Gsa?

[ehrgeiz]

GSA?

So I was at the kids school the other day and I noticed posters on the walls referencing a Gay Straight Alliance meeting at interval. I think we have a few teachers on the forum, don’t we? I was wondering if anyone with first hand knowledge can explain what goes in on these meetings and who attends. This a K-6 school.

Now, I’m not shy about inquiring directly with administration there, but my wife doesn’t want me to be “that guy”. I understand nowadays if you’re not 2 scoops full on anything gay you are apparently a bigot. But that madness aside, my curiosity remains, are teachers really sitting down with 6 or 7 year old kids and having discussions on sexuality? I can understand it in junior high and maybe with grade 6 kids because puberty can start, but those discussions seem entirely unnecessary, if not totally inappropriate for K through at least grade 4 or 5. Am I missing something here? When I went to school I don’t think a teacher uttered a word about human sexuality until high school.

[BuckCuller]

Welcome to the new world.
We have entered a new era and it is called the fall of Western civilization.

[CanadianPsycho]

Its a group of kids to be there to support other kids. A friendly space for people who are LGBT+ to talk to other kids in the same situation and maybe get some support. From the teachers I know they really aren't involved in the Gay-straight alliances apart from giving them a classroom to meet in. They aren't sitting in there talking about sex with the kids, that would be a career ender for the teacher to be talking about that outside the official learning environment. Its not some grand conspiracy to turn straight kids over to the LGBT+

[Big Sky]

My kids finished k-12 before gay straight alliances were starting to appear. However, from discussions with friends and family who would have more knowledge about them, CanadianPsycho describes them well.

I'm sure the principal of your kids' school would be happy to discuss the GSA with you. It would be part of their job.

Back when all of this was a much bigger controversy, the leader of the Wildrose Party supported them.

https://edmontonsun.com/2014/12/03/w...ight-alliances

[ehrgeiz]

Thanks for the info. I had assumed it was teacher initiated and moderated. Sounds like nay. I still question how and why this would come to exist in K-6, but seems like it’s not worth getting too concerned about.

[Smokinyotes]

Ya I’m not really sure what a gay straight alliance is. Is that what jagmeat and turdo are in?

[Off in the Bushes]

It happens there is a child in my daughters grade that identifies as female (clothing and appearance) but is male. Has been that way since early learning program. When I asked her about her she said “he’s a girl but uses the boys washroom.” 🤷*♂️
So I guess there are children that young that are struggling with identity.

[ehrgeiz]

↑
Maybe, but that would extraordinarily rare. I'd be suspicious that such an occurrence is more likely a complex mixture of attention and encouragement from parents/ guardians in that direction.

[riden]

Originally Posted by Big Sky

My kids finished k-12 before gay straight alliances were starting to appear. However, from discussions with friends and family who would have more knowledge about them, CanadianPsycho describes them well.

I'm sure the principal of your kids' school would be happy to discuss the GSA with you. It would be part of their job.

Back when all of this was a much bigger controversy, the leader of the Wildrose Party supported them.

https://edmontonsun.com/2014/12/03/w...ight-alliances

Everyone supported it, it passed 3rd reading unanimously, even though it was kinda quiet at the time.


https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/albert...ring%20sitting.

Alberta passes bill allowing gay-straight alliances in schools


Controversial Bill 10 unanimously passed third reading in the Alberta legislature on Tuesday, paving the way for gay-straight alliances to be established in all of the province’s schools.

The Progressive Conservative government surprised MLAs by putting the bill to a vote on the first day of the spring sitting.

Education Minister Gordon Dirks put forward amendments that restored the bill’s contents to what was originally introduced by Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman.


Under the new legislation, GSAs are allowed at all schools, and students are permitted to name them whatever they want.

Amendments to Blakeman’s original bill would have allowed GSAs, but off of school grounds. Those amendments sparked province-wide protests and led Alberta Premier Jim Prentice to put the bill on hold for further consultation.

Blakeman said Tuesday, that the restoring and passing of the bill shows what can happen when residents speak out.

“Thank you to every Albertan that refused to tolerate discrimination in this province,” an emotional Blakeman said in the legislature. “Your voice mattered.”

Consultations were held after Prentice put the bill on hold, with children telling of the impact that a GSA had on their lives. Others said they wished they had one at their school.

Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley called the government’s restoration of the original bill “a complete about-face.” She added that the Conservatives’ polling data showed them that the bill would “take down a number of (their) members if they don’t fix it.”

“These folks had to be dragged kicking and screaming across the finish line on this issue,” Notley told reporters. “But the most important thing is that they’re there and we welcome them to this side of the line.”

Interim Wildrose leader Heather Forsyth also accused the government of playing politics with the bill, with an election expected later this spring.

“I don’t think we should be playing politics when we’re talking about children, quite frankly,” Forsyth said in the legislature. “To me it’s about providing a safe environment for our children.”

Alberta Premier Jim Prentice told reporters that his first concern was “the safety of our kids.”

“I know from my perspective that caused me to reflect on it and to say ‘this is not going where it needs to go for the people of Alberta and for the children of this province, the students,’” Prentice said.

After the vote, Blakeman noted that the bill’s passage “is only the beginning.”

“Now we need to resource this,” she said. “We need to make it happen.”

The bill must still receive Royal Assent, but is expected to come into effect on June 1.

[sns2]

The OP’s question is hard to answer. I have not been involved with one, but would strongly guess it would take on the flavour of the teacher leading it. That could be a teacher at their desk letting kids talk, or they could be more enthusiastic about what the group discusses and does. Some teachers are too enthusiastic in this area is my opinion. But hey, I am a self-confessed dinosaur. I just treat all kids as equal and valuable. No one special. Everybody equal. I don’t put up posters in my class for any particular group. Just treat them all with dignity and respect. I still feel parents are the ones to be dealing with this, and personally feel elementary is too young for these clubs, but I don’t make the rules, I just follow them.