tired of transphobia? Join the Club.

BY EMMA MCCLAtCHEY

If you’ve seen a student-organized drag show or queer rights protest over the past couple decades, odds are a GSA is behind it.

GSAs—gender-sexuality alliances— serve as both social clubs and advocacy orgs for LGBTQ students, those questioning their sexuality and straight, cisgender allies in middle school, high school, college and the occasional elementary schooler. For many students, it’s the first place they come out to classmates, test drive new pronouns or a new name, or encounter an affirming adult in their club’s counselor.

If the same rightwing lawmakers policing school library books could ban GSAs, they undoubtedly would. But as it is, the queer-friendly groups remain one of the most visible, important and protected means of being an out LGBTQ student in the United States—especially blood-red states like Iowa.

The first GSAs, then called gay-straight alliances, formed in schools around Boston, Massachusetts in the late 1980s. To avoid hassle from bigots, organizers often posted meeting information (“Discussion of gay rights, sexual preference, and related topics. Today, 6:45pm.”) to the bulletin board at the last minute and met in out-of-the-way spots. Straight students joined, too, and an accepting teacher—sometimes gay or closeted themselves—served as club counselor.

“For those who live in more enlightened places and more enlightened times, it is difficult to understand how significant such a small group could be,” writes Stephen Lane in his book No Sanctuary: Teachers and the School Reform that Brought Gay Rights to the Masses. “Alleviating feelings of isolation could have a profound effect on students’ well-being. Faculty, too, felt more supported.”

As students around the country submitted

Read a breakdown of the new state laws affecting Iowa students: applications to form GSAs in their schools, some administrators and districts rejected them. But in 1999, efforts to ban GSAs were quashed with the ruling in Utah–East High Gay/Straight Alliance v. Board of Education of Salt Lake City School District. A federal court found GSAs were covered by the Equal Access Act of 1984—originally lobbied for by Christian groups to protect Bible study programs on campuses that receive federal funding. Further rulings confirmed GSA membership is protected by the First Amendment.

Not only did the Utah case affirm the rights of American students to start a GSA (broadened in recent decades to gender-sexuality alliance), but it drew attention to those rights, inspiring thousands of LGBTQ and allied students to found their own chapter following guidance from orgs like the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. GLSEN was founded in 1990 by some of those first GSA members in Boston.

Iowa has its own GSA network and guidebook operated by Iowa Safe Schools, which supports more than 10,000 LGBTQ students across all 99 counties.

“We have some really high-flying GSAs that are, like, the leading student group in their schools, whether it’s doing movie nights, bake sales, different things like that,” said Damian Thompson, director of public policy and communication at Iowa Safe Schools. “Some of our smaller, more rural ones have just three or four students where they come together and hang out, maybe play board games, and just really have that safe place to feel affirmed in who they are, especially when we have students that aren’t safe at home.”

A GLSEN study showed GSA membership among LGBTQ students rose from 31.1 to 61.6 percent between 2001 and 2019. Those students reported a greater sense of school belonging, upticks in self-esteem and slightly lower depression as a result of GSA participation, according to the 2019 National School Climate Survey.

The same survey found LGBTQ students in schools with GSAs were less likely to hear slurs, experience bullying or miss school due to feeling unsafe or uncomfortable. And since many states’ sex education programs don’t include adequate— or any—information on non-cis/hetero dating and intimacy, GSA members are better equipped to practice safe sex and avoid abusive relationships.

Despite clear and ample data demonstrating the benefits of allowing students, teachers and lesson plans to authentically represent LGBTQ identity, Iowa’s conservative governor and Republican-dominated legislature have had no qualms bringing a political culture war to Iowa classrooms.

Gay/Straight Alliance How-To

Join the Club The GSA is a core club at most U.S. high schools—and a growing number of middle schools—thanks to decades of guidance from GLSEN, Iowa Safe Schools and other LGBTQ youth resources. Here are some of their basic steps for launching a gender-sexuality alliance on a strong foundation.

Make it official Follow your school’s guidelines for starting any extracurricular student-led club. Let administrators know up front, and they can serve as liaisons to teachers, parents, community members and the school board. Remember, you have a right to form a GSA. If you’re facing opposition, contact Iowa Safe Schools for guidance.

Find an advisor Ask a supportive teacher or faculty member if they’d consider signing on as the club’s adult counselor. Advisors are expected to help the GSA’s leaders plan meetings and activities, ensure a safe and positive space to meet and, to the best of their abilities, advocate on behalf of GSA members and LGBTQ students in general to the best of their ability.

Advertise Bulletin boards, morning announcements, social media posts, word of mouth—get creative and colorful to promote the group! Be open to answering questions from classmates. It never hurts morale to provide snacks at meetings, either.

Plan your meetings Design a meeting structure, or borrow the outline provided in Iowa Safe Schools’ GSA Guidebook or from other GSA networks. Respect group members’ time and stay on schedule.

GSAs can serve as social/support groups, educational opportunities, advocacy orgs or, ideally, all three. Figure out the right balance for your group and plan activities accordingly. You can book speakers, watch movies, hold a book club, participate in a Day of Silence, visit a museum, lead a school walk-out, go bowling—whatever builds community and confidence.

Set some ground rules Rulebooks are boring, but a few basic ground rules like “respect others’ experiences,” “no question is a bad question” and “what’s said in the room stays in the room” set the tone for safe and open discussions. Again, turn to GSA guidebooks for rule ideas.

“It’s been clear that the leaders in this state have seen LGBTQ students, who are already some of our most marginalized population members, as a cheap political wedge issue to throw them in harm’s way and get kudos from political party leaders or their base,” Thompson said.

