In August, Townhall reported how a new survey found that voters “of all political stripes” agree that America’s public schools are not teaching students the responsibilities of being a good citizen. And, almost half of all respondents indicated that lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity are receiving too much attention in schools.
According to Parental Rights organization Parents Defending Education, Gender and Sexualities Alliance (GSA) clubs are emerging at schools across the country starting as early as pre-school. The GSA Network website claims that these groups “unite LGBTQ+ and allied youth to build community and organize around issues impacting them in their schools and communities.” In recent years, however, the clubs have “evolved beyond their traditional role…as vehicles for deep social change related to racial, gender, and educational justice.”
At the middle and elementary school level, PDE noted that the clubs can be called the “Queer Straight Alliance,” the “Rainbow Club,” the “Unity Club,” among others. Along with resources like “safe spaces” in schools, the GSA network calls for disbanding school police departments that impact “LGBTQ+ youth of color” (via PDE):
In a self-published article titled “LGBTQ+ Youth of Color Need #PoliceFreeSchools,” the GSA network states that “LGBTQ+ youth of color can only access a quality education and safe school environments if we disband school police departments that disproportionately target and apprehend students of color” and that “removing all police presence in schools is a critical step to dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline.”
The article also states that the “National Trans Youth Council [Gender Justice Leadership Programs], a project of GSA Network and Transgender Law Center,” developed a “Nine Point Platform and manifesto on Trans Youth Liberation.” The Platform calls for the “abolition of the police, ICE, borders, and the judicial system,” an “end of the cisgender heterosexual patriarchy,” and an “end to global white supremacy.”
NEW INVESTIGATION: Does your child's school have a Gender Sexuality Alliance (formerly Gay-Straight Alliance)?
— Parents Defending Education (@DefendingEd) November 15, 2023
What parents need to know:https://t.co/R64ilFFpN4
GSA no longer stands for "gay/straight alliance." Now it's a Gender and Sexualities Alliance that's in elementary schools and middle schools as well as high schools. (They usually call them Rainbow Clubs at the elementary level and they meet during lunch.) https://t.co/62yJbIBGPj
— Erika Sanzi (@esanzi) November 15, 2023
One massive school district with this type of club is the Los Angeles Unified School District in California, which serves over 500,000 students. Other school districts include the Waterloo Community Unit School District in Illinois, Topeka Public Schools in Kansas, Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, Saint Paul Public Schools in Minnesota and the Salem Public School District in Massachusetts.
Additionally, PDE’s investigation tracks all the school districts with a GSA network that also have policies that do not require schools to notify parents of their child’s “gender identity.”
"These new GSA clubs are about ideology and social and political activism. They increasingly target younger students in schools because they are a captive audience away from their parents and caregivers. Students are often instructed to keep secrets -- it's a major child safeguarding risk and has no place in schools,” Erika Sanzi, director of outreach at PDE, told Townhall.