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Iowa Safe Schools Programs
LGBTQ Youth & Their Peers
Educators, Administrators, & Helping Professionals
Educators, Administrators, & Helping Professionals
The GSA Network is designed to empower students on their mission to create safe spaces in their school and community. From GSA organizing to getting support after being bullied, our mission will always be student-focused.
Educators, Administrators, & Helping Professionals
Educators, Administrators, & Helping Professionals
Educators, Administrators, & Helping Professionals
From district-wide professional development, license renewal and graduate credits to one-on-one support, Iowa Safe Schools is committed to supporting educators, administrators, and helping professionals in their journey to becoming amazing allies to LGBTQ youth.
Families & Caregivers
Community Groups & Corporate Partners
Community Groups & Corporate Partners
- My child came out to me...now what?
- My child is experiencing bullying/harassment. What do I do?
- What resources are out there for parents?
Families can be our most powerful allies! Iowa Safe Schools is proud to offer support and resources to parents and caregivers on how to ensure that students have support not just at school, but at home as well.
Community Groups & Corporate Partners
Community Groups & Corporate Partners
Community Groups & Corporate Partners
- I am a part of an employee resource group (ERG) at my job and want to make a difference. Where should we start?
- How can our community group support the next generation of LGBTQ leaders?
- How can we ensure our faith community is open & affirming?
- We are looking for professional development, can Iowa Safe Schools help?
Through customized planning and one-on-one support, Iowa Safe Schools is excited to
About Iowa Safe Schools
Our Mission
The mission of Iowa Safe Schools is to provide safe, supportive, and nurturing learning environments and communities for LGBTQ and allied youth through education, outreach, advocacy, and direct services.
What We Do Today
All students need a safe, supportive atmosphere in which they can learn, including students that are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning (LGBTQ). Unfortunately, bullying, harassment, and discrimination against LGBTQ students occurs often in our schools. In fact, 82% of transgender youth report that they feel unsafe at school and 74.1% of LGBTQ students were verbally bullied because of their sexual orientation. As these students face verbal and physical harassment, educators, policy makers, parents, and other students are often hampered by the lack of quality information and resources to protect LGBTQ students. That’s where Iowa Safe Schools comes in.
We provide comprehensive support, victim services, resources, and events for LGBTQ and Allied youth. Uplifting several thousand youth and over 3,000 educators annually, Iowa Safe Schools is the largest LGBTQ youth-serving organization in the Midwest.
Our History
Founded in 2002, Iowa Safe Schools worked for five years by hosting community forums across the state and talking to leaders one-on-one about the importance of protecting all students. These forums led to movements in many Iowa communities to pass protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
In 2007, Iowa became the 10th state in the nation to pass a comprehensive Safe Schools Law that protects all students. During that year, Iowa passed the Anti-Bullying & Anti-Harassment Act as well as expanding the Iowa Civil Rights Code to include both sexual orientation and gender identity.
After years of advocacy, Governor Culver and Lt. Governor Judge made it a priority in their first two months in office to sign these bills into law. The bipartisan vote on SF 61 made protecting students in schools not only an ethical, professional, and moral obligation, but also a legal one.
Our flagship program, the Governor’s Conference on LGBTQ Youth, began in 2005 with a simple yet powerful goal: to ensure LGBTQ students in Iowa know they are not alone. Created by Iowa Safe Schools and supported by then-Governor Tom Vilsack, the first conference brought together students and educators to address bullying and foster LGBTQ inclusion in schools and communities around Iowa.
Expanding on this commitment, in 2014, Safe Schools Academy was launched to offer relevant, timely, and culturally responsive professional development courses to teachers, administrators, school counselors, social workers, and other youth-serving professionals. All Safe Schools Academy courses are designed with students in mind and offer participants digestible and applicable knowledge and skills.
In Fall 2016, Iowa Safe Schools launched the GSA Network program, with the mission of empowering students to create safe spaces in Iowa schools through youth activism and community support. It is designed to provide resources and support to LGBTQ and allied students in Iowa, as well as educators and GSA advisors. The Network connects GSAs across the state and assists students interested in starting a GSA in getting their group off the ground.
Currently, Iowa Safe Schools serves several thousand students through the Iowa GSA Network and affiliated events across the state every year. In addition, Safe Schools Academy engages with over 3,000 educators annually. Iowa Safe Schools also collaborates with countless parents/caregivers, community leaders, businesses, other nonprofit organizations, healthcare organizations, and higher education institutions to ensure that Iowa is a state where all can thrive.