Students
The foundation of GSA Day is LGBT students and their allies. Here are ways to celebrate and organize in your school or on your college campus, engage media, be visible, plan for the future and much more!
Students who have a GSA:
The foundation of GSA Day is YOU—LGBT students and straight allies! The following information can help you make GSA Day a time to celebrate, be visible, plan for the future, and much more!
Be Visible
Let people know why you love and appreciate your GSA and how they can be involved!
- Host a party
- Make sure people know that your GSA exists and why
- Make t-shirts
- Make fliers and hand them out at lunch
- Have a panel discussion or lead a staff training to discuss your GSA
- Hold a GSA meeting where you bring your friends
Show Appreciation
- Do you have a fantastic GSA advisor? Do you have supportive teachers, administrators or community members? Are there other student organizations that support your GSA? Let them know how important they are to you by giving them a card, cookies or a thank you over the announcements or in the campus paper
- Show appreciation for your group by discussing your group’s history
- Take the time to research your GSA’s history. Or, if you started it, write down your history and pass it on to new GSA leaders
- Understanding and appreciating where you’ve been will help the group feel confident in creating change for the future!
Get Organized
- Sit down with your GSA and plan for the future
- What are your goals for the GSA?
- What do you want to accomplish? Do you want to increase attendance, improve programming, or make your school safer?
- Do you know who next year’s leaders will be?
Join the GSA Day Video Campaign
- Tell the world about all the great things your GSA is doing be creating a video—you can be as creative or simple as you want!!
Celebrate!
- In the midst of planning for this amazing day, don’t forget to have fun and really celebrate! You and your friends are part of a growing social justice movement that is laying the groundwork for equality and respect of all people while eliminating racism, homophobia, sexism and hate! Aaaaamazing!
Students who don’t have a GSA:
Any student, school or college can participate—even if you don’t have a GSA. We do ask that all students, schools and colleges register on our website. If you don’t yet have a GSA, participating in GSA Day is a great way to inform your administration about the need for a GSA and the benefits they bring to all students!
Download the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN)’s GSA Research Brief as a way to begin a discussion with your school and use their GSA Jump-Start Guide to help you get a GSA started!
Ways to celebrate:
Be Visible
Let people know why you love and appreciate GSAs and the alliance between gay and straight people—and how they can be involved!
- Host a party!
- Make t-shirts
- Make fliers about how gay and straight people need to stand together and hand them out at lunch
Show Appreciation
- Do you have supportive teachers, professors or administrators? Let them know you appreciate their support of you by giving them a card or thank-you note
- Use this opportunity to talk to them about your desire to start a GSA
- If you start a GSA, write down its history and pass it on to new GSA leaders
- Understanding and appreciating where you’ve been will help the group feel confident in creating change for the future!
Get Organized
- Connect with other GSAs and resources in your state
- Sit down and plan how you will go about creating a GSA
- What are your goals for the GSA?
- What do you want to accomplish? What kind of programming and activities do you want the GSA to take part in?
- Do you know who next year’s leaders will be?
Join the GSA Day Video Campaign
- Tell the world about how important it is for LGBT and allied people to come together to fight homophobia, transphobia, bigotry and hate—you can be as creative or simple as you want!!
Celebrate!
- In the midst of planning for this amazing day-don’t forget to have fun and really celebrate! You and your friends are part of a growing social justice movement that is laying the groundwork for equality and respect of all people while eliminating racism, homophobia, sexism and hate! Aaaaamazing!