GOP wants to remove gay students rights
GOP wants to remove gay students rights
High School Student Takes On Anti-Gay Harassment — And Wins
ACLU Reaches Agreement With School District To Combat Bias After Lesbian Student Is Harassed By Teachers
VALLEJO, CA – The American Civil Liberties Union announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with the Vallejo City Unified School District on behalf of a high school student who faced anti-gay harassment and discrimination from teachers and school staff and was required to participate in a school-sponsored “counseling” group designed to discourage students from being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. The settlement is designed to combat harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity at all the district’s schools, and includes district-wide anti-harassment training for students and staff.
“All I ever wanted was to be able to go to school and just be myself. But I couldn’t do that when the people I was supposed to be learning from were judging me and telling me something was wrong with me. How was I supposed to learn when I was constantly scared?” said Hamilton, a high school student who came out as a lesbian when she was 13.
For Rochelle Hamilton, starting high school was the beginning of relentless verbal harassment and discrimination from teachers and staff based on her sexual orientation and gender expression. Hamilton began attending Vallejo’s Jesse Bethel High School as a sophomore in the fall of 2007. The verbal attacks started almost immediately, and continued for months.
Hamilton became severely depressed and her grades plummeted. Worried for her daughter, Hamilton’s mother, Cheri Hamilton, repeatedly wrote letters, made phone calls, and met in person with school and district officials for several months. After three months of outreach to the school and the district, Cheri Hamilton contacted the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California for help. The ACLU intervened to resolve the matter with the school district.
Hamilton reports that while some of the harassment she suffered came from other students, most of the time it came from school teachers and staff. Specific incidents included:
· A teacher approached Hamilton while she was hugging her girlfriend and said, “This is ungodly, and you’re going to hell. This is a sin.”
· Another teacher said, “What’s wrong with you? What are you, a man or a woman?”
· Other school staff made repeated harassing comments to Hamilton in front of her classmates, including saying, “it’s not right to be this way.”
· Hamilton was also on several occasions denied access to the girls’ locker room.
“California school districts are required by state law to protect students from harassment and discrimination, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity,” said Elizabeth Gill, an ACLU-NC staff attorney who worked with the district on the settlement. “If a school district ignores anti-gay bias in schools, it is plainly violating both state and federal law. These laws are designed, in part, to ensure that all students are able to learn and thrive free from bias. When it’s left unchecked, harassment can take a serious toll on students.”
One of the most egregious incidents in this case involved a school counselor who required Hamilton to attend a special weekly support group for gay students. The real purpose of the group was quickly revealed, however, when the counselor berated students for “choosing” to be gay and tried to convince them to change their sexual orientation or gender expression. The counselor told the students that it is “hard to get a job if you’re gay.” When Hamilton’s mother went to school officials about the “counseling” group, the counselor confronted Hamilton the next week, telling her, “You’re going to get this treatment your whole life. What are you going to do, stand up every time?”
“The district-wide anti-harassment training will make Vallejo schools a more welcoming place to learn for all students,” said Jory Steele, ACLU-NC’s managing attorney. “District administrators made the right move in taking important steps to protect its students from bias.”
Hamilton transferred out of Jesse Bethel High School midway through her sophomore year to escape the daily harassment. She is now completing her junior year at another high school in the district.
Pursuant to the five-year agreement reached with the ACLU, the district will adopt a clear policy explicitly prohibiting discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity, as required by California law; develop a specific procedure for harassment and discrimination complaints; provide mandatory training for all teachers and other staff who interact with students in how to identify anti-gay harassment and discrimination, why it’s harmful, and how to prevent it; and provide mandatory anti-harassment training to all students in the district, as well as taking other steps to make the district a more welcoming environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/high-school-s…
Gay Students at a Kentucky High School Report Not Being Able to Use the Restroom because of their Sexual Orientation
Kentucky Equality Federation received reports that a Franklin County High School official allegedly sent an email to teachers instructing them not to allow homosexuals to leave class to use the restroom.
Frankfort, KY — Kentucky Equality Federation received reports that a Franklin County High School official allegedly sent an email to teachers instructing them not to allow homosexuals to leave class to use the restroom.
The email was allegedly sent after two female classmates were caught kissing in the public restroom.
In response, 15 students protested outside the school yesterday.
“My daughter was involved in a protest at Franklin County High School yesterday for their right to use the restroom,” stated Michelle Sexton.
