District-sponsored GSA political activism
How taxpayers fund the political messaging of the Gender and Sexuality Alliance
My colleagues on the school board yesterday declined to consider a resolution to remedy district-sponsored political activism. School districts are supposed to remain politically neutral; without proper oversight, however, special interest groups can come into schools to promote their partisan viewpoints at taxpayer expense.
Such is the case at Sheboygan Falls High School with the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA), a district-sponsored high-school club led by teachers paid by the school. It meets during school on Fridays at 9:34 am and instructs students about gender and sexuality according to leftist gender ideology. Club operations involve “advocating for justice”, including messaging in support of what it calls “educational justice”.1
As part of a political network of “alliances”, the club’s educational justice focus aligns with the national-level statement on how GSAs have changed: “Genders & Sexualities Alliances (GSAs) are student-run organizations that unite TQ2S+ and allied youth to create safe spaces and advocate for social change in schools. GSAs have evolved beyond their traditional role to serve as safe spaces for LGBTQ+ youth in middle schools and high schools, and have emerged as vehicles for deep social change related to racial, gender, and educational justice.”2
Political activism for the Respect for Marriage Act
While Congress was debating the Respect for Marriage Act, a hotly debated bill requiring the U.S. federal government and all U.S. states and territories to recognize the validity of same-sex marriages, the GSA posted its support for the issue in the high school hallway and on its Instagram account.3 Its messaging, such as “support marriage equality” and “love is love” mirrored that of prominent politicians during the debate4 and at least as far back as Senator Tammy Baldwin’s comments on the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision.5
The GSA’s messaging also aligned with social media messaging by GSAFE, the state-level ally in the GSA political network, to “help the Respect for Marriage Act become law”.6 It also matches messaging from GLSEN, which provides the Safe Space Kit for the “Safe Space” signs in the school: “Now is the time to act. Congress must pass The Respect for Marriage Act.”7
Despite broad public support on both sides of the controversy, the GSA messaging presented only one side to students. Similarly, the messaging on various pin buttons the club gave students as prizes was “LGBT+ Equality” and the like, but included no opposing viewpoints.
These examples of political activism are from a GSA meeting on just one school day. Unlike the formal sex ed curriculum, the material presented to students at GSA meetings is not accessible online.
Neutrality requirement for district-sponsored clubs
Since the GSA is a district-sponsored club, it is subject to the district’s neutrality policies. Policy 2240 requires that discourse on controversial issues “encourages open-mindedness and is conducted in a spirit of scholarly inquiry” and does “not tend to indoctrinate or persuade students to a particular point of view”. Policy 5722 requires school-sponsored publications, including the GSA display case and Instagram account, to be adequately researched and viewpoint-neutral. Policy 3210 and Policy 6110 respectively prohibit use of “public property” and “federal monies” for partisan political activities.
The neutrality requirement doesn’t prevent district-sponsored clubs from tackling political topics. For example, Future Farmers of America (FFA) engages in partisan political activism via its “Hot Ag Topics”. However, it actively takes steps against student indoctrination by promoting “#SpeakAg Dialogues”, which is “a forum for intelligent discussion, sound reason, and effective conversation to transcend the polarized opinions of today’s society, and to instead expose student members to multiple sides of hot button agricultural issues”.8
Alternatives that avoid taxpayer funding of political activity
The lack of a neutrality infrastructure in the Gender and Sexuality Alliance and its umbrella organizations doesn’t prevent students from participating in a club like the GSA. The club could switch to non-district-sponsored (Policy 5730), which allows such clubs to promote partisan political views, with the clubs meeting after school and without taxpayer-funded advisors or a display case.
For students whose main objectives are caring, inclusiveness, and everyday acts of kindness, the high school’s Key Club is an excellent fit, with all those among its core values.9 For those wanting to strive against intolerance in the school culture, a new FAIR at School club would emphasize intellectual empathy and mutual understanding while displaying civility and kindheartedness.10
My resolution balances club flexibility with the district’s duty of neutrality to the community. It calls for a district-sponsored club that affiliates with, promotes, refers students to, or uses resources from organizations that promote partisan political viewpoints to subject its material presented to students to the same kind of parental notice and community review that sex ed material receives. Other solutions are possible, too. It starts with engagement. I am disappointed that my colleagues found this issue unworthy of the Board’s attention.
Related posts
This post was updated to add details from a November 2022 report provided to the school administration and then to the school board, and an August 2024 statement from the GSA Network on how GSAs have changed.
Sheboygan Falls High School Gender and Sexuality Alliance “Officer Positions” manual. September 20, 2022.
Kate Scanlon, C. (2022). Senate Democrats eye September vote to codify same-sex marriage. August 18, 2022.
US House of Representatives website. ’Love Is Love’: Sylvia Garcia Champions The Respect For Marriage Act. July 22, 2022. Reference to “marriage equality” is in the linked video.
Baldwin Statement on Supreme Court Ruling on Same-Sex Marriage. June 26, 2015.
National FFA Organization website. Agricultural Literacy and Advocacy.
Key Club International website. About Key Club.
Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism website. FAIR at School - High School Club Program.