On Monday, the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act was reintroduced in the 113th Congress by Senator Frank Lautenberg and Congressman Rush Holt of New Jersey. This legislation would, for the first time, require publicly funded universities and colleges to establish enumerated anti-harassment policies. The bills would also provide funding to universities and colleges to either create or expand anti-harassment policies, and would also officially recognize cyber-bullying as a form of harassment.

The legislation is named in honor of Tyler Clementi, an 18 year old freshman at Rutgers University who tragically took his own life after two students streamed video of him with another male and continued to harass him about the incident. Senator Lautenberg and Congressman Holt released the following statements:

“The tragic impact of bullying on college campuses has damaged too many young adults, and it is time for our colleges to put policies on the books that would protect students from harassment.” – Senator Frank Lautenberg (NJ).

“It is not enough simply to denounce cruelty, bullying, and harassment.  We must create meaningful policies to bar this toxic behavior from our college campuses.” – Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12).

GLSEN thanks Senator Lautenberg and Congressman Holt for their leadership on this important issue, and support them in the fight to make universities and colleges safer places of learning and growth for all students.

As far back as I can remember in my school experience, negative connotations and stereotypes have existed relating to gay individuals and the words “gay” and “faggot.”  When I began to discover my own sexuality, I was struck with fear that I would instantly be banished by my peers and family. However, once I finally shared this secret of mine to my best friend, nearly vomiting from an anxiety in the meantime, she looked at me and blankly stated, “That’s your big secret?  I was expecting something worse.”  I was truly shocked at her laxity regarding what I thought, at the time, was a life-ruining flaw.  That moment was my first step to realizing that sexual orientation and gender identity have no influence on whether we are worthy of love and appreciation.

By the time I had emerged out of the confines of middle school, I was energized towards creating a school environment where “gay” was no longer something dreaded, misunderstood, or a synonym for “ridiculous” or “stupid,” but rather a benign word that simply described students like myself who had feelings for people of the same gender.  Where was I to start?  A quick Google search resulted in my first experience with GLSEN and its abundant and helpful resources.  Though I was too nervous (and ultimately without a ride) to attend any GLSEN events in Northern Virginia my freshman year of high school, I decided to jump head first into the waters of GLSEN’s work by applying to, and eventually joining, the GLSEN Student Jump-Start Team of the Northern Virginia chapter.  Through that student group, GLSEN paved the way for me to actively speak my mind about what was happening in my school and my experiences, and applying it to the many conferences, workshops and panels in which I participated.  Not only did I gain a plethora of resources and options to take back to my community, I gained a wonderful set of friends that had gone through very similar situations.

GLSEN’s Safe Schools Advocacy Summit (SSAS), sparked me to engage my community and my school’s young Gay-Straight Alliance (of which I had become the co-president) to create a safe school environment for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.  At this four-day conference in the nation’s capital, I discovered that I could make irrevocable change for the better.  I learned so much about how to approach legislators about supporting anti-bullying legislation (which I now have done on several occasions).  The people I met there have made a lasting impact in my life by not only providing recommendations and insight but by inspiring me everyday to work towards the goal of a safe school environment for all.

GLSEN has given me so many opportunities, ranging from attending SSAS and the Congressional Anti-Bullying Caucus Launch, to participating in a small discussion with the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, about the status of LGBTQA youth in schools.  The organization has truly given me a chance to actively seek change in my community.  I have gone on to aggressively pursue the implementation of a comprehensive anti-bullying policy in my school district that enumerates protections for LGBTQA students and those who are perceived to be.  My principal and I have begun to talk about educating others on issues of bullying, not only on the student level but also among teachers.  We will be doing this by educating teachers, faculty, and students of every grade level about what they can do to end bullying and how and when to stand up.  Most strikingly, last year’s GSA had maybe a half dozen members that tried to show up to meetings.  With such limited involvement, we were unable to make an impact on the school’s climate.  This year, 170 students have signed up to be a part of the club, blooming a cornucopia of opportunities for the year ahead of us.

If there is just one student in each school district that is willing to take a stand against bullying and anti-LGBT language or slurs in their school community, change is indubitably bound to occur.  If there is one thing that I hope my experiences may do, I sincerely wish that students just like me will be inspired to actively seek protection for all students and make change for themselves and the others around them.

