Create a GSA

Invite peers who are interested in building an affirming LGBTQ+ space. Check with existing clubs for students who might have an interest. Social media is a great way to reach out to potential members! Also, if your school has a newsletter or school-wide announcements, you can ask to share information about the GSA there. For more ideas, check out our tips for finding new GSA members. There are many ways to advertise; think about using a variety of outreach strategies. Use a combination of your school bulletin, announcements, social media, flyers, or word-of-mouth. Use colorful visuals that include your club’s purpose and information about when and where the club meets. Participate in GLSEN’s Days of Action to increase visibility of your GSA and its purpose. Note that you will need to get permission slips signed by the parents of each participant. Here is an example of a permission slip that you can use or modify.

You will get support from organizations when you register here: https://gsanetwork.org/gsa-registration/. 

You can also follow this link, scroll down, and hit the pink “REGISTER” button to join GLSEN’s GSA Collaborative. It is a GLSEN program that aims to increase the impact of GSAs across the country by providing educational content, building student and educator support, and growing grassroots networks. They meet on a regular, weekly basis and talk about on how to start a GSA, how to plan events and fundraise for GSAs, how to organize and collaborate

First, check to see if your school has any specific guidelines about where clubs can meet. Working within these guidelines, consider the following when choosing your meeting location: 

• Will you have consistent access to this space? You want to pick somewhere you’ll be able to meet on a regular basis so you don’t have to change meeting locations every week. You may also want to consider whether you’ll have access to this space outside of regular meeting times, in case you need to access club materials or use the room to work on club-related projects.
• Does the space offer privacy? Some of your members may not be out to everyone, so it’s important to have a space where members can feel safe participating in GSA. For example, you may not want to meet in the cafeteria because members may not feel safe with other students walking by.
• Is the space the right size for your group? For many clubs, a classroom can be a great meeting space. However, if your club has 100 members, for example, you may want to consider meeting in a larger space, such as a lecture hall or conference room.

Pick a time that a majority of interested members will be able to attend. Send out a When2Meet or a Doodle poll to potential members at the beginning of each year or each semester to see what meeting times work best for folks. If your school allows it, try to have meetings during the school day (like during lunch), so members can avoid having to explain to potentially unsupportive parents why they are staying before or after school. If you need to have meetings outside of school hours, think about what times would be most practical for students. If many folks rely on buses for transportation to and from school, consider whether morning or afternoon meetings would work best. If your school offers early and/or late buses, that may be an additional factor to consider.

Create an agenda so everyone knows the purpose and planned topics for the meeting. There are tons of things you can do, including having discussions, inviting speakers, holding workshops, playing games, offering food or snacks, and more! Check out the GLSEN calendar for a list of awareness days, days of action, and other events for meeting topic ideas. You may want to start with a discussion about why people feel the group is needed or important. This may also be a good time to decide on a leadership structure and recurring meeting schedule for your club. Members can work together to brainstorm projects for the club to do this year and topics to discuss at the meetings.

• As a group, create a mission statement. The purpose of a mission statement is to identify why the club exists, spell out the goals and philosophy of the group, and explain the club’s work. Creating a mission statement for your group will give you direction and purpose throughout the year, and will inform others of what your group is about. For tips on how to do this, click here. For examples of mission statements from other GSAs, click here.
• Create community rules: Creating ground rules helps to ensure that group discussions are safe, confidential, and respectful. Community agreements, such as “What is said here, stays here,” help maintain confidentiality. For more suggestions, check out our Guidelines for Respectful GSA Spaces resource.
• Consider nominating and voting for students who could hold leadership positions (president, vice-president, secretary, etc). This helps spread the responsibilities that come with GSA maintenance. It looks great on college applications as well!

Look at GLSEN’s calendar to see a list of all of the LGBTQ+ related events for the school year. You can also look at your school’s calendar to see if there are any on-campus events your GSA would want to be a part of. Then, develop an action plan and set goals to work on throughout the year. Look online for opportunities to partner with other organizations near you, like a GLSEN chapter, GSA collaborative, or LGBTQ+ nonprofit. Look here for annually programmed events. Also check out the calendar put out by Utah Pride for local events.