DC School District Restores Gay-Themed Titles to Summer Reading Lists
The Washington, DC, school district that had previously scrubbed gay-themed books from its summer reading list has restored all of the titles following objections from librarians and the capital’s gay and lesbian community.
The District of Columbia Public Schools added nine LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and 
questioning) titles—including Justin Richardson’s And Tango Makes Three (S & S, 2005) and Todd Parr’s The Family Book (Little, Brown, 2003)—to its final list after a meeting between the school district and the District of Columbia Public Library on June 18—a few days after local schools had already closed for summer vacation.
A preliminary summer reading list that had omitted several gay-themed titles had appeared on the district’s summer reading Web site last week. Although it said the list was tentative and that a completed list would be released on June 26, pdf versions of each list, broken down by grade levels, were marked “Final”.
SLJ last week reported on a comment posted on the American Library Association’s GLBT listserve stating that “The DC (District of Columbia) Public Schools decided to scrub their summer reading list of all GLBT related books.”
See DC School District Restores Gay-Themed Titles to Summer Reading Lists
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March For Gay Marriage In Fresno Hundreds of same-sex couples gather in the state’s conservative center.
Hundreds of same-sex couples and their supporters marched Saturday through dusty California farm towns, gathering in the state’s conservative center to push for gay marriage in less hospitable areas. Just days after the state’s highest court upheld a ban on gay marriage, advocates vowed to win the hearts and minds of those who reject their unions. They are pledging to put a new initiative before voters to overturn the ban, perhaps as soon as next year. The weekend-long event has attracted the movement’s most well-known activists and celebrities including Charlize Theron and Eric McCormack. It was organized by a lesbian mother in Fresno who was removed from the parent-teacher association at her son’s Roman Catholic school after she spoke out against banning gay marriage. “Fresno represents middle America values, and we can start changing our neighbors’ feelings about gay marriage beginning right here in the Central Valley,” said lead organizer Robin McGehee, a 36-year-old college professor who married her longtime partner last year. “We’re doing exactly what the freedom riders would do in the South in the 1960s, which is reaching into communities that are different from us so we can all live in equality.” Gay activists believe their campaign against Proposition 8 focused too much on liberal urban enclaves along the coast, failing even to reach out to the state’s rural regions. The measure passed with nearly 69 percent of the vote in Fresno County, compared to 52 percent statewide.
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Prayer Service on the EVE of Decision Day – Monday, May 25 Grace Cathedral (1100 California Street San Francisco), 7:00 – 8:30 pm
PROP 8 DECISION DAY IS ON MAY 26, TUESDAY!
Decision Day is on Tuesday, May 26!!!
From the CA Supreme Court website: “The California Supreme Court has announced that it will issue an opinion in three cases challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8 at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 26, 2009. (Strauss v. Horton, S168047; Tyler v. State of California, S168066; City and County of San Francisco v. Horton, S168078.) Tuesday at 10 a.m., the opinion will be available on the California Courts Web site at this link: http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/.”
You are invited to the following events:
1. Prayer Service on the EVE of Decision Day – Monday, May 25
Grace Cathedral (1100 California Street San Francisco), 7:00 – 8:30 pm
The night before the announcement of the CA Supreme Court’s decision, we invite the Bay Area community to come for an evening of songs and meditation that will center our hearts on peace, healing and understanding.
2. Service/Blessing on Decision Day – Tuesday, May 26
St. Francis Lutheran Church (152 Church St. San Francisco, across from Castro Safeway), 8:30 – 9:15 am
The morning of the decision, we invite the Bay Area community to come for encouraging music and words from community leaders, testimonies from married couples and blessings for those who will be doing civil disobedience. We will march in a procession from the church to Civic Center Plaza. Some people will join the march from the LGBT Center on Market and Octavia.
NOTE: We request clergy to come in their religious garb as appropriate for their tradition. Please come at 8:00am to prepare.
CONTACT: Rev. Roland Stringfellow at rstringfellow@clgs.org
3. Circle of Care – Tuesday, May 26, Civic Center Plaza
If Proposition 8 is upheld, we will surround those who are willing to be arrested in civic disobedience as we sing, and move aside as they are arrested.
Marriage is not just a nice idea for some. To deny it is a form of bashing. On Decision Day, a group of people will participate in civil disobedience if the Supreme Court upholds Prop 8. In partnership with an interfaith group of clergy, we’ll do a peaceful street blockade with the message SEPARATE IS NOT EQUAL!
We’re looking for people to participate in this action with us, and for friends who will support us as peacekeepers and legal observers. For more information, please email action@onestruggleonefight.com.
SPONSORED BY:
Bay Area Coalition of Welcoming Congregations
California Faith for Equality
Congregation Sha’ar Zahav
Fellowship of the Rainbow
Progressive Jewish Alliance
Jewish Mosaic - The National Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity
California Council of Churches
Colage
The Fellowship
Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco
Freedom in Christ Church of San Francisco
Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies of Pacific School of Religion
Equality California
Marriage Equality USA
Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry California
Glide Memorial United Methodist Church
Grace Cathedral
St. Francis Lutheran Church
One Struggle, One Fight
Nueva Vida Ministries
The Society of Franciscan Workers
API Equality
PANA Institute of Pacific School of Religion
Network on Religion and Justice for API LGBTQ
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ACLU Sues To Stop Tennessee Schools From Censoring Gay Educational Web Sites; Filtering Software Allows Anti-Gay Sites
NASHVILLE, TN – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Tennessee sued two Tennessee school districts in federal court today, charging the schools are unconstitutionally blocking students from accessing online information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, Knox County Schools and as many as 105 other school districts in Tennessee use Internet filtering software to block Web sites containing pro-LGBT speech, but not Web sites touting so-called “reparative therapy” and “ex-gay” ministries. The “LGBT” filter is not used to block sites containing pornography, which are filtered under a different category, but it does block the sites of many well-known LGBT organizations including Parents, Families, And Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and Human Rights Campaign (HRC).
“Allowing access to Web sites that present one side of an issue while blocking sites that present the other side is illegal viewpoint discrimination,” said Catherine Crump, a staff attorney with the ACLU First Amendment Working Group and lead attorney on the case. “This discriminatory censorship does nothing to make students safe from material that may actually be harmful, but only hurts them by making it impossible to access important educational material.”
The school districts block the Internet filtering category designated “LGBT,” which includes sites that “provide information regarding, support, promote, or cater to one’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” They do not, however, block sites that condemn homosexuality or promote “reparative therapy,” a practice purporting to “cure” LGBT people that is denounced as dangerous and harmful to young people by such groups as the American Psychological Association and the American Medical Association.
The ACLU filed the case in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee against Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and Knox County Schools on behalf of two high school students in Nashville, one student in Knoxville and a high school librarian in Knoxville who is also the advisor of the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA).
“Students need to be able to access information about their legal rights or what to do if they’re being harassed at school,” said Keila Franks, a 17-year-old student at Hume-Fogg High School in Nashville and a plaintiff on the case. “It’s completely unfair for schools to keep students in the dark about such important issues and treat Web sites that just offer information like they’re something dirty.”
The lawsuit charges that blocking LGBT sites violates students’ First Amendment rights by only allowing access to sites that present an anti-gay point of view on the rights of LGBT persons on issues such as anti-gay harassment, marriage, employment discrimination and the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy while blocking access to sites that support LGBT rights. Further, the filtering hinders the ability of GSAs and their members to facilitate club activities and keeps students from accessing important information about scholarships for LGBT students or doing research for school-related assignments.
The ACLU first learned about the discriminatory filtering from Andrew Emitt, a Knoxville high school student who discovered the problem while trying to search for LGBT scholarships. Internet filtering software is mandated in public schools by Tennessee law, which requires schools to implement software to restrict information that is obscene or harmful to minors. However, the “LGBT” filter category does not include material which is sexually gratuitous and already included in the “pornography” filtering category.
“While schools may have an interest in using filters to block material that could be harmful to minors, blocking access to information about LGBT issues while allowing anti-gay information is unlawful and potentially dangerous,” said Tricia Herzfeld, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Tennessee. “There is no place for this kind of unconstitutional censorship in our public schools.”
In addition to Crump and Herzfeld, attorneys on the case are Chris Hansen of the ACLU First Amendment Working Group and Christine Sun of the ACLU LGBT Project.
The plaintiffs are Nashville students Keila Franks and Emily Logan, Knoxville student Bryanna Shelton, and Karyn Storts-Brinks, a Knoxville high school librarian and faculty sponsor for her school’s GSA.
More information about the case, including the ACLU’s complaint and a video featuring one of the student plaintiffs, is available online at: www.aclu.org/lgbt/youth/39346res20090413.html.
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Oscar Winner Dustin Lance Black Testifies in Support of Harvey Milk Day, Which Promply Passes Key Committee
Sacramento – Dustin Lance Black, the Academy Award winning writer of the film Milk, testified before the California State Senate Education Committee shortly before it passed the Harvey Milk Day Bill, SB 572, in a 7-2 vote that included bipartisan support from Sen. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) who voted for the bill.