Baltimore, Maryland

What are many high school juniors thinking about as they walk into school on the first day? Friends, the thrill of being an upperclassman, perhaps grades… I was thinking of all these things, but also about how I was going to make my school safer and more welcoming, not only for LGBTQ+ students, but for all students. I know that my school is better than many other schools – most of the teachers and students are accepting, the basics of gender and sexuality are taught in 9th grade social studies and health classes and we have two different clubs working to increase education about various types of diversity. I also know that we have a long way to go. As a leader of my school’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance, I was ready and excited to make change.

I was thrust into a leadership position in the middle of last year, and although I barely knew what I was doing, I didn’t let that stop me. We had meetings with the themes of Trans 101 and Trans 201 to educate members of the club about transgender issues; planned a very successful Day of Silence and wrote thank-you letters to the most supportive teachers afterward; and had an end-of-year potluck. Over the summer I started planning for this year and the club started the year with four faculty advisers and a Student Leadership Committee of eight.

Although we’ve only had a few meetings so far, we’ve already made big plans for the year. We have a club blog on which we post resources, announcements and news, and we will soon have a club library from which students can borrow books and resources that are not available from (or they may not feel comfortable getting from) the school library. We’re helping the Baltimore chapter of GLSEN with a year-long anti-bullying project in middle schools. We’re planning to honor teachers during Ally Week and we may even go on a club retreat. The Student Leadership Committee will soon receive leadership training, which means that the club will never be without a capable leader!

Apart from the successes of the GSA, another success this year is the publication of our anti-bullying policy. Although my school district has a very good policy, most people in my school did not know about it until recently. Over the summer, I worked with my guidance counselor to write a plain-English version of the policy. Now it has been sent to all teachers and read to almost all of the students! To complement the policy, GLSEN Baltimore is working with the school to secure a date for the teachers to have Safe Space training.

I am more confident than ever in my school’s ability to be welcoming to everyone. I know that the GSA, together with various teachers, staff and students, can make a positive impact on the school that will last for years to come.

My name is Kalem, and I’m on my way to receiving a B.A. in World Literature and Cultural Studies at UC Santa Cruz. I’m spending my last quarter as a public policy intern at GLSEN, while taking a journalism seminar at University of California’s UCDC campus.

I’ve always been interested in civil and human rights issues. In the majority of my literature classes I wrote about the power relationships engendering from models of imperialism. Towards the end of my studies I figured out that this relationship model also applied to many of the social injustices and inequity problems of our society.

In my studies, however, I began to understand that solely writing papers limits the avenues for affecting social change, and that if I were to continue literature studies through grad school, my audience would be narrow.

I guess one could say that my approach to LGBT issues is theoretical. I became interested in GLSEN’s public policy internship because I wanted to understand how to affect these issues politically rather than theoretically.

Interning with GLSEN is proving to be a substantive experience, and I look forward to learning more about the educational policies and human rights issues GLSEN champions.

Barb Silvey

GSA Advisor, Rogers High School
Spokane, WA

Rogers High School is located in Spokane, WA, a mid-sized city in conservative Eastern Washington.  Who would think that one of the two high school Gay-Straight Alliances in Spokane would be located at Rogers?  And yet, students are clamoring at the beginning of the school year:  ”When’s our first GSA meeting?”  ”What day of the week are we meeting?”  ”Isn’t Ally Week coming up soon?”  ”Are we going to Odyssey this year?”  ”When should we get together with our NOISE Group for a school-wide anti-bullying event?”  ”We need to start planning for PRIDE!!” It is an exciting start to the school year, and we are the center of it.

My name is Barb Silvey and I have been the proud Advisor of the Rogers High School Gay-Straight Alliance for the past eight years.  We have had students of all kinds in our group: kids looking for a way to come out, transgendered students looking for a safe place and people to be with and allies to all who want to have a group that can be proactive in our school.  We meet once a week and our biggest challenge is making sure everyone who needs us can find us.  Our ASB leaders make us GIANT signs to put in our commons and we put notices in the bulleting, but the best way is by word of mouth.  It is so exciting changing lives!!

This year, our main focus is going to be the Changing The Game initiative  We intend to approach all of our sports teams and convince them to sign Team Respect Challenge pledges of respect and inclusion so that we can turn our school into a safe place for EVERY student and staff member.  We are also continuing to collaborate with our sister school, Shadle Park High School, for GSA events (movies, Valentine’s parties, Christmas parties and hoping to top our participation of 250 for the Day of Silence this year.

Come visit us on our Rogers High School GSA Facebook page.

