City in Wyoming: Anti-gay message will stay
(Casper, Wyo.) Casper officials say an anti-gay sign painted on a homeowner’s fence near a high school will be allowed to remain because there’s nothing the city can or should do about it.
Chris Trumbull painted the words “Leviticus 20:13, To be gay equals death” on his fence. Trumbull says the message is the Bible’s, not his.
Trumbull’s property sits along a route between Roosevelt High School and the Boys & Girls Club where dozens of high school students pass every day. City Code Enforcement Supervisor Shelley LeClere says the city asked Trumbull to remove the message, but he declined.
Councilman Keith Goodenough says he didn’t think it was the city’s place to “draw the line.”
Thursday’s Watercooler: Oprah goes primetime and Lady Gaga stands up for gay teens
Today, gay kids continue to make waves across the country. I’m hoping it’s a trend, that Constance has inspired a national uprising amongst gay teens. It’s about time someone challenged the strangle hold administrators have over high school students. In today’s story [1], a Nashville teen, Cole Goforth, wore a “Lady Gay Gay” t-shirt and was told to go home and change because the shirt caused “disruptions” at school. Cole refused and Lady Gaga tweeted her support for his assertion of first amendment rights. It’s a good legal fight and I hope Cole takes it all the way. And props to Gaga for lending her support!
[2]
In other serious but less sexy news, Obama and Medvedev (Russian President) have signed [3] a small, but significant nuclear disarmament treaty. It’s not going to eliminate the incredibly large nuclear program in the U.S. or that of Russia, but even some sort of deal is progress. Nuclear disarmament has been getting knocked around recently (think North Korea) and it’s heartening to see any movement towards the reduction of these weapons in the world.
[4]
While Obama works on serious issues regarding nuclear war, the Republican party falters in a sex scandal. I know it’s not new news today, but this interview between Jon Stewart and disgraced “Steele” is too hilarious. Lesbian bondage…. who knew you would see the Republicans get into that?
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart [5]
Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Michael Steele Plays the Race Card [6]
www.thedailyshow.com [7]
Daily Show Full Episodes [8]
Political Humor [9]
Health Care Reform [10]
While I am more likely to watch Stewart than Oprah, I do catch her at the gym every once in a while and I am excited that her new show will happen [11]at a more reasonable hour. And it will include international travel and celebrities! What more could we ask for? This is definitely better than the episode I saw an ad for about straight couples who no longer have sex. I would much rather watch Oprah and Brad Pitt go to Egypt. Wouldn’t you?
[12]
In a final piece of shocking news, a Wisconsin district attorney is arguing [13]that sex ed teachers who teach teenagers about condom use and contraception when they know or ought to know those teenagers are having sex with other underage individuals could be criminally charged. It’s a complete perversion of the law and a scare tactic obviously aimed at removing proper sex ed from classrooms. What is most troubling is that this DA is in a position of power when it comes to criminal sanctions in the state and he is so obviously highly conservative. Should we really have ideologues like this in offices that hold power over the population’s very basic freedoms?
[1] http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1635666/20100408/lady_gaga.jhtml
[2] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/blog-lady-gaga-top.jpg
[3] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/08/obama-prague-russia-nuclear-arms-deal-medvedev_n_529726.html
[4] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/blog-obama-russia-insert.jpg
[5] http://www.thedailyshow.com
[6] http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-april-7-2010/michael-steele-plays-the-race-card
[7] http://www.thedailyshow.com/
[8] http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes
[9] http://www.indecisionforever.com
[10] http://www.thedailyshow.com/videos/tag/health
[11] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/08/oprahs-next-chapter-oprah_n_529861.html
[12] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/blog-oprah-top.jpg
[13] http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/wis-da-threatens-arrest-for-local-sex-ed-teachers/19430578
VT program helps students explore gender
(Burlington, Vt.) Like plenty of other high school students, a group of about a dozen Vermont teenagers trundled into a youth center one day every week this spring to participate in an after-school program.
But their program was different; it focused on gender.
The nine-week program, partially funded by the Burlington School …
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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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/aclu-sues-to-…
Students’ silence supports gay rights
More than a third of all Vashon High School students took part in the national Day of Silence April 17, showing their support for the school’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) community by refraining from speaking all day. They wore stickers indicating their level of participation: completely silent, silent unless speaking was necessary or speaking but supportive of the day’s actions. Those who chose silence, said teacher Marcella Murphy, did so “because gay and lesbian students feel silenced by their peers. They feel they can’t speak out on who they really are because they feel harassed or bullied.” The event raises awareness of the LGBTQ community at Vashon High School and nationwide, said Murphy, advisor of the school’s Gay Straight Alliance, which sponsored the event.
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/04/students-sile…
Archbishop George Niederaurer of San Francisco cancels gay play
NBC Bay Area.com is reporting that Archbishop George Niederaurer of San Francisco’s Most Holy Redeemer Church refused to allow a group of Catholic high school students to peform a gay-themed play yesterday.
Apparently, students from Sacred Heart Preparatory in Atherton were scheduled to perform “Be Still and Know” at the church, but at the last minute Niederaurer changed his mind and told them to “go home.” The play is an adaptation of The God Box, a novel by Alex Sanchez, about a a male Christian high school student who struggles to reconcile bibilical scripture with his burgeoning homosexuality when he befriends a new student who is openly gay.
Neideraurer, who actively supported the Yes on Prop 8 campaign, came to San Francisco from Salt Lake City and is rumored to have been instrumental in getting the Mormons involved in the issue. He’s the Archbishop who took heat from the Catholic community when he gave communion to two members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence who were dressed in drag. His church “welcomes all people of good faith, regardless of their background, gender, race, social status, gender identity, or sexual orientation”, according to its website.
See Archbishop cancels gay play
Examiner.com
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/03/archbishop-ge…
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…