“When I was 14 years old, a theatre director in the Bay Area told me the story of Harvey Milk,” said Black, an advocate for equal rights. “It was a story about an out gay man who stood up to prejudice and bigotry, lived openly as who he was, was elected to public office, and lit the fire of today’s national and global LGBT civil rights movement. Not surprisingly, his story gave me hope,” he said.
The bill, sponsored by Equality California (EQCA) and introduced by Senator Mark Leno (D – San Francisco) calls for a “day of special significance” honoring Milk and is designed to educate Californians about the former San Francisco City Supervisor, who became the nation’s first openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) person elected to political office in a major city.
“We may have lost Harvey Milk, but we have not lost his passion, his commitment, and his courage,” said Geoff Kors, EQCA Executive Director. “Harvey Milk’s endurance in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges is a source of pride and inspiration for every Californian.”
Milk’s groundbreaking service as an openly gay official helped bring LGBT people out of the closet and into civic life. During his time in office, he was responsible for both passing San Francisco’s first gay-rights ordinance and helping to defeat the controversial Briggs Initiative, which sought to ban gay and lesbian teachers from public schools. Milk, along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, was assassinated in November 1978.
“Harvey Milk gave hope to an entire generation of gay and lesbian people whose basic humanity and freedom had been denied and dishonored,” said Senator Leno. “He literally gave his life so that I and other LGBT elected officials could serve in public office. Thanks to Dustin Lance Black and the creators and stars of the movie “Milk,” Harvey’s incredible story continues to be told around the world. It is only fitting that we continue our work to preserve his legacy for generations to come,” he said.
The legislation was originally introduced last year by Sen. Leno, but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the measure at the time, claiming Harvey Milk was not well known enough beyond San Francisco. Since that time, however, Harvey Milk has become a focal point of national conversation following the successful release of Milk, the critically acclaimed film depicting the life of the slain civil rights leader for which Black and actor Sean Penn received Academy Awards.
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Court lets private schools expel lesbians
The state Supreme Court left intact Wednesday a lower-court ruling that said a private religious high school wasn’t covered by California civil rights law and could expel students it believed were lesbians.
Over Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar’s dissent, the court denied review of an appeal by parents of two girls who were expelled from a high school in Riverside County. A lawyer for the parents said the ruling, which is binding on trial courts statewide, would allow private schools to discriminate against students on any basis they chose, including sex and religion.
The girls were juniors at California Lutheran High School in the town of Wildomar when the principal, Gregory Bork, called them to his office in September 2005 and questioned them separately about their sexual orientation, after another student reported postings on their MySpace pages.
Bork suspended the girls based on their answers, and the school’s directors expelled them a month later. The girls, who later graduated from another high school, have not been identified and have not discussed their sexual orientation, said their parents’ attorney, Kirk Hanson.
The parents sued under the Unruh Act, a 1959 state law that forbids discrimination by businesses. It was amended in 2005 to include bias based on sexual orientation and someone else’s perception of sexual orientation. State education law also prohibits anti-gay bias, but that applies only to public schools.
In January, the Fourth District Court of Appeal in San Bernardino said the school is not a business but instead a social organization entitled to follow its principles.
Although California courts have defined such organizations as a Boys Club and the Rotary Club as businesses covered by the Unruh Act, the appeals court cited a 1998 state Supreme Court ruling that allowed the Boy Scouts to exclude gays and atheists. Like the Boy Scouts, the appellate panel said, a private religious school exists mainly to instill its values in young people.
See Court lets private schools expel lesbians
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New Mexico Agrees To Provide Retirement Health Insurance To Domestic Partners Of State Employees
“We are very pleased that the state has agreed to settle this litigation and provide the insurance. It wasn’t fair that the state forced lesbian and gay employees to pay the high cost of health care for often inferior health insurance for their families when they worked just as hard as their straight colleagues,” said Peter Simonson of the ACLU of New Mexico. “I’m sure this will be welcome news to all lesbian and gay state employees, but especially to those who have retired or are planning to do so soon.”
The ACLU brought the lawsuit on February 5, 2007 on behalf lesbian and gay state employees and their domestic partners. The lawsuit charged that it was a violation of the state constitution’s equal protection guarantees for the state to treat lesbian and gay employees differently from its straight employees. The settlement will reached with the state will cover both gay and straight employees and their domestic partners. The ACLU brought the lawsuit on February 5, 2007 on behalf lesbian and gay state employees and their domestic partners. The lawsuit charged that it was a violation of the state constitution’s equal protection guarantees for the state to treat lesbian and gay employees differently from its straight employees. The settlement will reached with the state will cover both gay and straight employees and their domestic partners.
