GLSEN: 9/10 LGBT teens bullied
A 10-year study found most LGBT teens were harassed, but GSA’s and teachers helped.
GLSEN: 9/10 LGBT teens bullied
A 10-year study found most LGBT teens were harassed, but GSA’s and teachers helped.
GLSEN: 9/10 LGBT teens bullied
A 10-year study found most LGBT teens were harassed, but GSA’s and teachers helped.
GLSEN: 9/10 LGBT teens bullied
A 10-year study found most LGBT teens were harassed, but GSA’s and teachers helped.
Iowa governor may declare GSA Day
Iowa governor may declare GSA Day
In UK, New initiative launched to tackle homelessness among LGBT youth
Four leading LGBT charities have announced the launch of a new initiative to reduce homelessness among young LGBT people.
The initiative, known as ‘Jigsaw’, brings together the legal advisers Stonewall Housing, youth homelessness and support charity the Albert Kennedy Trust, the mental health organisation PACE and Galop, which supports victims of homophobic crime.
A joint statement from the groups said: “Despite the greater legal recognition of LGBT people, social acceptance is far from universal.
“Even in London today, many young LGBT people face rejection from their own family, persecution from their own communities, and even physical attack.
“Furthermore, most offenders of homophobic hate crime are aged between 16 and 20″.
Michael Nastari, the co-ordinator of Jigsaw, and a director of LGBT Youth Homelessness Prevention Network, commented: “The effects of homophobia and transphobia on young people’s lives can be devastating. As a result, they can fail to succeed in education, miss out on employment and training, and suffer a range of mental health issues.
See New initiative launched to tackle homelessness among LGBT youth
PinkNews.co.uk
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/in-uk-new-ini…
Family says Bryce Faulkner is undergoing anti-gay counseling willingly
The parents of Bryce Faulkner, a young man who was reported missing by friends and his boyfriend, say he is undergoing anti-gay counseling at his own will.
“He’s fine,” Debra Faulkner told FOXNews.com. “All the stories you’ve been told are not true.”
However, a man who claims to be Bryce’s boyfriend doubts the validity of Mrs. Faulkner’s statement.
Travis Swanson says he and Faulkner are boyfriends and refuses to take down a website to help Bryce until he is told to do so by his alleged boyfriend. Now Bryce’s parents are threatening to sue.
“[Bryce] got caught up with friends who were pulling him that way,” Mrs. Faulkner said. “He just wants to take some time and figure out what he wants to do with his life.”
Through a statement released by a family spokesperson, Bryce says he is seeking treatment on his own accord.
“Every decision that I’ve made has been based solely upon my beliefs and I have not been manipulated or coerced by anyone to do anything,” Bryce Faulkner’s statement read. He declined further comment.
See Family says Bryce Faulkner is undergoing anti-gay counseling willingly Gay Socialites
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Was This Junior High Student Killed for Being Gay? CBS News
VENTURA, Calif. (CBS/AP) “Tell Larry goodbye because you’re not going to see him again.” That is what 15-year-old Brandon McInerney said a day before he allegedly shot and killed fellow student Larry King, according to police.
Everybody knew who Larry King was at E.O. Green Junior High in Oxnard, Calif. King, fifteen, was open about his sexual orientation and known for his splashy personality and wearing high heels to classes.
On Feb. 12, 2008, King was in the school’s computer lab with 24 other students. Authorities say McInerney, an eighth-grade classmate, walked into the room with a gun and shot King in the head. McInerney ran from the building and police officers detained him a few blocks away. See Was This Junior High Student Killed for Being Gay? CBS News
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Statewide Action: On Heels of Prop 8 Ruling, “Meet in the Middle for Equality” Rallies ,Civil Rights Advocates in Fresno for LGBT Equality on a Federal Level
WHEN:
Saturday, May 30, 2009, 1st Statewide Action After the Proposition 8 Decision
7:50 a.m. – Equality March Kickoff; 8:00 a.m. – March from Selma to Fresno
1:00 p.m. – Rally at steps of Fresno City Hall
WHERE:
March from the intersection of W. Front St. and Whitson St. in Selma, CA, then along the Golden State Highway to the Meet in the Middle rally location at Fresno City Hall, 2600 Fresno Street, Fresno, CA 93721
WHO:
Equality March speakers at Selma Kick-off include:
Anne-Marie Williams of Jordan/Rustin Coalition
Nii-Quartelai Quartey of Courage Campaign
Yardenna Aaron of Here to Stay Coalition
Andrea Shorter of Equality California (EQCA)
Roland Palencia of HONOR PAC (English/Spanish-language)
Rally Speakers at Fresno City Hall Location include:
Robin Tyler, the original plaintiff in Tyler vs. the County of Los Angeles
Angelica Salas, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
Molly McKay, Marriage Equality USA
Christine Chavez, Latino and African-American Leadership Alliance and Granddaughter of Cesar Chavez
Kate Kendell, National Center for Lesbian Rights
Rabbi Denise Eger, Congregation Kol Ami & California Faith for Equality
Father Geoff Farrow, Former Catholic Priest for Fresno’s Saint Paul Newman Center
Lt. Dan Choi, West Point graduate, recently discharged under “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”
Reverend Eric Lee, Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Reverend Dr. Amos Brown, Third Baptist Church, San Francisco
Rick Jacobs, Chair and Founder of the Courage Campaign
Cleve Jones, founder of Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and Harvey Milk intern
Dustin Lance Black, Academy Award Winning Screenwriter for Milk
“With this ruling, Californians are experiencing a great loss – a loss of justice, loss of compassion, and a loss of humanity. But rather than become disabled by our grief, we must shift our shame to strength and revitalize for the sake of the entire American LGBT community. We must use this ruling as a catalyst for an even greater goal and a greater good,” said Robin McGehee, lead organizer for Meet in the Middle.
Over 100 organizations from around the state have endorsed Meet in the Middle for Equality. The Courage Campaign and White Knot for Equality are providing buses to bring activists and progressive allies from San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Francisco to the middle of California. Additional active participants include the California Nurses Association, Dolores Huerta Foundation, Equality Action NOW, Equality California (EQCA), Equal Roots, Freedom Action Inclusive Rights (F.A.I.R.), Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Network, HONOR PAC, Jordan/Rustin Coalition, Marriage Equality USA, Martin Luther King Legacy Association, NAACP Youth and College Division, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles, and the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco.
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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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