“I have been in contact with one of the parents of the children involved in the protest and we support their constitutional right to assemble peacefully,” stated Kentucky Equality Federation President Jordan Palmer. “We call on the media to investigate this issue further and shed light on the discrimination gays and lesbians face throughout the Commonwealth. Kentucky Equality Federation will also be contacting the other parents of the children involved in today’s protest.”
Though Superintendent Harrie Buecker stated steps are being taken to address the students’ concerns, Kentucky Equality Federation is concerned they will not be addressed properly. Though not directly connected, Kentucky Equality Federation has received similar complaints in Casey, Pulaski, and Powell counties about unfair treatment of gay and lesbian students and teachers.
“I’d like to know what level this mentality, that gay and lesbian students should not be treated equally is coming from. An incident in one county could be called an isolated incident, but we now have similar reports in three other Kentucky Counties,” stated Kentucky Equality Federation Managing Director Laura Reed.
Kentucky Equality Federation will continue its own investigation and assist parents or students in filing any necessary complaints with Kentucky officials.
Palmer added that assembling together in a peaceful manner is the most basic right granted by the Kentucky Constitution, and that Kentucky Equality Federation had contacted the Office of Helen W. Mountjoy, Kentucky’s Secretary of Education for assistance in resolving the issues.
Kentucky Equality Federation offers an online complaint system for people around the Commonwealth to report discrimination or harassment. The online complaint system can be located at www.kyLGBT.org, or www.kyequality.org.
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Kentucky Equality Federation is Kentucky’s largest statewide, grassroots LGBTI civil rights organization.
Kentucky Equality Federation is the sponsor of Marriage Equality Kentucky. For additional information, visit http://www.marriageequalityky.org/.
Kentucky Equality Federation is a member of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (“ILGA”). Composed of over 600 member organizations around the world, ILGA is to this day the only international non-profit and non-governmental community-based federation dedicated to achieving equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people at the United Nations.
Kentucky Equality Federation is a member of Marriage Equality USA.
* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/gay-students-…
Larry Kramer Blasts Yale’s ‘Conspiracy of Silence’ on Gay History
When more than 300 Yale alumni and their guests arrived at Yale for the University’s first-ever lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender alumni reunion this weekend, they found not only camaraderie, but also controversy.
The first-ever recipient of the GALA Lifetime Achievement Award, gay activist Larry Kramer ’57, harshly rebuked the University for its treatment of gay history as an academic field during the three-day reunion, which was jointly organized by the LGBT alumni association Yale GALA and the Association of Yale Alumni. At a dinner ceremony Saturday, Kramer said the University has wrongly relegated the study of gay history to LGBT studies, arguing that there is a significant semantic difference between gay “history” and gay “studies.”
Declaring that queer and gender theories are “relatively useless,” Kramer — who was among the first to call for action against the AIDS crisis — said gay history has been “hijacked” by queer theorists.
Kramer and Yale have clashed before; in the mid-nineties, Yale rejected a sizable gift from Kramer to create either an endowed chair in gay and lesbian studies or a student center for gay students. In 2001, Kramer’s brother, Arthur Kramer ’49, gave a $1 million gift in Larry’s name to found the Larry Kramer Initiative for Gay and Lesbian Studies, which was closed after five years when the gift was spent.
In order to demonstrate the importance of gay history, Kramer declared that he believes many prominent American historical figures were gay, including George Washington, the famous explorer Meriwether Lewis, Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth.
The study of gay history is therefore important as a means of promoting acceptance for LGBT individuals, Kramer said.
“The plague of AIDS was allowed to happen because most of the world hates us,” he said. “They don’t know we’re related to Washington and Lincoln.”
While alumni sat attentively throughout the speech and gave Kramer a standing ovation, some said afterwards that they were standing not necessarily out of agreement with Kramer, but rather out of respect for his activism in the wake of AIDS.
“He’s been a provocateur all of his career, since the AIDS crisis,” said Ken Demario ’64. “I don’t know if this was an appropriate forum for as nasty a broadside as his was against the University.”
In a brief interview after the speech, Provost Peter Salovey said he agreed that the study of LGBT history is important.
See Gay activist and playwright Larry Kramer Blasts Yale & Yale Daily News. * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/04/larry-kramer-…
Arizona School Agrees To Lift Rainbow Ban Following ACLU Demands; Gay Student Now Allowed To Wear Wristband
Quintanilla contacted the ACLU in February after her son Chris’s principal told her he wouldn’t allow her son to wear his cloth wristband with words “Rainbows are gay” to school anymore. Last week, the school finally gave assurances to the ACLU that it would not censor Quintanilla’s wristband in the future.
