And A Child Shall Lead Them: Gay Straight Alliances Boost Kids’ Well-Being
A few years ago, a little boy, maybe 6 years old, responds to my knock and opens the door. He’s wearing a silky Disney Princess nightgown. His mom’s response? “He likes the way it feels…as long as he’s ok with it, I’m ok with it!”
That same year, in the same community, a gay student at the local high school runs for the title of Homecoming Queen. His fellow students’ response? He wins by a landslide.
Where is this bastion of open-mindedness? San Francisco? New York? Seattle? Hardly. It’s a suburb of Cleveland – and its high school has had an active Gay-Straight Alliance for years.
While the presence of a gay-straight alliance doesn’t ensure that communities will demonstrate the kind of openness described above, a new report indicates that LGBT youth who participate in GSA’s have better health and educational outcomes than those who don’t.
As report co-author Russell Toomey said: “Given the recent attention to tragic deaths by suicide related to anti-LGBT school bullying over the past year, our research documents that having Gay-Straight Alliances in schools is an important way to boost mental health and academic achievement for LGBT young people.” The report is based on a survey of 245 young LGBT adults conducted by the Family Acceptance Project and was published in the November issue of Applied Developmental Science.
Jonah Mowry’s recent video making the viral rounds candidly reveals just how important community support can be. When we posted a link to this video on the BOL facebook page, people asked “How can we help?” Here’s a place to start: see if the high schools in your area have a Gay-Straight Alliance.
The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) has registered more than 4,000 gay straight alliances. They are in every state in the union…in big cities, small towns, suburban developments. But are they in your community?
You may not live in a town that appears LGBT-inclusive. You may not have a gay couple living down the street, an inclusive church or a PFLAG support group. But you do have a local high school. And chances are, the youth in that building are far more accepting of sexual diversity than the older folks in your community.
GLSEN has a number of great resources and the ACLU has published a terrific guide to help your community launch a gay-straight alliance. We encourage you to check them out and pass them along. If you already have a GSA, let your voice be heard by taking GLSEN’s 2011 GSA Census.
Remember last October when we watched in horror as a student was gay-bashed in full view of other students in Chillicothe, OH? It still chills me to the bone. And then it makes me wonder, whose high school will be next? Will it be mine? Will it be yours?
I don’t know about you, but I’d rather make headlines for electing a male Homecoming Queen.
_____________________
Image Wikimedia 220px-GSA Board