School can be a challenging time for any student, and for those struggling with bullying, it can make school an even bigger challenge. LGBTQ students in the Tampa Bay area are finding some relief thanks to GLSEN.
GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) is an organization that focuses on safe schools for all students regardless of gender identity.
“Or really anything that might make them different,” David Coffey, one of the board of directors at GLSEN Tampa Bay, says. “And of course the goal there is to combat the bullying against those types of students as well.”
With the school year just starting up again, GLSEN is finding new ways to help students combat bullying. The Tampa Bay chapter of GLSEN supports 40 to 50 GSA’s, or gay-straight alliances, which work to address anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in middle schools and high schools, both public and private. This number is constantly growing as new GSA’s are formed for newer schools and schools that were never reached out to before are addressed, according to Coffey.
To help sponsor the GSA groups, GLSEN is holding their first annual back-to-school anti-bullying fundraiser Friday, Sept. 16.
“We’re bringing together educators and supporters within a community to do a couple of things, and that’s to raise awareness about the organization itself and to help broaden the [anti-bullying] message,” Coffey says.
The event will be held at Jackson’s Bistro from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and will include an evening of cocktails, raffle prizes, entertainment and a silent auction. The funds will go toward scholarships for the students as well as to the schools GSA’s to help sponsor clubs and organizations within the school.
GLSEN will also be holding an event Sept. 24 at Tampa Prep, a private school in the Tampa Bay area, which will bring the GSA’s together. During the GSA Connect event, they also hope to bring together the educators and students together. Students will be able to watch an anti-bullying film called Out and Around and then have a chance to talk with the producers of the film during an interactive Skype session, according to Coffey.
According to the GLSEN web page, eight out of 10 LGBT students are still harassed at school each year because of who they are. GLSEN was founded by a small group of dedicated teachers under Kevin Jennings in 1990 and has continued to expand their reach over the decades in their efforts to help LGBTQ youth. They are now the leading national education organization striving for the safety of all students from discrimination and bullying at school.
