About Collegiate Academy Gay Straight Alliance

by Nicole Steele

Having a Gay-Straight Alliance has been a dream of mine since I was in 8th grade. I knew I had to make my dream a reality when I survived some serious health problems this year. I told myself that if I survived I would start a Gay-Straight Alliance. Having a Gay-Straight Alliance is just a baby step on the path to my life goal of securing Human Rights, including Gay marriage and rights. When I decided I had to get the Gay-Straight Alliance going, I immediately started researching and getting a proposal together for my principal. The research and fine tuning of the proposal took me weeks. When the proposal was finally done to the best of my abilities I left a note for my principal to schedule a meeting. It took two different meetings with my principal to get it started. My principal seemed very supportive and I have had great support from my teachers and fellow students. With the help of my teachers, Mike Mahler, Maureen Koseff, and my mom I finally got the Gay-Straight Alliance up and running.

Collegiate Academy Gay-Straight Alliance meetings are pretty fun. We have all grown close to each other. We are currently planning group events and just recently a few of us participated in the National Day of Silence. I can honestly say that the Collegiate GSA is everything I could have hoped for and more. For anyone who is planning on starting a GSA here are a few tips:

1. Do your research! There's nothing more stressful than having a meeting with your principal, why not make it easier on you by knowing what you are talking about.
2. Make a proposal. This way you can leave a copy with your principal so that he/she can look it over if they haven't given you a definite yes.
3. Schedule a meeting with your principal. By leaving a note for him/her requesting a meeting they have the freedom of deciding when.
4. Know who your allies are. It always helps to know which teachers/ students are on your side.
5. Write a letter. Write a nice letter to your principal after your first meeting expressing your gratitude for him/her actually considering having a GSA.
6. Know your rights. If your principal rejects having a GSA, look up the Equal Access Act.
7. Make copies! Make copies of everything you do or research this way if you need to let your principal know about the Equal Access Act, you have a copy for her and a copy for yourself.

My biggest suggestion to anyone considering starting a Gay-Straight Alliance is to not get involved if your whole heart is not in it. It's a very stressful job that requires a lot out of you. Being at Collegiate Academy I can tell you first hand that you will have to schedule your time, but the benefits more than outweigh the hardships. I know that if I had quit on my dream I would have never met some of the great people that I have met and became friends with.