Embodying LGBTQ+ Safety An Ethnographic Exploration of safe spaces and how different actors and environments can embody a safe space by diving into high school Gender and Sexuality Alliances (GSAs).

Abstract

Navigating the unsafe space of Dutch high schools, teachers and students have collaboratively created safe spaces for LGBTQ+ students, known as Gender and Sexuality Alliances (GSAs). These GSAs usually have meetings once a week and focus on being a safe space for students to learn more about their gender, sexuality, and overall identity. In addition, many also have an activist focus, where they have the additional goal of a more accepting and inclusive high school environment. This thesis is the output of a three-month field research period within high schools in the cities of Breda and Tilburg, arguing that LGBTQ+ students within high school Gender and Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) experience feeling unsafe in their school environment. In addition, this thesis shows how LGBTQ+ students navigate the unsafe school environment and how safety is embodied by different places and people. Beyond the academic world, this thesis tries to incent a debate in the Dutch education system and local governments on inclusion and exclusion within high schools, and the importance of safety, especially for minority students.