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Gay/Straight Alliances: A Student Guide
Other School-Based Support Groups

Support Groups for Gay and Lesbian Students

Some schools have chosen to organize support groups for students who are identified as gay or lesbian. Emily Hollander, a student at Newton South, said "I think there should be a group for only gay, lesbian and bisexual students so they can feel less alone and more comfortable with themselves while they are in or out of the closet at school." One student said that her school has "a group for gay/lesbian/bisexual/questioning students that meets in the home economics room." She said, "That's a good place because there's a microwave in it and it's fairly out of the way." Some students also advised against publicizing the group. "It should be by word of mouth," one student said. "Otherwise people will be snooping around."

Of course, offering a group of this sort may present the problem that students who are extremely closeted (not open about their sexuality) may not learn about the group. There may be no easy or perfect solution. Some schools may be safe enough for students to be "out" and openly questioning their sexual orientation. In other schools, they would be at risk for harassment. Each school must make its own decision about whether or not to publicize a group of this sort.

Human Rights Groups or Diversity Groups

Schools whose climate may appear hostile to addressing gay and lesbian student safety, or very small schools, may want to establish Human Rights or Diversity Groups. These groups can look at the commonalities among various forms of oppression including racism, sexism, ageism, classism, anti-Semitism, and homophobia. This may be the first step for a school in forming a Gay/Straight Alliance. Patrick Tortora, a guidance counselor at Cape Cod Tech, said that "because we felt our school was not ready for a Gay/Straight Alliance, the group was advertised as a Human Rights Support Group. We have discussed instances of discrimination and harassment in school, dealt with family issues, and talked about job discrimination." The school now has a Gay/Straight Alliance. Norwood High School has an "Alliance Against Discrimination" that has 20-40 student members. The group is part of an ongoing strategy to address homophobia in the larger context of oppression.

Parallel Faculty/Staff Support Groups

These groups have sprung up in a number of high schools. They are in addition to student-based support groups and exist to provide a place for staff and teachers to support each other in addressing discrimination in the school. Student liaisons are invited to attend these groups and to offer their input or bring up some of the issues that the student group has been dealing with. Often these groups are an umbrella group for all the work that is being done at the school to support gay and lesbian students. While these groups are usually not places where students would go to receive support, it is important to have student input in these groups so there is coordination and collaboration between the work of the students and the work of the faculty/staff.

Peter Atlas, a teacher at Concord-Carlisle High School, said that his school has formed a committee on Gay and Lesbian Student Safety. The committee has two faculty sub-groups in addition to the Gay/Straight Alliance. One sub-group deals with issues of Curriculum and Support by addressing ways that teachers can integrate gay and lesbian issues into the curriculum, offer faculty training, and gather resources. The second sub-group deals with Outreach to the Community by looking at ways to solicit resources and help from the community and to address concerns of the community and parents.

Community-Based Support Groups

Community Study Groups

Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (P-FLAG)

The P-FLAG mission is "to promote the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons, their families, and friends through: Support, to cope with an adverse society; Education, to enlighten an ill-informed public; and Advocacy, to end discrimination and to secure equal civil rights. Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation, and acts to create a society that is healthy, and respectful of human diversity." There are 350 P-FLAG chapters across the United States and Canada, and in 11 other countries in the world.

Young people are encouraged to call the closest P-FLAG chapter or come to a meeting for information and support. P-FLAG can provide assistance and advice about "coming out" and strategies on how to approach family members. Parents, friends and family members of young gays and lesbians also can call to learn more about issues related to sexual orientation and how to be helpful. P-FLAG is an ideal resource for family members and friends to receive support. (See page 46 for phone numbers and contacts for a P-FLAG group in your area.)

Alliances of Gay and Lesbian Youth (AGLY's)

Alliances of Gay and Lesbian Youth are "community-based, youth-run, adult-advised support groups that hold meetings for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth 22 years old and younger." There are AGLY groups in 13 different areas of Massachusetts so far, and more groups are developing all the time. (See page 44 for a list of AGLY's.) The AGLY groups sponsor meetings, drop-ins, and services for gay and lesbian youth. They host special events, like proms and tobacco education forums. All AGLY's are different. Some groups are large, and some are small. Some address the special needs of rural youth; others focus on urban populations. But all have the same basic objectives. Here is their statement of beliefs:

• To provide a safe place for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth to get together and socialize with other young people.
• To address the isolation and invisibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth.
• To provide educational services. AGLY's educate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth about health issues, as well as gay and lesbian history and culture. They help students with their educational and professional goals and provide services to get young people back in school or keep them in school.
• To provide role models. The group introduces members to positive role models - adults who are and out at their jobs, people with families - to help young people realize that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people can be valuable, important members of society.
• To empower young people.