School G*rls Demand (SGD) is a new, youth-led campaign that builds upon GGE’s 2019 School Girls Deserve report and campaign, which pushed for better resources and conditions for BIPOC girls and gender-expansive youth in schools. The goal of the campaign is to make New York City a safer and more affirming place for Black girls and gender-expansive youth of color.
In the 2019 report, we found that Black girls and gender-expansive youth of color:
These findings have informed GGE’s policy agenda ever since.
In 2025, we held a town hall with over 100 youth from around New York City, asking them to share their experiences in school. We found that there was still a lot of work to be done and that youth were ready to take action.
So, we evolved from “deserve” to “demand” because for years young people have been calling for what they deserve — now it's time to take action and demand!
The School G*rls Demand campaign was created by, for, and with young people.
*We added an asterisk to g*rls as a conversation starter on how we can be inclusive of all gender expressions.
