Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Straight Alliance

The Carolina Gay Association was founded by Dan Leonard and others involved with the Duke Gay Alliance and the Human Sexuality Information and Counseling Services (HSICS) at UNC-CH.[3] On February 6, 1974, their trial organization, the Gay Awareness Rap Group, held its first meeting at the Newman Catholic Student Center. It met every Monday that spring and was predominately attended by men. In the fall they became recognized as the Carolina Gay Association, having encountered little resistance from administrators. CGA meetings were held on the first Monday of the month in Craig. Consciousness raising groups met each Tuesday evening in the Lutheran Student Center and coffeehouses were held there on some Fridays. The Social Action Committee was formed in 1975 and staged an informational picket when two men were kicked out of the He's Not Here bar in September 1975 for dancing together.[4] In April 1976, the CGA held its first Southeastern Gay Conference with hundreds in attendance,[4] and in August 1976, the CGA printed the first copy of Lambda for "Gay Orientation Week."[5]

On February 13, 1985, the CGA voted to change its name to the Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association to make the name more inclusive of women.

During the 1987–1988 school year, two members of Student Congress, H.F. Watts and David McNeill, led an effort to defund the Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association. They collected more than the 10% of student signatures required to put a referendum on the funding of the CGLA on the spring ballot.[6]

On February 16, 1988, UNC-Chapel Hill students voted 58%–42% against funding the Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association. The referendum was non-binding, however, and only acted as a gauge of student opinion. On April 17, the newly elected Student Congress voted to continue funding the CGLA.[7]

In 1992 the organization changed its name to the Bisexuals, Gay Men, Lesbians, and Allies for Diversity.[8]

In 1998, B-GLAD changed its name to the Queer Network for Change in an effort to be more inclusive of transgender people.[8][9]

Two juniors, Alice Newton and Jon Harper, started the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender – Straight Alliance (GLBT-SA) in the spring of 2002. The focus of GLBT-SA was to promote political activism for LGBTIQ issues on campus and throughout the state. The GLBT-SA eventually replaced the Queer Network for Change, which many believe had lost participation from straight members after it changed its name from B-GLAD.[10]

On April 15, 2010, GLBT-SA voted to officially change its name to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Straight Alliance (though the dash had fallen out of use many months prior). The change was one of many proposed by the Committee on the Future of GLBTSA, which met weekly during the spring semester to prepare for the future of the growing organization. Other notable changes included bringing back the Committee for a Queerer Carolina, expanding the social group Women Loving Women (and renaming it The Fruit Bowl), and giving the presidents of Duke University's Blue Devils United and North Carolina State University's GLBT-Community Alliance honorary, non-voting positions on the GLBTSA Executive Board.

In keeping with this organization's commitment to gender and sexual equality, it decided that the 2012–2013 schoolyear would mark a revolutionary change from the historical name "Gay and Lesbian" to an all-inclusive organization name. SAGA refers especially to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Pansexual, Transgender / Trans*, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and different-gendered populations, as well as other sexual and gender minorities.[11][12]

The Carolina Gay Association held the first Southeastern Gay Conference at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1976. The Second Annual Southeastern Gay Conference was held April 1–3, 1977.[17] In 1978, the conference moved to Atlanta, Georgia. It returned to Chapel Hill in 1979 with over 600 people in attendance.[18]

On March 25–27, 1983, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill held the first North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Conference. The theme for the conference was "Survival in a Hostile Environment."[19] The second annual North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Conference was held March 30 – April 1, 1984, at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. In 1985 the Southeastern Gay Conference returned to Chapel Hill for its tenth anniversary. The conference was held April 11–14, 1985, and themed "Here Today and Here to Stay."[18]

"LAMBDA is UNC-Chapel Hill's Lesbian-, Gay-, Bisexual-, Transgender-, Intersex- and Queer-affirming publication, providing a progressive outlet for news, analysis, opinion and dialogue. As such, we are inherently committed to a feminist, anti-racist and historically conscious perspective in pursuit of social justice for all people."[2]

The Front Page awarded Lambda its 1983 Media Award for "Best Gay Newsletter" in its March 27, 1984, issue.[20] (The Front Page was a North Carolina gay newspaper founded in 1979 that merged with Q-Notes in 2006.)[21][22]

The Committee for a Queerer Carolina is an activist group formed in the spring of 2004 in response to the conservative Committee for a Better Carolina.[23]

Formerly Women Loving Women (WLW), Fruit Bowl is a weekly social initiative.

Since the fall of 2009, GLBTSA has increasingly worked with students at Duke University and North Carolina State University. On February 12–14, 2010, the three universities held a joint retreat at the Chestnut Ridge Camp and Retreat Center in Efland, North Carolina. Another retreat is planned for November 2010.