Thursday, January 2, 2014

This is the Place to Organize YOUR GSA




Thank you StereoHart for providing 
the Phillip Phillips' "Home" video and lyrics.

This post summarizes the steps we took to start the GSA in hopes to encourage anyone who would like to try to start one of their own. I will first list the basic steps then go into further detail and advice for each step and include links.

1a. Find student interest
1b. Obtain faculty advisor(s)
1c. Form a planning committee
2a. Learn the district's and/or school's policy about forming clubs
2b. Make appointment with principal or assistant principal to obtain an application
3. Fill out application (make copies)
4. Depending on district's club-starting policy, you may need to:
Create a constitution (you may use our template)
Create Articles of Association and by-laws (you may use our template)
5. Get student signatures (minimum may be required)
6. Turn in application
7. Faculty and district board meetings
8. Celebrate
9. Permission forms
(While you're waiting...)
(Pre-step advice:)

1a. Find student interest
LGBTQ-friendly people know other LGBTQ-friendly people and LGBTQ people. This is hopefully fairly easy, but when LGBTQ people and their supporters are in the closet, they may not even know each other exists. It may take a couple of confident students with an interest-form to show that support is there and help others be brave.
>>Petition for interest link
>>Interest Form/Sign-up Sheet link

 Applications often need a minimum of 10 student signatures (see your school's policy in later step). This next tip is not required, but could be highly beneficial: have students write why they think a GSA club would be a good idea. Submitting these along with the application could be influential. It could be as short as a sentence or as long as an essay with references.
>> Student Letter Examples link

 1b. Obtain faculty advisor(s)
Faculty includes anyone who works at the school and does not have to be a teacher. An FA could be a librarian, counselor, facility manager, cafeteria employee, office employee, etc. I have found that counselors are LGBTQ-friendly. Sociology teachers may also understand the importance of supportive clubs. Ask the students who they think are informed-faculty that would be willing to be an FA. Having more than one FA is very helpful in the event one is unable to attend a meeting, then the other can fill in. Here is an example of a letter asking someone to be a faculty advisor:
Hi, ( ),
Your name was given to me by ( ), my neighbor and friend. I had asked her if she knew any AFHS faculty who were LGBTQ-friendly, and your name was given. We are in the process of starting a Gay Straight Alliance club at AFHS. We need at least one faculty advisor and a couple of student leaders to begin the club. 
Our question to you: Would you be interested in being the faculty advisor or would you know of someone who would? Additionally, would you know of students (gay or straight) that would possibly want to be leaders? (Please don't ask, yet...).  Before we pursue paperwork, etc., we need to see if there is an interest or support from anyone.
Here's a link about GSA clubs. http://gsanetwork.org/get-involved/start-gsa
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
1c. Form a planning committee
Getting together can be very difficult with everyone's schedules. We formed a FB group for planning purposes and "met" there. We sent email up-dates to those without a FB account.

2a. Learn the district's and/or school's policy about forming clubs
I was able to go on the district's website and hunt for find it. You may have to ask the secretary to help you find the link. And while you are searching, see if they have a policy about bullying.
>>Policies for our district (for example) link

2b. Make appointment with principal or assistant principal to obtain an application
It may be possible to simply ask for the application at the front desk, but sitting one-on-one with someone has its benefits. For instance, whether positive or negative, the meeting lets you know what direction you need to take next and shows you are willing to work with them and get your ducks-in-a-row so there's no surprises later. It's so important to keep calm if the reception of your intentions happen to be negative. (The law is on your side. There's no need for name-calling, threats, or door-slamming. Stay respectful and a good example.) Keep notes. Fortunately, my meeting was non-threatening and matter of fact (although I was super-nervous... so outside my comfort zone :) ).

3. Fill out application
This is what was given to me during the above appointment and for an example only for you. You will have to get your school's own version of their application.
>>Application link to links

4. Depending on district's policy, you may need to:
Create a constitution
This is basically the goal of the group. Another GSA sent me an example of a constitution to work from. I will show you those as well as our final version. You may use these. The constitution page is where we had the students sign (signatures required by our district).

