Support Groups

What is a GSA?

Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) are student-led clubs, usually at the high school or middle school level, that work to address anti-GLBTQ name-calling, bullying and harassment in their schools and promote respect for ALL students.

Although a lot of student clubs that are working to ensure safer schools are called GSAs, many clubs that support this work have different names like diversity clubs

GSAs and Support Groups are presently active in a number of our Orange County Public Schools. 

• Apopka HS
• Cypress Creek HS
• Ocoee HS
• Olympia HS
• West Orange HS

See our Legal section for more information.

Support Groups

A GLBTQ support group is active at Olympia HS.  In the 2005-2006 school year, Howard MS was the first Middle School to support their youth by providing a GLBTQ support group. 

Contact the school’s SAFE Coordinator to learn more about club or sponsor information regarding GSAs or GLBTQ Support Groups. 

For more information about how you can get a GSA or support group started at your Orange County Public school, please call us!  We can help! Contact us at ( 407) 443-7025

Safe Space Stickers

Safe Space stickers were distributed through the SAFE office of every secondary school during the 2005-2006 school year.  SAFE Space stickers are available through a school’s SAFE Program or through the GLSEN website.

Safe Space stickers are intended to be placed outside an educator’s door or window (with school-based administrative approval) of middle school and high school classrooms (or magnets may be purchased on which these stickers may be placed as to not deface property) to identify a teacher as a safe, non-judgmental adult that youth can talk with when dealing with GLBTQ (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning) concerns or issues. 

Suggestions for providing support & ways to keep your campus safe for GLBT youth:

• Keep language safe:  Do not tolerate or allow name-calling or words such as “homo,” “queer,” “gay,” or “fag” to be used (this is bullying behavior).
   
• Keep GLBT student information safe:  If a student confides in you about personal issues, keep this information confidential unless he/she gives you permission to share or unless he/she discloses something that involves hurting him/herself or someone else, incidents of abuse, or anything against the law or against the rules of the school.  Please let the youth know that any information he/she shares with you of this nature will need to be reported immediately to your SRO, administrator and/or SAFE Coordinator.
   
• Keep your campus safe from bullying or harassment:  If you learn of incidents involving bullying or harassment, please report this to your SAFE Coordinator, administrator or SRO immediately.

By placing a Safe Space sticker on the outside of a door, the SAFE Coordinator, a counselor, a member of the SAFE team, or a teacher is not asked to do counseling. Supportive adult volunteers are asked to place a Safe Space sticker outside classroom doors if they are comfortable identifying themselves as being safe adults regarding GLBTQ(gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender & questioning)-related concerns and are willing to support GLBTQ students by having conversations with them and/or referring them as needed. If for any reason an adult does not feel comfortable talking with a student with GLBTQ concerns, he/she has every right not to place a Safe Place sticker on his/her door.