Adults and Advisors

With the right support, GSA youth activists have the power to defeat homophobia and transphobia in school. Effective and empowering GSA Advisors and adult allies play an important role in a GSA’s success.

Advisor Handbook [1]

To help you succeed, the National Association of GSA Networks created a GSA Advisor Handbook [1] for both new and veteran advisors! This comprehensive resource will guide you through starting up a GSA, your role as an advisor, and sustaining your club over time.

Other Resources You May Find Helpful

Our How to be an Awesome Advisor [2] resource sheet is great place to start. Throughout our Resources section, you’ll find many other resources for GSA activists. Many are useful for teachers and advisors, too.

In Building Your GSA [3], we cover the fundamentals of starting and running successful GSAs, including:

• Dealing with Apathy [4]
• Dealing with Hostility & Opposition [5]
• Transitioning Leadership [6]

In Creating Inclusive GSAs section [7], we cover the role of adults in:

• Youth-Adult Partnerships [8]
• Working with Adults

Legal information is available in Legal Resources [9] and Know Your Rights [10].

Change Your School

Learn about what GSAs can do to fight slurs, increase LGTBQ visibility, support transgender students, create inclusive curriculum, and more. Learn what you can do to Change Your School [11].

More Resources Available

The San Francisco Unified School District’s LGBTQ support website [12] is dedicated to providing educators with tools to LGBTQ topics in school. Their goal is to create a safer learning environment for all students with an emphasis on LGBTQ youth and their families.

Check out the feature article, "In Support of LGBTQ Youth," [13] written for the California Association of School Counselors by a GSA advisor.

Also be sure to check out the resources for teachers, administrators, and other school personnel compiled by the Safe Schools Coalition [14].

You can find more tools for teachers, GSA advisors, and other adults in our Community Resources [15] directory.