Resources to help get you back to school:

Changing The Game: GLSEN’s Sport Project - an education and advocacy initiative focused on addressing LGBT issues in K-12 school-based athletic and physical education programs

Ally Week – Celebrate amazing allies in creating safer schools for all students!

Jump-Start Guide - Find out ways in which you can create and support a GSA in your school

GLSEN Chapters – Find a chapter in your area that can provide on-the-ground support to your GSA, or find out how you can start one!

GLSEN’s Back-to-School Voices series is coming to a close. However, we’re looking for stories on how you are being an Ally in creating safer schools in your community! Check out our Ally Week Stories page to find out more information. 

I’m Connor Wright, and I’m a Public Policy Intern for GLSEN this fall.  I hail from the great state of North Dakota and am currently attending the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities where I’m studying Political Science and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies.  I plan on being a lifelong advocate for LGBTQ rights and equality, so working for GLSEN is the perfect opportunity to be a policy advocate on a national and local level.

Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) empower people.  They demand attention and they let people know they aren’t alone.  Growing up gay in ND often was a bit alienating—I was one of the few openly gay people in my school and my community.  I didn’t feel connected to the college campuses and many of the other LGBTQ high school students were scattered far across the state with only an internet connection to bridge the difference.  Looking back, I remember discovering RuPaul’s Drag Race on Logo one night and, until I came to college, thought I was the only one who watched it. While RuPaul’s Drag Race isn’t definitive of LGBTQ culture, it opened my eyes to people embracing themselves and their identity and that was something I hadn’t seen before.

Having a GSA at my school helped change that, it gave the school a space that welcomed people from all across the spectrum and empowered their voices and identities.  People could come and talk about their life, their struggles and triumphs with their identity and their world.  Now, GSAs are difficult clubs to run, but they are also fantastic organizations that let students express themselves in a way that they may not be able at home, or at work, or at school.  They empower people to realize they aren’t alone, but are surrounded by people who want them shine. (Hokey, but true. And if you need resources for GSA, check out GLSEN’s Jump Start Guide for GSAs)

I was president of my high school’s GSA and it was tough.  At that time I was swamped under responsibilities to my school work, my extracurriculars, and my life as I tried to figure myself out.   I have nothing but the highest respect and admiration for the people who create, run, and/or attend GSAs because they are putting in incredible effort to benefit so many.  I’m excited to be working with GLSEN, an organization that has worked tirelessly for the benefit of LGBTQ youth.  I’m excited to see all the people doing amazing things in the LGBTQ advocacy realm.  And I’m excited to see what I can do working as an LGBTQ advocate and I thank GLSEN for giving me this incredible opportunity.

While at GLSEN, I wrote letters nearly every day: to legislators, their staffers, to partner organizations, prospective partner organizations, to cosponsors, and target cosponsors. I surprisingly never got tired of writing these letters, as I came to realize that they actually mattered in the political world, and instead saw them as substantive contributions to GLSEN’s legislative goals. These letters ultimately provided me with my largest take-away of the summer: our democratic system has remained relatively intact for the last 236 some-odd years – when I want to voice my concerns in an email, or meet with a legislator or his or her staffer, someone will read what I’ve written or listen to what I’ve said, and even respond. While some obstacles do admittedly stand between my voice and the Senate floor, constituents have the ability to influence their congressional representatives. I know that my realization may seem a bit obvious, as this is the definition of a democratic system of representation, but until recently I had always dismissed the notion that this was a relatively accurate reflection of reality. After arranging a meeting with Senator Collins with surprising ease, and then again with Senator Snowe’s staffer in Maine, I no longer had the cynical attitude of powerlessness that adults often resort to in the face of government affairs. It may be due to my own naiveté, but I’ve come out of this summer feeling a bit more positive (despite the fact that this congress was least productive in our nation’s history).

This internship has consequently left me with an empowered sense of self and community, as well as the sense that when I graduate this coming year, my coursework in Gender and Women’s Studies can transform into a real career path. While I’m not quite sure what I will be doing in a year’s time, I’m confident that GLSEN will have shaped whatever decision it is that I make. So thank you GLSEN and the public policy team for a great summer and furthermore, for a future of possibilities this experience has inspired.

Simon will be attending a meeting in Senator Olympia Snowe’s Portland, ME office to lobby for the Safe Schools Improvement Act.

Take action to create safer schools for all students. Ask your members of Congress to support the Safe Schools Improvement Act!