GSAFE will host their 2024 Safe Schools, Safe Communities conference on November 1 & 2 in downtown Madison, WI to provide educators, families, and leaders in communities across Wisconsin tools and resources to protect and affirm LGBTQ+ youth. Early-bird pricing is in effect through October 6th.
The conference will feature national and local educators, organizers, and legal experts, including award-winning authors and family advocates JR & Vanessa Ford, whose children’s book Calvin features a young transgender boy. Vanessa also recently co-authored The Advocate Educator’s Handbook: Creating Schools Where Transgender and Non-Binary Students Thrive along with transgender educator and artist Rebecca Kling, who will also appear.
“With the unprecedented number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills and policies introduced by Wisconsin school boards and state legislators this past year, it is more important than ever for adults charged with protecting and ensuring the healthy development of LGBTQ+ youth to connect and learn what practices best support the well-being of our young people,” said GSAFE Senior Director of Education and Policy, Brian Juchems.
“At least 25 Wisconsin school boards have proposed, and in many cases passed, policies and procedures that harm LGBTQ+ youth since 2022, with that number increasing as schools resist fully adopting recent Title IX regulations intended to protect transgender youth in particular,” Juchems added. “Beyond signaling political values, these bills represent a form of policy erasure, advocating for the removal of LGBTQ+ identity from educational opportunities, curricular representation, and vital school resources.”
Conference workshops will include sessions on school board advocacy and updates on GSAFE and Fair Wisconsin’s recently filed federal Title IX complaint filed against the Kettle Moraine School district. Fair Wisconsin is Wisconsin’s statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights and political advocacy organization, dedicated to building a fair, safe, and inclusive state where LGBTQ+ people are treated with dignity and respect.
Additional sessions include a focus on support for parents, caregivers, and families of LGBTQ+ youth. Workshops and activities will be provided for families to attend with their children.
“It has been proven that parents and caregivers are the most critical stewards for the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ youth,” said Sue Neeley, GSAFE Director of Family Engagement and Advocacy . “LGBTQ+ youth with supportive families report higher self-esteem, social engagement, and general health and less depression, substance abuse, suicidal ideation, and self-harm compared to LGBTQ+ youth who have not been supported by their families.”
“We know that LGBTQ+ children who live in very accepting homes and communities have reported less than half the rate of attempting to take their own lives than those living in unaccepting and unsupportive communities,” Neeley added.
GSAFE is Wisconsin’s statewide LGBTQ+ education and advocacy organization, committed to building thriving school communities for LGBTQ+ youth and students. Safe Schools, Safe Communities is sponsored by TruStage, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Wisconsin Education Association Council, AFT-Wisconsin, Community Shares of Wisconsin, Wisconsin School Counselor Association, and Rogers Behavioral Health.
