Amelia Roskin-Frazee, who started a GSA at her middle school in Northern California, quickly realized that there were no books about sexual orientation or gender expression at her school, or seemingly anywhere.
"So I wanted to do something to change that," she said.
In November 2011, Roskin-Frazee launched the Make It Safe Project, which donates books about sexual orientation and gender expression to schools and youth homeless shelters across the United States, and has also expanded its shipments internationally.
"All teens should have a place to turn to for help," said Roskin-Frazee, now 16, an openly gay high school sophomore in Northern California. (She would not reveal her current high school.)
The Make It Safe Project has already given more than 100,000 teens access to books about sexual orientation and gender expression, a number reached earlier this year—only about a year after the project launched.
Roskin-Frazee was outed online, accidentally, during a chat with other students. She typed "my rights, as opposed to, gay rights," she said, and then was asked if in fact she is gay.
"At first it was a little frightening," Roskin-Frazee said. "That fear was lifted in the end since I think our GSA made a very positive impact on the school."
Roskin-Frazee was the first of five openly gay students at her middle school.
"I found it easier to start high school as openly gay as opposed to coming-out to a group of people who already knew me but didn't know I was gay," she said.
The Make It Safe Project donates books about coming-out, bullying, and preventing suicide, among other topics. Book requests have come from students, teachers, parents, and school administrators, among others.
"Studies have shown that 40 percent of all homeless youth in the U.S. identify as LGBT, but there are very few youth shelters that have books on the subject," she said. "The Make It Safe Project hopes to change that by sending books to shelters that serve people under the age of 18. We want all shelters to be a place where homeless teens can access books related to their sexual orientation and gender expression."
The Make It Safe project has already sent books to 22 States and one international country. No books from the project have come to Illinois, but books have gone to Iowa, Michigan and elsewhere. Roskin-Frazee said her goal is to send books to all 50 states.
Some of the fiction books within the project include Almost Perfect (by Brian Katcher), Boy Meets Boy (David Levithan), Keeping You A Secret (Julie Anne Peters) and Rainbow Boys (Alex Sanchez), among others. The nonfiction books include Like Me (Chely Wright) and others.
"I've had very positive responses from the people who have received these books," she said. "I think having the books available at schools truly helps reduce bullying. Books are a great place to turn for advice."
Roskin-Frazee said she has been pleasantly surprised with the support that the project has received to date, particularly from relative strangers. Also, the amount of teens coming forward, requesting books, has been surprising, she said.
"I received an email from a 13-year-old girl who didn't know that the word 'gay' really meant until she was called gay. She thought that there was something wrong with her," Roskin-Frazee said. "Ultimately she was able to read about [being gay] and then came out to her parents and others. It makes me feel good when we're able to provide resources to kids, help them feel a little more safe."
Roskin-Frazee is a Student Ambassador for The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and on the Youth Advisory Council for The Trevor Project. She was named one of The Advocate's Top 40 Under 40 LGBT Activists of 2012 and was first runner-up for GLSEN's 2012 Student Advocate of the Year Award.
