Tuesday April 26, 2022 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM ET | Online (Zoom)

Free. Suggested donation of $10.

Join moderate Katy Butler and panelists Daniel Alonso, Heather Eig, and Kieran Slattery in discussing how to create and sustain GSAs in elementary schools.

Moderator: Katy Butler (she/her) is a white queer cisgender female teacher. She teaches 2nd grade in San Francisco. She is the co-creator of Gender Inclusive Classrooms. Katy runs a bi-monthly Rainbow Club offered to students in grades K-5. She also advises teachers across the country in creating their own elementary school versions of a GSA.

Kieran Slattery (he/him) is a white queer transgender man who has taught 5th grade at a public school in Massachusetts for seven years. He holds a Masters in Teaching and Masters in Children's Literature. He is a co-creator of Gender Inclusive Classrooms.

Daniel Alonso (he/him) is a 5th grade Bilingual Spanish teacher. Daniel is an advocate for all, lover of puppies, and redeemer of all things Mariah.

Heather Eig (she/her) has been a School Counselor for more than 25 years and a strong LBGTQ advocate for even longer. As a High School Counselor, she was the staff-sponsor for one of Maryland's inaugural GSAs in 1997. Mrs. Eig lobbied the Maryland Board of Education to add Sexual Orientation to the Non-Discrimination Policy that was eventually signed into state law as the Antidiscrimination Act of 2001. Mrs. Eig volunteered at SMYAL in Washington, DC until her family moved to Maryland, where she currently resides. As a part-time School Counselor at an elementary school, Mrs. Eig currently co-facilitates the Rainbow Club, the school district’s first student-run, staff-supported elementary school GSA.

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Resources from the Panel

Resources from Pride and Less Prejudice

• Pride and Less Prejudice + Only Human Cause Campaign

• List of book recommendations on Bookshop

• Book Gallery of books we’ve donated in the past

• Free read-alouds

Audiobook

• Raising LGBTQ Allies: A Parent's Guide to Changing the Messages from the Playground

Book Recommendations & Resources

• Teaching Outside the Binary: Website and Instagram

• 6 Kids Books For Trans Day of Resilience

• LGBTQ Reads

• M Is for Melanin: A Celebration of the Black Child by Tiffany Rose

• An ABC of Equality by Chana Ginelle Ewing

• Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Gender Diversity Books

High School GSA Activities from a Canadian Non-Profit

• OUTSakatoon GSA Guide: A Weekly Guide of Activities for Gay Straight Alliances

Resources from Gender Inclusive Classrooms

• List of Books on Bookshop

• Back to School Letters to Families (includes language that you can adopt/change to address Rainbow Clubs/GSAs)

• Kid-Friendly LGBTQ Definitions

• Short list (English)

• More terms (English)

• More terms (Spanish)

• What a Rainbow Club is

GSA Resources

• California Teachers Association LGBTQ+ Safety in Schools Grant and Scholarship Program in Honor of Guy DeRosa

• LGBTQ Student Rights (San Francisco Unified Districts (SFUSD))

• Guidelines for Student Gender Identity in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

• GSA Models: 3 Types of Clubs by the GSA Network

• Principles for Responding to Concerns (from Gender Spectrum)

• Know Your Rights (National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE))

• Supreme Court ruling gives LGBTQ educators protections at public and many private schools (July 16, 2020)

• Policy Resources from GLSEN

• Find regulations and protections in your state on the GLSEN Navigator