Our History
Working to make schools safer since 1985
For more than two decades, Ally Action has challenged homophobia and gender-related discrimination in schools and communities throughout Northern California. Our rich history is a story that begins with a meeting in a basement apartment in 1985...
Our BANGLE Roots
During the fall semester of 1985, several teacher candidates in the Secondary Education Department of San Francisco State University came together realizing that there was no organized support specifically aimed for gay and lesbian teachers. In the face of societal fears, a sense of commonality led these teachers to support one another as they advanced their careers in education.
The first meeting of five people was held on November 11, 1985, in a basement apartment on Noe Street in San Francisco. These monthly meetings in private residences covered issues and concerns of gay and lesbian people in education. This became the beginning of the Network of Sexual Minority Students and Educators -- later renamed as the Bay Area Network of Gay and Lesbian Educators (BANGLE).
BANGLE Acquires Non-Profit Status
BANGLE had grown considerably and organized chapters throughout the bay area by the time it acquired 501(c)(3) non-profit status in 1989. Now a stronger organization, BANGLE was actively calling for gay- and lesbian-inclusive anti-slur policies, acknowledgment of prominent gay and lesbian historical figures in textbooks, sensitivity training for school staff, and the appointment of school site staff allies for gay and lesbian youth in local Bay Area school districts.
BANGLE Joins the GLSEN Chapter Network
In 1996, BANGLE officially became a member chapter of the national Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Inc. organization and was renamed GLSEN San Francisco-East Bay (GLSEN SF-EB). GLSEN SF-EB was unique among GLSEN chapters across the country as it continued to operate under the non-profit status established by BANGLE while maintaining its formal affiliation with the national network. During this time, GLSEN SF-EB thrived and developed innovative, comprehensive local safe schools strategies and programs, including its award winning PRYDE peer education program.
AB 537
AB 537, or the Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000, became law in 2000 and mandated that California schools ensure safe learning environments for all students, regardless of actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. With 15 years of local connections and expertise, GLSEN SF-EB became a primary resource, strategist and partner for local AB 537 implementation.
Ally Action is Alive!
As GLSEN, Inc. began to restructure the national GLSEN chapter network, GLSEN SF-EB reached out to local communities in an 18 month-long strategic planning process to consider the future of the organization. Staying in the GLSEN chapter network would have required GLSEN SF-EB to dissolve it's 501(c)(3). In 2006, GLSEN SF-EB decided to maintain it's 501(c)(3) and close its 10 year affiliation with GLSEN, Inc.
With a new name, Ally Action continues the story that began in that basement apartment in 1985 - moving strongly forward to continue to educate and engage local school communities, one classroom at a time.
Ally Action Launches Don't Erase My History and Due Process!
In June of 2009, Ally Action officially released two new groundbreaking curriculum resources. Find out more about Don't Erase My History and Due Process.