Donating to GLSEN Boston

The Need

Anti-gay harassment and bullying are an under-acknowledged threat in our schools. The Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey showed that GLBT students were much more at risk of destructive and/or disruptive experiences than their non-GLBT counterparts.

- 40.4% of GLBT students reported attempting suicide in the last year compared to 7.2% of their non-GLBT peers.

- 18.3% of GLBT students required medical attention as a result of a suicide attempt compared to 2.2% of their non-GLBT students.

- 16.3% of GLBT students skipped school in the past month because of feeling unsafe on route to or at school versus 4.2% of non-GLBT students.

- 19.2% of GLBT students were threatened or injured with a weapon at school versus 5.8% of non-GLBT students.

However, there is also data that shows that proactive work in the school environment makes a difference: The 2003 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey shows that schools with a Gay/Straight Alliance or similar group had significantly lower incidences of GLBT students skipping school because they felt unsafe, lower rates of GLBT students being threatened or injured with a weapon at school and a lower rate of suicide attempts.

GLSEN Boston is one of the creators of the original Safe Schools Program and Gay-Straight Alliance model, and is committed to making schools safe with services and events like the Annual Conference, Educator Retreat, Safe-Schools Trainings, Action Planning Days and more.

Fundraising for local programming is the sole responsibility of our local chapter; we receive no financial support from our national organization. Given the urgent need for the work that GLSEN Boston does in our community, we invite you to help us in making Boston-area schools safe for all with your generous donations. Please visit our donations page.