Gay-Straight Alliances in Public Schools: Agents of Early Adolescent Alienation

Gay-straight alliances (GSAs) are heralded for their role in providing safe spaces and social outlets for queer students in public schools in the United States. While this is true to an extent, GSAs fail to accomplish their mission of creating a culture of diversity and tolerance within their schools. Due in large part to macro-level heteronormative expectations, mezzo-level GSAs emphasize the ostensible difference between heterosexual teenagers and their non-normative peers, in preference to dismissing this falsehood. As influential sites of socialization, this paper offers an alternative strategy that schools might employ to foster an environment of inclusivity and mutual respect.