Abstract: This paper recounts the personal experiences of a bisexual high school teacher and a mother when she participated, with her students and her colleagues, in a camp organized by the National Council for Community and Justice and designed to make participants examine their ideas about homosexuality. The paper reports on the teacher's unsuccessful efforts to start a support group for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and questioning students on her high school campus. The teacher and other interested individuals put together a diversity workshop during a professional growth day, and, as a result the support group became a reality, the Gay/Straight Alliance was born. The paper concludes by describing some of the Alliance's activities at the high school. (BT)

Title: Diversity and Learning: Ending the Silence--Starting a Gay/Straight Alliance.
Author: Brickley, Lori
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (Seattle, WA, April 10-14, 2001).
Page Length: 10
Publication Year: 2001
Document Type: Project Description (141); Conference Paper (150)
Target Audience: Practitioners and Teachers
ERIC Identifier: ED453127
Clearinghouse Identifier: SO032772
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Descriptors: * High School Students; High Schools; * Personal Narratives; * Sexual Identity; * Sexual Orientation; Student Needs; * Teacher Student Relationship

Identifiers: *Gay Straight Alliances; Personal Experiences; *Sexual Attitudes