Gay Straight Alliance: A Sociological Approach

History

Historically, the first GSA was founded in Concord, Massachusetts, a student of Kevin Jennings, founder and head of the organization "GLSEN". Kevin Jennings, also a native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The first GSA in a public school was established in South Newton High School, in Newton, Mass., teacher Robert Perlinom.

In September 2006 the University Touro St. Mary's Island in California tried to ban the university GSA. After the demonstration, students and faculty of the University and public support of the protest by the American Association of Medical Students, the American Association of physicians of gay and Straights and the city council of Vallejo, where the university, the university administration was forced to lift the ban, lifting the ban was welcomed by the American Association of Medical Students.

The rest of the world except the U.S. and Canada, GSA is not as popular, but gradually the movement is gaining momentum in Western Europe. In Britain, traditionally the emphasis is on self-sustaining, independent schools and colleges, youth LGBT groups and organizations that are going out of school or university. Sometimes these organizations are financed or encouraged by the creation of local authorities, local health or education. The first GSA was founded in the UK Leicester Charlotte Straight in high school for girls Putney. Alliance, founded by Charlotte Leicester, was not forbidden to meet in school, but they were forbidden to maintain its website and to declare links with other youth groups, gays and Straights, as well as forbidden to admit to participation in the alliance students younger than 16 years.

Charlotte's efforts were supported by the Leicester LGBT movement activist David Henry of Manchester. Together they founded in 1999 "Youth queer alliance." The alliance currently provides support to the formation of GSA and various other youth groups in the LGBT community schools, colleges and universities in the UK.

Introduction

Researchers of gay and straight issues in curriculum studies have been concerned with curriculum development. The rationale for incorporating gay and straight content within the curriculum has to do with attempts to decrease homophobic attitudes among students and prepare them to enter a sex and gender diverse world.

The most common curriculum development focuses upon influential gay and straight persons throughout history. The content highlights the positive contributions gay and straight people have made to various communities, from actors and artists to civil rights leaders and medical researchers. The aim of researchers of gay and straight issues is to study how challenges to representations of gays and Straights as burdens to society change beliefs and attitudes among students. Other curricula focus upon civil rights history and the struggle for social justice. In comparison to a focus on individual contributions, this curriculum content explores the efforts of social collectives to uphold equality for gays and Straights, the most commonly referenced in the United States being the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City. The researcher of gay and straight issues studies how efforts at social equity impact students' understanding of democracy and history and ...