GSA for Safe Schools History

Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools was founded on the roots of GLEE and GLADE, and originally functioned as a grassroots effort run out of members' homes. Several Madison area schools responded with an outpouring of cautious but steadfast support. We had struck a nerve. By 1966 a vibrant national movement took hold in support of LGBT students. Recognizing that there is strength in numbers, we became a local chapter of the national GLSEN organization and became GLSEN-SCW.

In 2006, GLSEN national took a new direction that benefited volunteer chapters more than highly developed ones with full time staffs, and we amicably broke with the national organization. In the spring of 2006 we formed a separate nonprofit and because GSA for Safe Schools.

Following a 12-year history of steadily developing an organization with long-term sustainability through planned, careful growth, GSA for Safe Schools works in concert with many other local groups in the education, youth, and social justice arenas to advance the common goal of creating respect for all children.