Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network (GSA Network), a national organization that supports trans and queer youth to unite for racial and gender justice, in partnership with Transgender Law Center (TLC), has launched Gender Justice Leadership Programs that will center transgender and gender diverse youth organizers within the national GSA movement. This new initiative will strengthen our movement-building efforts focused on gender justice and build collective power to create lasting policy change for trans youth of color.
“At a time when transgender and gender diverse students of color are speaking out and leading GSA clubs, they are also the target of local, state, and federal policies that seek to block access to school facilities, athletic programs, healthcare, and safe and supportive environments. GSA Network is proud to introduce an initiative that will assert their role in the LGBTQ+ youth movement,” said Geoffrey Winder, Co-Executive Director for GSA Network. “The GJLP represents an important and timely expansion of our gender justice work since launching the Trans Youth (TRUTH) Project in collaboration with Transgender Law Center in 2015.”
“We have been working to build a collective trans youth movement that can influence and shape conversations about the lives and experiences of transgender and gender diverse young people in schools and local communities,” said Juniperangélica Cordova, Associate Director of the Gender Justice Leadership Programs. “This is our call to propel forward and solidify a trans youth movement that is powerful enough to determine our future.”
The GJLP will work with 19 organizations across the country to incorporate gender justice in their LGBTQ+ youth programs, develop the leadership of transgender and gender diverse youth of color, and carry out a digital organizing and media advocacy strategy that will continue to shift public narratives about the lives and experiences of trans youth.
“Transgender and gender diverse youth deserve to be affirmed from the moment of their birth and to be empowered as their authentic selves at home, at school, and in public life,” said Kris Hayashi, Transgender Law Center’s Executive Director. “The Gender Justice Leadership Programs bring us closer to making this vision a reality and will nurture leaders and build power. It is beautifully in line with the Trans Agenda for Liberation’s goal to center intergenerational connection and lifelong care and we are excited to see where an LGBTQ+ movement that centers and values the leadership of trans and gender diverse youth will take us.”
Learn more about the Gender Justice Leadership Programs.
Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network (GSA Network) is a next-generation LGBTQ racial and gender justice organization that empowers and trains trans, queer, and allied youth leaders to advocate, organize, and mobilize an intersectional movement for safer schools and healthier communities. In California, GSA Network connects over 1,000 GSA clubs through regional summits and youth councils. Nationally, GSA Network leads the National Association of GSA Networks which unites 40 statewide networks of GSA clubs, and GSAs Unite, an online campaign and petition platform supporting youth organizers across the country.
