Extracurricular Settings as a Space to Address Sociopolitical Crises - The Case of Discussing Immigration in Gender-Sexuality Alliances Following the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election

Oct 15, 2026

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Extracurricular school-based settings can create structured dialogue during sociopolitical crises. This study examines how immigration is discussed within gender-sexuality alliances (GSAs), which confront multiple systems of oppression. Across 361 youth and 58 advisors in 38 GSAs over two school years, Year 1 youth reported increased immigration discussions, while Year 2 differences were nonsignificant. Across both years, higher self-efficacy for social-justice advocacy and advisors’ culture, race, and immigration self-efficacy predicted greater discussion. Interviews identified facilitators and inhibitors, including representation, open climates, critical reflection, fear of consequences, discomfort, agenda restrictions, and advisor roles.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages33

Reading Time1 h 23 min

AccessFree to download

Key Context: Immigration and the 2016 U.S. Election Climate

GSA Discussion and Self-Efficacy Outcomes

Interview Findings on Facilitators and Inhibitors

American Educational Research Journal December 2019, Vol. 56, No. 6, pp. 2262–2294 DOI: 10.3102/0002831219839033 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions) 􀀂 2019 AERA. [http://aerj](http://aerj).[aera.net](aera.net) Extracurricular Settings as a Space to Address Sociopolitical Crises: The Case of Discussing Immigration in Gender-Sexuality Alliances Following the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election V. Paul Poteat Boston College Jerel P. Calzo San Diego State University Hirokazu Yoshikawa Sarah B. Rosenbach New York University Christopher J. Ceccolini Boston College Robert A. Marx Vanderbilt University School-based extracurricular settings could promote dialogue on sociopolitical crises. We considered immigration discussions within gender-sexuality alliances (GSAs), which address multiple systems of oppression. Among 361 youth and 58 advisors in 38 GSAs (19 in 2016–2017/Year 1; 19 in 2017–2018/Year 2), youth in Year 1 reported increased discussions from baseline throughout the remaining school year; differences were nonsignificant in Year 2. In both years, youth reporting greater self-efficacy to promote social justice, and GSAs with advisors reporting greater self-efficacy to address culture, race, and immigration discussed immigration more over the year (adjusting for baseline) . In interviews, 38 youth described circumstances promoting or inhibiting discussions: demographic representation, open climates, critical reflection, fear or consequences of misspeaking, discomfort, agenda restrictions, and advisor roles. KEYWORDS: extracurricular groups, gender-sexuality alliance, immigration, LGBTQ youth, social justice Multiple factors leading up to and following the 2016 election of Donald Trump have increased the anti-immigrant climate in the United States. Discussing Immigration in Gender-Sexuality Alliances Policies affecting immigrant communities shifted following Trump’s inauguration in January 2017 (Pierce & Selee, 2017) . A proposed temporary ban on legal immigration from eight countries with large Muslim populations was imposed in the month after the inauguration. Since early 2017, detention and deportation of undocumented individuals in the U.S. interior increased. Youth who are undocumented, or with at least one undocumented parent, make up 28% of all first- and second-generation immigrant youth (Yoshikawa, Su´arez-Orozco, & Gonzales, 2017) . The Trump administration cancelled the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in September 2017, which had provided temporary reprieve from deportation to undocumented youth. In January 2018, efforts to exclude legal immigrants [from U.S. safety-net programs began](from U.S. safety-net programs began), culminating in federally proposed regulations in the fall (Perreira, Yoshikawa, & Oberlander, 2018) . In April 2018, the Department of Justice (2018) enacted a policy where children were V. PAUL POTEAT is an associate professor in the Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology at Boston College, Campion Hall 307, 140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467; [e-mail:](e-mail: poteatp@bc.edu. His)[ poteatp@bc.edu](e-mail: poteatp@bc.edu. His)[. His](e-mail: poteatp@bc.edu. His)[ ](e-mail: poteatp@bc.edu. His)[research on gender-sexuality alliances](research on gender-sexuality alliances) ([GSAs](GSAs)) [has identified specific mechanisms](has identified specific mechanisms)[ ](has identified specific mechanisms)[by which GSAs promote mental health](by which GSAs promote mental health), [well-being](well-being), [and resilience among youth](and resilience among youth)[ ](and resilience among youth)[from diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.](from diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.) JEREL P. CALZO is an associate professor in the Division of Health Promotion and Behavioral Science at San Diego State University Graduate School of P

FAQs

What question does the study investigate about immigration discussions in GSAs?

The study examines how immigration is discussed within gender-sexuality alliances in the context of sociopolitical crises after the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

How did youth discussion patterns differ between the two study years?

In Year 1, youth reported increased immigration discussions from baseline through the rest of the school year, while Year 2 showed nonsignificant differences.

What factors either promoted or inhibited immigration discussions in interviews?

Interviewed youth cited demographic representation and open climates as facilitators, along with critical reflection. They also reported inhibitors such as fear or consequences of misspeaking, discomfort, agenda restrictions, and the role of advisors.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanford