Illinois Safe Schools Alliance - Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago

Illinois Safe Schools Alliance (the Alliance) promotes safety, support, and healthy development for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ+) youth in Illinois schools and communities through advocacy, education, youth organizing, and research.

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The Alliance, which made PHIMC its home in 2019, envisions a world in which youth develop to their fullest potential, learning in safe and nurturing schools, living in communities that accept and honor differences, where everyone has the freedom to express their sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Alliance works toward this vision through:

Public Education

Educating, training, and informing schools, community organizations, parents, public officials, youth, and others in Illinois, about sexual orientation and gender identity issues and the needs of LGBTQ+ youth in schools;

Youth Organizing and Leadership

Engaging youth across the state of Illinois to become agents of change in their own schools and communities and leaders in the LGBTQ+ safer schools movement, by providing technical assistance for existing or emerging Gender and Sexualities Alliances (GSAs); and

Policy and Advocacy

Advocating to include sexual orientation and gender identity affirmation in programs and policies that impact all spaces youth occupy, in order to support the safety and well-being of LGBTQ+ youth.

History

The Alliance was formed when Creating Safe Schools for Illinois (CSSI-formerly GLSEN Chicago) and the Coalition for Education on Sexual Orientation (CESO) joined forces in 2007. The intent – then and now – was to lead the LGBTQ+ safer schools movement in Illinois and to implement a model of working with school districts on issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity. In 2019, the Alliance merged with Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago, to strengthen infrastructure while preserving the organization’s longstanding dedication to policy, public education, and LGBTQ+ youth organizing.