Talk:Gay-Straight Alliances

                   No, Dorothy, there really was a world west of the Appalachians that includes more than El Modena H S and those in Utah.
I believe that the first High School Gay Student group was formed by Steven Cohen at Newport harbor School in Orange County, CA about 1971-1972: and urge you to contact former ACLU-SC Orange County Office directors Steve Egan stevenegan@gmail.com and/or Bruce Derflinger derflinger@gmail.com. I believe that the group, allowed but not at all encouraged to  exist, by an administration fearing an indefensible ACLU-SC suit over a denial.
                    This decision was prompted by the rapid succession of out- of- court ACLU-SC negotiated university, state college and community college Gay Student wins following the ACLU-NC's Sacramento State gay victory of 1969.(1969 also saw Fullerton State's GSA recognized; 1970 included Cal State Long Beach, Cal State San Diego, University of California Irvine, long Beach City College, Fullerton City College, Orange Coast College (Costa Mesa, CA) and Golden West College (Huntington Beach, CA) of the ones where I represented  the local ACLU-SC chapter (in 69: Orange County only and in 70 added Long Beach, Pasadena, San Diego (for some years now,  a separate ACLU affiliate) and Santa Monica. Two would see their local Community College GSAs recognized in 1971, as the push expanded east and north. Coming out of "retirement" when Saddleback College's GSA (Mission Viejo, CA) tried to deny in 1983 and threatened as an intervenor on a reluctant administrator by a knowledgeable student organizer at Mesa College (San Diego) in 2007, I finally notched 23 out-of-court GSA (or equivalent) victories, largely in southern and central  California but as far east into Jonathan Ned Katz territory as the University of Connecticut at Storrs, CN.
           In 1969 here in the west, the first three recognized campus Gay Groups were at Sacramento, Fullerton and San Francisco state Colleges. (This excludes whatever UC Berkley had and whatever social group U Washington at Seattle might have had "unrecognized" any given semester).

- Jay Murley four-term Past President, 18 years B of D, ACLU-SC Orange County Chapter (retired to San Diego, CA)

It might also be worth mentioning how Gay-Straight Alliance in the United States have inspired youth activists in other countries to establish similar groups in their own schools and colleges? The WikiPedia entry for GSA's gives a bit more info on this as this article could do with some more info.

Silver Pink Lady 09:40, 5 May 2009 (PDT) Silver_Pink_Lady 5th May 2009