Time of Celebration, Mourning & More Work

This week is a time of both celebration and mourning.  On the one hand, DOMA and Proposition 8 have been overturned – paving the way for marriage equality for LGBTQ people.  At the same time, the Voting Rights Act has been gutted and Affirmative Action is in question – which are huge blows to the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement and the continued racial justice struggles to ensure people of color have equal access to the right to vote, education, and employment.  In our time of celebration around marriage equality, let us also hold the pain and sadness of the roll backs of key civil rights protections for people of color, including LGBTQ people of color.

All this points to is the fact that there is still more work to be done!  GSAFE is coming to the end of our fiscal year this Sunday and we’re excited to celebrate some of our major accomplishments of the year.  During the 2013-2014 school year, we:

• Became the host organization for the Wisconsin Educational Justice Coalition, which brings together organizations that focus on youth leadership and community organizing to improve education for youth of color, low-income youth, youth with disabilities, Native American youth, immigrant youth, and LGBTQ youth.
• Worked with the McFarland School District to add gender identity to their student non-discrimination policy, which paves the way for transgender and gender non-conforming students to be fully respected and included in their school community.
• Launched our “GSAs for Justice” program, which provides more in-depth training and support to Gay-Straight Alliances who want to build coalitions with student of color and disability rights groups within their school.

$10,000 supports our new “GSAs for Justice” program which provides more in-depth training and support to Gay-Straight Alliances who want to build coalitions with student of color and disability rights groups within their school.  This work is innovative and exciting in that it builds the capacity of the safe schools movement to do racial justice and disability rights work – which will pave the way for all LGBTQ students to feel safe and supported in their schools.  By giving today you can help all of Wisconsin’s LGBTQ youth thrive!

Can you help us meet our end of year fundraising goal of $10,000?  Contribute $25, $50, or whatever you can be June 30 and help Wisconsin’s LGBTQ youth thrive!

Thank you for sharing our vision of Schools in Wisconsin where all LGBTQ youth thrive.

Brian Juchems & Kristen Petroshius

Co-Directors