In activists' circles as in sociology, the concept "safe space" has been applied to all sorts of programs, organizations, and practices. However, few studies have specified clearly what safe spaces are and how they support the people who occupy them. In this paper, we examine one social location typically understood to be a safe space: gay-straight alliance groups in high schools. Using qualitative interviews with young adults in the United States and Canada who have participated in gay-straight alliances, we examine the experiences of safe spaces in these groups. We unpack this complex concept to consider some of the dimensions along which safe spaces might vary. Participants identified several types of safe space, and from their observations we derive three inter-related dimensions of safe space: social context, membership and activity.

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In activists' circles as in sociology, the concept "safe space" has beenapplied to all sorts of programs, organizations, and practices. However,few studies have specified clearly what safe spaces are and how theysupport the people who occupy them. In this paper, we examine one sociallocation typically understood to be a safe space: gay-straight alliancegroups in high schools. Using qualitative interviews with young adults inthe United States and Canada who have participated in gay-straightalliances, we examine the experiences of safe spaces in these groups. Weunpack this complex concept to consider some of the dimensions along whichsafe spaces might vary. Participants identified several types of safespace, and from their observations we derive three inter-related dimensionsof safe space: social context, membership and activity.