Resources

It's Elementary

The groundbreaking film that addresses anti-gay prejudice by providing adults with practical lessons on how to talk with children about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people. Part of The Respect for All Project.

National Organizations | Local Networks | Media Resources

National Organizations

Welcoming Schools Program of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Families Project
The HRC Foundation’s Family Project is partnering with GroundSpark’s Respect For All Project to create, pilot, and distribute new resources for the safe schools movement.Drawing on some of the work of the Family Project’s new Welcoming Schools guide, GroundSpark is also releasing a groundbreaking140-page toolkit for community organizing, professional development, and K-8 Curriculum that is designed to help parents and educators put the ideas of It’s Elementary into action.The manual will complement HRC’s comprehensive Welcoming Schools guide, which GroundSpark is piloting at three elementary schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. Together, HRC’s Welcoming Schools guide and GroundSpark’s re-release of It’s Elementary will catalyze a new generation of educators to break the silence around LGBT issues and take action to change school climates.

Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)
The largest national organization that brings together gay and straight educators, parents, students and concerned citizens to work together to end the destructive effects of anti-gay bias in schools nationwide. With more than 70 chapters, GLSEN organizes retreats and conferences, distributes a newsletter and videos, and maintains an extensive publications catalog.

The National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC)
NYAC is a national organization focused solely on improving the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) youth through advocacy, education and information. Through partnerships with national and community-based organizations, NYAC seeks to end discrimination against GLBT youth and to ensure their physical and emotional well-being.
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)
PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, their families and friends through: support, to cope with an adverse society; education, to enlighten an ill-informed public; and advocacy, to end discrimination and to secure equal civil rights. Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, and acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity.

Anti-Defamation League, A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute
National Network of individuals, hundreds of local chapters, newsletter and speakers bureaus that offer support, information and advocacy, with a focus on education issues.

Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally (The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project)
A comprehensive network dedicated to GLBT equity in K – 12 education, with legal and curriculum resources, organizing manual and tactics, plus detailed information for eachUS state. E-list provides daily news updates essential for all activists.

Local Networks That are Making a Difference

Ally Action
Northern California
Ally Action strives to assure that schools are safe, inclusive and effective for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.Suggested resources: LGBTQ Inclusive Book List

The Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth
Boston, Massachusetts
A statewide outreach program that implements recommendations to ensure that gay and lesbian students are safe in Massachusetts public schools. Provides a variety of resources, including statistics on gay and lesbian youth, anti-discrimination policies, and training for parents and teachers.

Safe Schools Coalition
Seattle, Washington
Suggested Resource: Safe Schools Resource Guide
Statewide public-private partnership providing crisis support, workshops on sexual-minority issues for parents, students, community groups, school boards and professionals, posters and other useful publications regarding anti-gay harassment and violence in schools and how to address it.

San Francisco Unified School District (Support Services for Sexual Minority Youth)
Provides curriculum development and comprehensive staff development on issues dealing with sexual orientation. Provides examples of and materials for using It’s Elementary in elementary and middle school staff training.

Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere (COLAGE)
San Francisco, California

Gay and Lesbian Parents Coalition International (GLPCI)
Washington, DC

Rainbow Families
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Rainbow Families serves families in the upper Midwest, and we are one of the strongest LGBT family organizations in the country. Our community is diverse and includes gay men, lesbians, bisexual, and transgender adults, our children, extended family members, and our allies.

Media Resources

Both my Moms’ Names are Judy
Lesbian and Gay Parents Association (LGPA)
lgpasf@aol.com
A powerful short video that features schoolchildren with gay and lesbian parents talking about their experiences at school. Includes anti-homophobia workshop guide for educators and administrators, and a list of books with gay and lesbian characters that are appropriate for young children.

Breaking the Silence: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Foster Youth Tell Their Stories
National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)
The ten short digital stories included on Breaking the Silence are powerful tales both of the successes and failures of the foster care system for a group of former foster youth who identify as LGBTQ. A tool for training care providers on working effectively with LGBTQ youth.

Gay Youth, produced by Pam Walton
Filmmakers Library, Inc.
The first video to explore the challenges facing gay youth. Useful for educators and parents dealing with issues of coming out, parental support, peer harassment and suicide among gay and lesbian teens. Study guide addresses common myths about homosexuality.

Out of the Past: The Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Rights in America
by Jeff Dupre – Distributed by GLSEN (see above).
The first documentary about lesbian and gay history produced for a high school audience. The film traces the emergence of gay men and lesbians in American history through the eyes of Kelli Peterson, a young woman coming to terms with herself and her place in the world. Her story and her heroism illuminate moments in lesbian and gay history, making otherwise remote historical material accessible to a general audience.

Love Makes a Family: Living in Lesbian and Gay Families
Family Diversity Projects, Inc
Traveling photo text exhibit featured in It’s Elementary that depicts a diverse group of 20 families with gay or lesbian parents, grandparents and young adults. The exhibit can be rented for display in schools.