Can you help me?

Hey everybody!

I've got a couple of questions for you - I could use some help/advice.  Here's the background:

I'm a high school teacher, and have just been approached to sponsor the Gay Straight Alliance.  It's basically a student-run club, and I don't have much to do but oversee the activities, coordinate whatever trips the kids might want to take, etc.  I told the student who asked me that I'd be honored, but wanted to sit down with him on Monday (my next free after-school afternoon) and go over the list of things that he wanted to do with the club.  He said he'd like to do more in the way of field trips and/or Pride events this year, but that they also had some stuff from last year that they'd kicked around.  (There was a GSA for a couple of months last year, but the advisor had a time commitment issue and couldn't continue, so the group floundered).

Can you help me out a little with a few suggestions of activities, or if you know of any youth GSA-type groups, what do they do in the way of activities and/or education?

Thank you so much in advance for any advice you can offer!

That is a very sticky situation. How would the parents feel if you took a group of kids to a gay pride parade? Don't get me wrong, I wish my school would have done it, but there is just so much to factor in here. Is the field trip geared towards the group, is the field trip geared towards the age of the group, what would the community (parents) take on the trip be.

Believe me, I've thought about that very thing.  I wouldn't want anything to happen to my kids at a rowdy parade - it seems like there are always asshole protesters at every event.  I think that the kids should have to bring a parent with them to a pride parade - I really don't want that kind of liability!

That said, there are probably events that are better suited to the age group, you're absolutely right about that.  Thanks for the advice!

Luey Starts in 19 1/2 hours...

I will be there.

 I know with our GSA we are probably going to do a gay literary event and possibly attend some art shows and theater performances and things of that nature. You don't have to go to gay pride parades and actually that wouldn't be very youth-friendly really b/c the gays can get wild!! And 16 year olds are all horny and would run rampant. You could also do STD awareness and have a nursing school come in to do a presentation or something. Fundraisers you could do could be bake sales, carwashes, etc. You could have the kids read a gay oriented novel (coming out story etc...Alex Sanchez writes a series about high school kids called the Rainbow Boys and there's like 3 or 4 books in that series all titled Rainbow something) and then have monthly or bi-monthly discussions about how they feel and cope with their sexuality. You can have a lot of fun with it and also be a great guide through that troubling time in their lives. Being queer teens is very hard. 

These are great ideas!  Thanks so much - especially for the book recommendations!

shut up you have only been OUT 2 weeks...let more experienced queers answer this!!!

 Queen please I've definitely read gay literature and searched about it for YEEAARRRSS before coming out recently. So don't tell ME to shut up lmao I know I'm not all that experienced but I'm not completely clueless.