What is a Gay Straight Alliance (GSA)?

The term GSA stands for Gay-Straight Alliance. GSAs extra curricular groups that are
open to all students regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. GSAs offer
support to their members and are a safe place to talk about LGBTTTQQIAA (see
definitions below) issues. They can be a group that help staff and students become
more aware of LGBTTTQQIAA people, history and issues. GSAs hold events, watch
movies, read books together and plan activities that promote safe and inclusive schools
for everyone. In HDSB, every high school has a GSA and several elementary schools
have GSAs or Elementary PRYDE (Please Respect Your Diverse Environment) groups
for intermediate students. Through Bill 13, the Accepting Schools Act 2012, students
have the legal right to form student led groups that promote the awareness and
understanding of, and respect for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities,
and to call them GSAs
All of the GSAs in the Halton District School Board have a teacher facilitator who helps
the group plan and execute events, run meetings, and connect with other teachers,
administrators, and parents.
Here is a sample of what our GSAs and PRYDE groups do in schools:
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Discussion Nights
Campaign for the Day of Pink (April 9)
Celebrate the International Day Against Homophobia (May 17)
LGBTQ history month events
Fundraising projects
Make posters, buttons, t-shirts to promote awareness
Movie Nights
Make presentations to staff and parents about safe and inclusive schools

Definitions (LGBTT2QQIAA)
Lesbian
Refers to a female who is emotionally and/or sexually attracted to the same sex.
Lesbian is the preferred term for women.
Gay
Refers to an individual who is emotionally and/or sexually attracted to a person of the
same sex; often interchangeable with the term homosexual.

Bisexual
Refers to an individual with the potential to be emotionally and/or sexually attracted to
members of any sex.
Transgender(ed)
Someone who is or who has been more than one gender.
Transsexual
Someone who was identified at birth as one sex and self-identifies as another.
Two Spirit
Refers to a member of the Aboriginal community who is gay, lesbian, bisexual or
transgender. Individual First Nations people have their own words in their own
languages that describe different gender identities and sexual orientation.
Queer
A term used in a number of different ways, i.e. as an umbrella term for lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, intersex, and other non-heterosexual identities. It is also used as
a way of reclaiming and co-opting a once negative term; to remove "queer" as a term of
abuse. However, not everyone finds the term empowering; some resist it because of its
use among homophobic people. Queer is a term that is increasingly gaining acceptance
as an academic term.
Questioning
Refers to a person who is exploring the possibilities of, or who is in the process of
figuring out their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Intersex
A medical term for someone who is biologically not clearly male or female; generally
more accurate and more acceptable than hermaphrodite.
Asexual
Someone who lacks interest or desire in sexual activities.
Ally
Someone who supports the LGBTQ community.