“This is fantastic news. We can finally start planning our retirement,” said Havens Levitt who has been a teacher for the Albuquerque public school for 25 years. “Until now, our only option was for me to keep working because my partner’s employment doesn’t provide insurance for her and private insurance was just too expensive. It means a lot that the state has acknowledged I should be treated the same as my straight colleagues.” Levitt and her partner, Rebecca Dakota, have been partners for 13 years. Dakota is a self-employed consultant to non-profits and an independent filmmaker.
Pursuant to the settlement, the state has agreed to develop a process for enrolling those interested during the next open enrollment period, which comes this fall.
The legal team for the ACLU in Levitt and Dakota v. New Mexico is George Bach, staff attorney with the ACLU of New Mexico, Ken Choe, a senior staff attorney with the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project of the ACLU, and cooperating attorney Maureen Sanders of Sanders & Westbrook, P.C.
Additional information about the case including a Q&A and the legal papers is available at http://www.aclu.org/lgbt/relationships/28241res20070205.html.
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LGBTQ Student Rights in the Wake of Tragic Suicides
Statement from Kevin Cathcart, Executive Director of Lambda Legal:
“The tragic deaths of Jaheem Herrera and Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover underscore the importance of safe schools where harassment and violence based on racist, sexist, antigay or other biased attitudes are not tolerated. Unfortunately, there is much work to be done. Harassment of LGBTQ students and those perceived to be LGBT remains a serious problem across the country. Lambda Legal pledges to continue to stand up for students and hold schools accountable for preserving their rights and integrity. We applaud schools that stand up for safety and respect for all students because any student can be the target of LGBT-related bullying and harassment.
Lambda Legal will join the Faith and Community Alliance and other community groups at a vigil for Jaheem Herrera on Tuesday, April 28, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., First Christian Church of Decatur ,601 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Decatur, GA.
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ACLU demands schools allow access to gay Websites In Tennessee
Students and parents are demanding Metro Nashville’s public schools stop blocking access to Web sites about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. They complained to the American Civil Liberties Union, which on Wednesday gave Metro and Knox County schools an April 29 deadline to announce plans to open access to the non-sexual sites. A letter to the districts threatened lawsuits if they don’t comply.
Metro parents previously complained to the school district about the lack of support for gay and lesbian students, the teasing and the fatal results.
Clare Sullivan, a parent of a lesbian daughter who attended Metro schools, cited recent news reports of students who committed suicide after constant harassment for being gay.
“You have students struggling with these issues,” she said. “If you cut off avenues for discussion, and it’s taboo in schools, where else can they go?”
Sullivan is a member of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, one of the groups whose Web site Metro blocks. Others include the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
Metro uses an outside company that filters Internet access, district spokeswoman Noelle Mashburn said. See ACLU demands schools allow access to gay Websites The Tennessean * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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Lambda warns school officials : hands off South Medford High School student and Gay Straight Alliance
(Medford, Oregon, April 17, 2009) — Lambda Legal has sent a letter of support to South Medford High School Principal Kevin Campbell, Medford School District Superintendent Phil Long, and the School Board on behalf of South Medford High School student and Gay Straight Alliance member Connie McNair.
The letter objects that school officials have been imposing restrictions on the Medford High GSA to which no other on-campus group is subject and that seriously burden club members’ free speech and associational rights. These include requiring GSA members to get prior approval for their announcements and activities from an assistant principal, deeming the club’s legitimate educational activities illicit “proselytizing,” and even prohibiting the club from formally announcing today’s “Day of Silence.” The Day of Silence is a national event calling attention to anti-gay bullying and harassment in schools.
In the letter, Lambda Legal Staff Attorney Tara Borelli writes “While we hope that the school’s actions to deter the GSA’s activities are simply the result of confusion about its obligations, the law in this area is well-established and school’s unequal treatment of the GSA is difficult to understand and should be remedied swiftly.”
In addition to the freedom of speech guaranteed by the Constitution, public school students are also protected by the federal Equal Access Act. The EAA says that if a school receives federal funds and allows extracurricular student groups to meet, it cannot discriminate against any of the groups based on the content of its speech. GSA groups across the country have used the EAA in court to protect their right to free speech.
“It’s simply unlawful for South Medford High School to create unequal obstacles for Connie or the GSA, or to stifle the GSA’s announcements about the Day of Silence,” said Borelli. “We want to remind South Medford school officials that they have a responsibility to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, and we’re asking them to lift any restriction applying to the GSA but not to other groups.
“All we want is safety and equality within our school,” said McNair. “Our GSA members want
students, school officials, and the community to know that we can’t be discriminated against based on our speech or activities.” * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/04/lambda-warns-…