“Students have a constitutional right to free speech at school, and school officials should be aware of their responsibility for upholding this cornerstone of our freedom,” said Elizabeth Gill, staff attorney for the ACLU national Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project. “This district was right to come to its senses and back down from violating the First Amendment, because students have 40 years of Supreme Court precedent on their side when schools do this kind of thing.”
In its letter, the ACLU reminded PUSD officials about the 1969 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Tinker v. Des Moines in which the Court wrote, “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights… at the schoolhouse gate.” The letter also pointed to Gillman v. Holmes County School District, a Florida case in which a high school principal had attempted to ban symbols in support of LGBT rights, including rainbows, at school. In that case, a federal judge ruled last May that the school had violated students’ First Amendment rights. Both cases were handled by the ACLU, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Tinker decision in February.
“The schools we entrust to teach our children about society and their freedoms should know better than to violate one of our most fundamental freedoms,” said Alessandra Soler Meetze, Executive Director of the ACLU of Arizona. “We’re glad that PUSD has seen the light about this, but we’re going to be keeping an eye on this district and hold them to their word that they’ll respect the First Amendment from now on.”
The letter the ACLU sent to the district last month is available here:
http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/lgbt/schoolsyouth/az_armb_letter.pdf.
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/04/arizona-schoo…
Indian River insists it supports gay students
Indian River Central School District officials are defending the way their schools support students after a federal gay-bias lawsuit was lodged against the district and several employees Wednesday.
The lawsuit claims that district employees wouldn’t allow former student Charles P. Pratt, 20, to start a Gay-Straight Alliance in 2004 and that Superintendent James Kettrick, who was the high school principal at the time, “displayed utter and willful indifference” to the harassment Mr. Pratt said he was subjected to at school.
“The Indian River Central School District has, as a matter of practice and policy, promoted tolerance and inclusiveness in all of its schools,” a statement released Thursday reads. “We have support groups to assist students with a variety of difficulties, including, but not limited to religious issues, racial tension, sexual orientation, socio-economic difficulties, and any other type of bias or discrimination.”
See Indian River insists it supports gay students
WatertownDailyTimes.com
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/04/indian-river-…
Indian River insists it supports gay students
Indian River Central School District officials are defending the way their schools support students after a federal gay-bias lawsuit was lodged against the district and several employees Wednesday.
The lawsuit claims that district employees wouldn’t allow former student Charles P. Pratt, 20, to start a Gay-Straight Alliance in 2004 and that Superintendent James Kettrick, who was the high school principal at the time, “displayed utter and willful indifference” to the harassment Mr. Pratt said he was subjected to at school.
“The Indian River Central School District has, as a matter of practice and policy, promoted tolerance and inclusiveness in all of its schools,” a statement released Thursday reads. “We have support groups to assist students with a variety of difficulties, including, but not limited to religious issues, racial tension, sexual orientation, socio-economic difficulties, and any other type of bias or discrimination.”
See Indian River insists it supports gay students
WatertownDailyTimes.com
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/04/indian-river-…
Tenn. bill delayed that would gag gay students, teachers
(Nashville, Tennessee) Tennessee lawmakers have put off voting on a bill that would bar elementary schools from “any instruction or materials discussing sexual orientation other than heterosexuality.”
The House of Representatives K-12 Subcommittee took up the bill this week, deciding Wednesday to send the measure for more study.
A similar bill died …
2 Fla. students challenge school ruling on gay club
(Jacksonville, Florida) An attorney for two gay students at a north Florida high school told a federal judge Thursday they should be allowed to form a campus club promoting tolerance toward gays, despite a school prohibition.
But a lawyer for the Nassau County School Board said the group’s name, Gay-Straight Alliance, …
2 Fla. students challenge school’s gay club ruling
An attorney for two gay students at a north Florida high school told a federal judge they should be allowed to have a Gay-Straight Alliance on campus, while a lawyer for the Nassau County School Board says the group’s name is against school policy.
Yulee High School students Hannah Page and Jacob Brock, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, are challenging a decision by the school board which prevents them from having the club which promotes anti-bullying and tolerance toward gays.
School board attorney Frank Sheppard says if the group will change its name, it could meet on campus.
See 2 Fla. students challenge school’s gay club ruling MiamiHerald.com
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/03/2-fla-student…
