Youth Allies
In junior and senior high school, straight students are able to show support for their GLBT classmates by joining a gay-straight alliance (GSA). A GSA is a student-run school club that works to create a safe and accepting school environment for all young people, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. More than 1,000 GSAs exist across the country, and the straight students who join them often do so because they have seen the effects of harassment and want to do something about it. Caleb Baker, a straight student and member of a GSA in New York City explains:
"People always ask why I care about a movement that does not include me. My answer is that the gay rights movement should include me. Although I am straight, I know people affected by hate and prejudice – they are my friends. I believe that everyone who has seen the face of hatred, whether affected by it or not, should be involved in preventing it. That is why I am involved with my GSA. That is why I sit every week with other students not afraid to face prejudice. That is why I work with them to teach respect in our school. And that is why I refuse to sit idle while religious extremists discuss the morality of a lifestyle that they have never experienced." GLSEN’s Students and GSA’s Yearbook