Your GSA is already doing the work.

Let's resource it.

Your GSA creates the conditions for trans, queer, and Two Spirit+ (TQ2S+) youth to show up fully at your school. You know what your community needs. You're building it together. We want to support what you're already growing.

The Youth Freedom Fund provides $500 mini-grants to GSAs across the country. Use it for events, projects, campaigns, or whatever keeps your collective work moving forward.

What this funding makes possible

$500 in the hands of young organizers changes things. This money means:

• Your vision doesn't have to wait on someone else's budget timeline

• You can experiment, try new things, learn by doing

• Your club can gather, celebrate, and build power together

• TQ2S+ youth leadership gets materially supported, not just praised

• The work you're doing ripples out beyond your school

Since September 2023, we've walked alongside nearly 60 GSAs across 27 states. The projects y'all have brought to life:

🏳️‍⚧️ A district-wide queer prom in Georgia
📚 A queer-literature bookclub in rural Wisconsin
🎥 A queer joy video project shown school-wide in Oregon
🧵 Blankets made for a local HIV organization in California

What will your GSA create?

Three ways to focus your work

We think about GSA clubs moving in three directions: Gather, Support, and Take Action. Your project can live in one or more of these areas.

Gather brings trans and queer students together. Build community on your campus and beyond through recruitment campaigns, field trips exploring LGBTQ+ history, tablings, movie screenings, or events that pull people in.

Support raises awareness and makes space for healing and self-care. Develop educational resources, hold events for awareness days like Transgender Day of Visibility or National Coming Out Day, bring guest speakers to campus, or create the conditions for an inclusive school culture.

Take Action centers activism, advocacy, and your vision for what comes next. Organize campaigns challenging binary dress codes, create workshops training students and staff on LGBTQ+ issues, push for inclusive curriculum, or build leadership while making change happen.

How to move forward

Start here: Review the eligibility checklist below to see if your GSA qualifies.

Who applies: Your GSA club President, Vice President, or Adult Advisor

What the process asks for:

• Partnership with your Adult Advisor or a school administrator

• A youth-led project shaped by and with your club members

• School representative approval before you submit

Eligibility Checklist

1. I'm part of a GSA club based in a high school or local community organization in the United States

2. My club registered with GSA Network for the current school year (2024-2025)

3. My club registered with GSA Network last school year (2023-2024)

4. I've discussed this project with members of my GSA club and received support to submit an application

5. I have the support of my GSA Advisor to submit this application OR I am the GSA club Advisor

6. My GSA Advisor or school administrator can participate in a Zoom interview with at least two student representatives, if our application moves forward OR I am the GSA club Advisor and I agree to participate in a Zoom interview with student representatives

7. My GSA Advisor or school administrator can represent the GSA club as needed to process paperwork and payments

Application Process

APPLY HERE

Step 1: Register your GSA club
Applicants must be part of an active GSA club registered with GSA Network for at least two academic school years (2023-2024 and 2024-2025). If you didn't register last year, you won't be eligible this year, but we'll keep you in mind for future opportunities.

Step 2: Submit your application
Applications accepted through Tuesday, March 24 via our online form. Submit early if you can. Only one project per GSA club. If multiple applications come in, we'll honor the first one. The applicant must be listed as a contact for the registered GSA club.

You'll get an email confirmation when your application comes through. We'll review applications as they arrive and let you know within 2 weeks whether you're moving forward or if we can't fund your project this round. Given how many applications we receive, we can't provide individual feedback.

Step 3: Interview (if selected)
If your application advances, we'll invite you to a 15-minute Zoom interview with GSA Network staff. At least one student and one adult advisor or school administrator need to be there.

Step 4: Award notification
Award recipients will be notified by Friday, April 17. If your GSA receives funding, our Director of Finance & Administration will reach out with payment instructions, including a W-9, mailing address, and/or banking information. Mini-grants begin distributing Friday, May 8.