Contextualizing Gay-Straight Alliances: Who They Serve and Variability in How They Function as Youth Settings

These student-led clubs create safe spaces for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and straight youth. To extend our knowledge in this understudied area, Poteat will review administrative data, survey 150 GSA participants and their advisors, and code interactions between youth and their adult advisors at 20 schools. He will investigate variability of GSA’s membership, program activities, levels of support, power dynamics, and relationships with host schools. He will then examine how these differences relate to indicators of positive youth development and highlight key factors.