“Our GSA leaders are definitely feeling the chilling effects in terms of what they’re able to do as an organization, their comfort level with being active and out and proud in their schools.”

The rise in vitriol towards trans and gender nonconforming individuals in schools reflects “the Trump effect” of 2016, in which educators nationwide reported an increase in students parroting Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim and anti-migrant rhetoric.

“When you have folks like Gov. Reynolds or Ron DeSantis really relentlessly attacking the LGBTQ community, and within that subset LGBTQ students, that is absolutely trickled down to our schools,” Thompson said, noting a spike in self-reported suicidality among the students Iowa Safe Schools works with.

“Working with our rural GSAs and rural students, especially in northwest Iowa, all of those problems really get exacerbated, which is extremely detrimental to student physical and mental health,” he said, adding, “Our GSA leaders are definitely feeling the chilling effects in terms of what they’re able to do as an organization, their comfort level with being active and out and proud in their schools.”

Of course, after the bill banning trans athletes from girls’ sports teams passed the Iowa Legislature, the GSA president at Sioux City’s East High said they’d work to explain the bill’s impact to fellow students and support those feeling hurt.

“I had a pit in my stomach,” Estella RuhrerJohnson told Siouxland News. “Immediately I know this is going to result in multiple suicides of … transgender students in Iowa. Essentially, we are telling those who can’t even have a say, can’t even have a vote in their government, that ‘you don’t care, you don’t matter to the state.’”

Iowa Safe Schools have seen many trans students “drop out of athletics entirely,” Thompson said. “Our trans female students, we’ve seen them really othered.

“Student athletics is absolutely crucial to feeling included and welcome in the school population and making those crucial friendship connections. Just the camaraderie is absolutely important to student mental health.”

Joining the boys’ team as a trans girl isn’t a safe option for most. “When you have someone that entirely presents as female in the boys’ locker room, that puts them in direct danger, and not only physical danger,” Thompson explained. “The sheer negative mental health consequences of that can really create lifelong harms.”

Even young Iowa students have gotten organized in defense of LGBTQ+ rights at school. In February, Des Moines 11-year-old Noa McIver appeared before the legislature to oppose a vague measure requiring K-3 teachers to inform on students demonstrating gender-nonconforming behavior to their parents, among other policies meant to restrict LGBTQ expression in schools.

“It’s important to let kids decide when and how they come out,” said McIver, who founded a GSA at his elementary school. “We deserve the right to be who we are at home, at school and everywhere in between.”

Gov. Reynolds has misconstrued the contents of these bills, swiftly signing them into law while saying her “heart breaks for” LGBTQ families and “it’s not easy for me either.” She claimed SF 538 would only “pause” gender-affirming care for minors (in reality, the law has no sunset date) while the state works “to understand what these emerging therapies actually may potentially do to our kids.” (She nor any other state Republican have proposed a study.) Others, she’s signed without comment at all, like the ban on students using bathrooms or locker rooms that don’t correspond to their gender assigned at birth.

The fight against such intransigence can be exhausting, even and especially with stakes so high. It’s something the bullies in the legislature count on, according to trans advocate Nia Chiaramonte.

“These laws are created to cause confusion— to make you freeze enough that you don’t live into your identity any further,” she said. “And we see that a ton of people are scared of being themselves because of these laws.”

A mother of five kids between kindergarten and ninth grade, Nia provides free mentoring for queer families with her wife of 19 years, Katie, through their website, loveintheface.com.

“I came out in 2018 as a trans woman,” Nia said. “We grew up in a pretty religious community … it kind of all fell apart on us. And then on top of that, you got the state saying that we don’t have your back.”

When the anti-trans policy crusade first began, Nia attempted to change the hearts and minds of Iowa’s most ardent conservative lawmakers at the statehouse. They were outwardly polite, but like some of her neighbors, it was clear the warped ideology ran too deep. “They’re getting false information and they’re just listening because they think they have a spiritual war to fight. The people who are making the laws are not listening.”

The Chiaramontes were recently interviewed for an upcoming Hulu documentary about LGBTQ households in the Midwest, and have a book called Embracing Queer Family: Learning to Live Authentically in Our Families and Communities slated for release in May 2024.

Despite building a supportive community around their family in Indianola, they recently decided to move from Iowa to Maryland, where efforts to dismantle LGBTQ healthcare and resources are not a daily source of anguish.

“In the long run, if any of our kids are queer, I don’t want them to have to deal with … a state that’s saying ‘no, your school may not take care of you,’” Nia said.

She’s not alone.

“We’ve already seen a not-insignificant amount of students with affirming families pick up and move out of state,” Thompson reported. “However, some of our students don’t have that privilege, whether it’s having non-affirming parents or being in a low-income household. And so we’re here to still ensure that those students receive the services that they need, and we will be for the foreseeable future.”

“If you have questions” about Iowa’s new legislation, “reach out to our organization, or your own educators, your GSA advisors, so you’re not blindsided by not being able to access the restroom anymore or something like that,” Thompson said.

Being openly LGBTQ continues to be a political act, but that doesn’t mean GSA members have an obligation to fight to the death, Thompson emphasized.

“We absolutely really push people to be involved [in advocacy], and it’s so crucial that folks are aware and engaged in what’s happening, but obviously, it’s a really toxic environment right now. So just knowing when to draw the line for yourself personally is super important.”

Nia’s advice to young activists, whether they’re dealing with unaccepting relatives, teachers or policymakers, is to set boundaries.

“Find those people willing to listen and engage and have those conversations, because those are much more productive and can make you feel seen.

“I think a lot of times,” she continued, “we feel like we have to know who we are, and then we can present this, like, fully formed thing to the world. But we need help and we need sounding boards as we form our identity.”

In need of a sounding board? Consider joining, starting or supporting a GSA.