The mission of the Alliance, according to its website, is “to promote safety, support and healthy development for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth in Illinois schools and communities, through advocacy, education, youth organizing and research.” Since it began seven years ago, the Alliance has helped pass legislation protecting students from bullying and saw gay-straight alliances in Illinois almost double.
Introduced by Alliance Board of Directors Vice Chair Mary Morton, Papini—who has previously worked with the Pride Foundation in Seattle—stressed that the Alliance’s work is truly realized through collective effort: “As we forge ahead and think about the work that we do, be it our professional development with educators, be it our policy work in reforming school systems to be trans inclusive and be committed to educational justice as a discipline framework. … It is this work that we get to do together and we should be proud of that!”
For more information on the Alliance, visit www.illinoissafeschools.org .