GLSEN (formerly the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) is a left-of-center, LGBT-focused education group. Its policy goals include rewriting federal civil rights laws to include Americans who identify as LGBT, requiring schools to portray LGBT sexual behavior in only positive ways in sex education classes, and forcing schools to let natal males who identify as female participate in girls’ sports. ^{1 2}

The organization was founded in 1990 by Kevin Jennings, who would later serve in the Obama administration as an Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education and work as Lambda Legal CEO. ³ Its website claims 43 chapters in 30 states and 1.5 million people in its national network, though its 2017-2018 consolidated financial reports point to 39 chapters in 26 states. ^{4 5}

Mission and Advocacy

GLSEN uses local chapters, research, policy advocacy, and curriculum recommendations to advocate for its preferred policies at the state and federal level. The group supports permitting natal male athletes who identify as female to compete in women’s sports as well as applying the sex discrimination-prevention law Title IX to children with gender dysphoria. ⁶ The group opposes allowing parents who send their children to religious schools to receive state and federal tax rebates, arguing that this constitutes government funding of discrimination. ⁷ GLSEN also supports the Equality Act, proposed legislation to add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes in the United States. Critics argue this could impact both educational institutions and parental rights. ⁸

GLSEN encourages teachers to use words such as “families” instead of “Mom and Dad” and to incorporate LGBT-led parenting into lessons. Teachers are encouraged to say “Family Days” instead of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. ⁹ According to GLSEN, use of gender-neutral language in classes affirms children’s gender identity and promotes acceptance of gender dysphoria among other students. ¹⁰

GLSEN encourages students who identify as LGBT to support Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) and to engage in gender identity-affirming conduct, such as encouraging boys who identify as girls to tuck their genitalia close to their buttocks, and girls who identify as boys to compress their breasts. ¹¹

School Climate Survey

GLSEN’s most influential publication is its bi-annual School Climate Survey. Conducted online through its activist network, the study purports to show that students who identify as LGBT are regularly bullied and discriminated against in schools. ¹²

2020 U.S. Presidential Elections

After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, former GLSEN Executive Director Eliza Byard stated that Biden’s win was “a resounding defeat for an administration that attacked LGBTQ+ people at all the intersections of identity and experience, at every opportunity,” and expressed her optimism that the Biden administration would allow GLSEN and similar organizations to push their programming into public schools. ¹³

Leadership

GLSEN founder Kevin Jennings has become one of the nation’s most influential LGBT voices. After running GLSEN for 18 years, he took a position as an Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education in the Obama administration. He later ran the Arcus Foundation before being named Lambda Legal’s CEO in 2019. ¹⁴

GLSEN’s 2018 board chair was technology businessman Keith Powell. Powell also sat on the board of the LGBT housing group Horizons Foundation from 2019 to 2021. ¹⁵

2018 board vice-chair Cindy Armine rose to senior positions with Citigroup and JP Morgan before becoming chief operations officer and head of LGBT diversity at Unity, First Data. ¹⁶

After Jennings’ departure from the organization, Eliza Byard worked as GLSEN’s executive director until March 2022. Byard was replaced as executive director by Melanie Willingham-Jaggers, an LGBT activist who identifies as non-binary. ^{17 18} From 2016 to 2019, Willingham-Jaggers was board chair of the Audre Lorde Project, the oldest LGBT organizing group in New York City. ¹⁹

Joseph Kosciw is director of research for GLSEN. He has worked in several roles with GLSEN for all but one year since 2001. ²⁰

As of 2023, Carlos Saaverda is the Treasurer for GLSEN and serves on the board of directors. Saaverda also serves as the Vice President of Brand Marketing for the Target Corporation. ²¹

Funding

In 2020, GLSEN’s revenue reached nearly $9.2 million. The organization’s expenses were almost $6.9 million and assets exceeded $15 million. ²²

1. Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://www.glsen.org/
2. “Transgender inclusion in high school athletics.” Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://www.glsen.org/activity/transgender-inclusion-high-school-athletics
3. Lambda Legal. “Lambda Legal names former Obama official and GLSEN Founder Kevin Jennings as CEO.” October 07, 2019. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://www.lambdalegal.org/news/ny_20191007_lambda-legal-announces-new-ceo
4. “About Us.” Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://www.glsen.org/about-us
5. GLSEN, INC. Financial Statements June 30, 2018 and 2017. Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://www.glsen.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/FY18%20Audited%20Financials.pdf
6. “Policies that Matter.” Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://www.glsen.org/policy
7. GLSEN denounces harmful new religious exemptions proposed by the Trump Administration.” Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. January 21, 2020. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://www.glsen.org/news/glsen-denounces-harmful-new-religious-exemptions-proposed-trump-administration
8. “Sexual ideology indoctrination: The Equality Act’s impact on school curriculum and parental rights.” The Heritage Foundation. May 15, 2019. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://www.heritage.org/civil-society/report/sexual-ideology-indoctrination-the-equality-acts-impact-school-curriculum-and
9. “LGBTQ-visibility and integration in elementary schools.” Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://www.glsen.org/activity/lgbtq-visibility-and-integration-elementary-schools
10. “Advocate for inclusive & affirming curriculum.” Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://www.glsen.org/inclusive-curriculum
11. “10 back-to-school tips for LGBTQ students.” Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://www.glsen.org/activity/10-back-school-tips-lgbtq-students
12.  Kosciw, Joseph G., Emily A. Greytak, Adrian D. Zongrone, Caitlin M. Clark, and Nhan L. Truong. The 2017 National School Climate Survey: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Youth in Our Nation’s Schools. Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. 2018. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://www.glsen.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/GLSEN-2017-National-School-Climate-Survey-NSCS-Full-Report.pdf
13. Greenhalgh, Hugo. “LGBT+ rights groups hope Biden win helps marginalised communities.” Reuters. November 7, 2020. Accessed May 4, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-elections-lgbt-biden-trfn-idUSKBN27N0Y3
14.  “Lambda Legal names former Obama official and GLSEN Founder Kevin Jennings as CEO.” Lambda Legal. October 7, 2019. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://www.lambdalegal.org/news/ny_20191007_lambda-legal-announces-new-ceo
15. “Keith Powell.” LinkedIn. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kepowell
16. “Cindy Armine-Klein.” New York Moves Magazine. Accessed May 2, 2022. http://movesforum.com/2019/06/02/cindy-armine-klein/
17. “A Message to the GLSEN Family from Eliza Byard.” Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. January 13, 2021. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://www.glsen.org/news/eliza-byard-farewell-letter
18. “Melanie Willingham-Jaggers Named New Executive Director of GLSEN.” Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. January 26, 2022. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://www.glsen.org/news/melanie-willingham-jaggers-named-new-executive-director-glsen
19. “Introducing GLSEN’s New Executive Director.” Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. April 16, 2022. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://www.glsen.org/glsen-executive-director-announcement
20. “Joseph Kosciw.” LinkedIn. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-kosciw-64686a106
21. Grossman, Hannah. ” Target marketing VP holds senior position at org pushing secretive transgender policies in K-12 schools.” Fox News, May 29, 2023. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/target-marketing-vp-holds-senior-position-at-org-pushing-secretive-transgender-policies-in-k-12-schools/ar-AA1bPD1Z?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=1b508d36938c4007b6b32647a735ffc0&ei=7
22. Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). 2020. Accessed May 2, 2022. https://www.glsen.org/sites/default/files/2022-02/GLSEN%20Inc%20FY21%20990.pdf