The GSA Difference: LGBTQ and Ally Experiences in High Schools with and without Gay-Straight Alliances

Tina Fetner and Athena Elafros
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Tina Fetner: Department of Sociology, McMaster University, 1280 Main St W, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M4, Canada
Athena Elafros: Division of Basic and Applied Social Sciences, Keuka College, 141 Central Avenue, Keuka Park, New York, NY 14478, USA

Social Sciences, 2015, vol. 4, issue 3, 1-19

Abstract: We examine the lived experiences of high-school students who participated in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ)-centered activism of some kind, highlighting the promise of gay-straight alliance groups by comparing the experiences of students at schools with gay-straight alliances (GSA schools) with the experiences of students at schools that did not have an LGBTQ-specific group (no-GSA schools). We compare students at GSA and no-GSA schools based on their experiences of harassment, experiences of support from authority figures, and patterns of friendships. We find that students at both types of schools experienced harassment and heard negative comments about lesbian and gay people. However, students at GSA schools reported more support from teachers and administrators than students at no-GSA schools, who have stories of teachers and administrators actively opposing equality for LGBTQ people. Students at GSA schools reported a wide variety of friendships across sexual identities, while students at no-GSA schools felt more isolated and withdrawn. This much-needed qualitative comparative analysis of students’ experiences brings a human face to the improved quality of life that schools with gay-straight alliances can bring to young people.

Keywords: youth; gay-straight alliance; education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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