policy are less likely than other students to report that harassment of any kind is a serious problem at their school (33% vs. 44%). Coming together around our shared vision truly makes school better for everyone.
There is still much work to be done. In the coming years, GLSEN is committed to developing the awareness, policies and leadership necessary to ensure that schools are safe and supportive learning environments for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. We remain mindful that there are those who do not share our vision who will try to divide us into opposing camps. But we stand strong in the knowledge that what we are doing works. We are confident that bringing people together will change the world. And we are steadfast in our commitment that, by coming together, we will all play a part in creating a better future for America’s students.
alex a: Αρχίζουν να γίνονται βήματα και στην Ευρώπη. Το θέμα της εκπαίδευσης και τις ομοφυλοφιλίας έχει απασχολήσει την εκπαιδευτική κοονότητα στις ΗΠΑ εδώ και αρκετά χρόνια. Υπάρχει ενδιαφέρουσα αρθρογραφία και θα δημοσιεύσουμε στα αγγλικά κάτι και εμείς.
erva: Δυστηχώς ήρθαμε για πολύ λίγο αλλά αξιοποιήσαμε τον ελάχιστό μας χρόνο όσο πιο εποικοδομιτικά μπορούσαμε κάνοντας αρχή με Πολύχρωμο πλανήτη 'εν φανερώ' ;-}
Την Καλημέρα μου,
Το Μπισκοτάκι
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