Create Articles of Association and by-laws
These define the responsibilities of the officers and faculty advisors and how meetings will be run.
>>Our by-laws link

5. Get student signatures (minimum may be required)
I printed the constitution on light blue paper with a subtle rainbow in the background (not a requirement ;) ). We sat up a meeting time for students to sign the constitution. 

6. Turn in application and requirements
Make several copies of everything. The FAs, the school office, the district, and your club all need copies. Make an extra one in case the one you submitted gets "lost." I also recommend printing on paper that is easy to see/find.  Include letters/statements from the students if they wrote them (see 1a). I also included a flyer from the Family Acceptance Project as well as their booklet, Supportive Families, Healthy Children.

7. Faculty and district board meetings
The application will need to be approved by the faculty before being sent to the district for approval. This may take a couple of weeks, depending on how soon the faculty (or faculty chairs) meet (the district's website should have a schedule). It would be wonderful (and essential, really) to have the faculty advisor(s) be there to answer any questions about the club. Once the application is approved, then you may have to wait several more weeks until the school district has their board meeting with your club (and others, probably) up for discussion. You or your faculty advisor will have a three-minute opportunity to speak on behalf of the club. (Opposition also has three-minutes each to speak against it). Advice for attending the board meeting: There is power in numbers; I recommend supportive parents attend, too. Keep respectful behavior (remember the law is on your side).

8. Then hopefully for number eight you can celebrate!
If, however, the district says no, this is the advice from the ACLU:
If your school turns you down, tells you that you have to change the name of your GSA or that it can't be focused on LGBT issues, tells you that students have to have parental permission to join the GSA when it doesn't require that for other clubs, or tries to tell you that the GSA can't do things that other clubs get to do like have a photo in the yearbook or make club announcements, you should contact the ACLU. We might be able to help!
9. Permission forms
Some districts require permission forms for parents/guardians to sign.
>> Our permission form link

 While you are waiting...
-Have students ready to fill officer positions. Their parents must be okay with this and willing to sign parental permission-slip forms.
-Determine meeting times and place. 
->>Gather supplies for officers link (each other's contact info, copies of application, etc.)

Pre-step advice:
Keep your planning and preparation low-key.
This will help keep a positive atmosphere. Save the media for when the district says, "No."
Timing
I'm not an expert on the timing. I feel like we were a little too late by turning in the application when school started in the fall. But, our application was among 79 others being approved the same night, so maybe it wasn't too unusually late. I would advise gathering student interest and faculty advisors during the first of the calendar year while school is in session and have everything ready to turn in so you can begin in the fall. I would ask the office the best time to turn in the application.
Know the law
>>Legal rights link
Be prepared with potential arguments against the club
Be able to articulate why a GSA club is important.
Info to principals and vice principals 
If you have these opportunities available, invite school leaders to suicide prevention workshops. You can also order Family Acceptance Project booklets and pass those out to the principal, assistant principals, and counselors.
>>Family Acceptance Project booklets link (there's one particularly for LDS families, too).

Other considerations:
What's in a name?
There is a whole spectrum of orientations, identifications, and expressions, but the club's name only seems to include two: gay and straight. You can consider other names, but GSAs are known and more common and protected by law (although I bet similar clubs by different names may also be protected). The name must make it clear that this club is about affirmation and non-discrimination. Simply anti-bullying clubs may not make it clear that it includes LGBTQ, and they may still feel left out.
Posters and announcements
When we first became official, the students made posters to hang around the school. The posters included rainbows, and at least some adults didn't understand what the rainbows meant and were offended by them. Our new posters will include this explanation:
Why the rainbow?

The rainbow represents all of our variations whether it is about orientation, identity, skin color, talents, or personalities. We are all part of the rainbow, and each has something wonderful to offer. The rainbow serves to recognize that.
Our school conducts morning announcements, and some refused to read our club's announcement. Our first one was funny to us but possibly a little over-the-top for our conservative audience, "Cavemen, Cavewomen, and everyone in between! Come join us for.... " So, the lesson to be learned is how to communicate with your audience without scaring them away.

Yes, I made this, and yes, that is indeed a meet tenderizer.
It was within my budget for a gavel and fun for laughs.
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