Alameda school board adopts plan to halt anti-gay bullying
School district leaders have approved lesson plans for kindergartners through fifth graders that aim to curb anti-gay bullying. Trustees voted 3-2 on Tuesday to adopt the Safe Schools curriculum, which supporters say will help children of gay parents feel welcome at school and help end anti-gay teasing and bullying on the playground. The lessons also aim to provide a safe environment for children to learn, as well as to offer a framework for teachers to break down stereotypes and teach kids about different types of families. “The need for this is real,” said Beth Kromer, a fourth-grade teacher at Ruby Bridges Elementary School. Brian Harris, a 16-year-old student at the Alameda Community Learning Center, told trustees that he has been called anti-gay epithets on campus. “I have been harassed by other students in the classroom and I have even begun to consider just stopping and giving up on life,” Harris said. Opponents of the curriculum said it would undercut parents’ rights to teach their children about relationships and sexual orientation, and that it pushed a political agenda without addressing ways to help other groups who may be singled out at school. Trustee Trish Spencer, who voted no, said she was concerned that lessons about other vulnerable students were not on the table.
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/alameda-schoo…
California court upholds marriage ban; existing unions still legal
The California Supreme Court today upheld a ballot measure that amended the state Constitution to deny marriage rights to lesbians and gays. But the ruling did confirm the legality of 18,000 California marriages that were conducted between the time of a previous judicial order and the November election. Los Angeles Times (5/26) , ABC News (5/26) , San Jose Mercury News (Calif.)
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/california-co…
Hearing reset for boy accused of killing gay teen
VENTURA, Calif.—A preliminary hearing has been postponed again for a 15-year-old boy charged with fatally shooting a gay student in an Oxnard classroom.
A Ventura County Superior Court judge on Monday reset the first hearing for Brandon McInerney to July 8. The boy is accused of killing his eighth-grade classmate, Larry King, on Feb. 12, 2008, at E.O. Green School.
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/hearing-reset…
Hearing reset for boy accused of killing gay teen
VENTURA, Calif.—A preliminary hearing has been postponed again for a 15-year-old boy charged with fatally shooting a gay student in an Oxnard classroom.
A Ventura County Superior Court judge on Monday reset the first hearing for Brandon McInerney to July 8. The boy is accused of killing his eighth-grade classmate, Larry King, on Feb. 12, 2008, at E.O. Green School.
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/hearing-reset…
Alameda parents debate lessons addressing gay slurs, bullying
Hundreds of people showed up at City Hall on Tuesday night to express their support — or concerns — about the Alameda Unified School District’s proposed lessons to address slurs and bullying against gays.
So many people showed up to speak that police and fire officials had to clear much of the crowd out of City Council chambers, where the public hearing to discuss the lessons was held. A second hearing is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 18 at a location to be announced.
School Board President Mike McMahon said he had 200 speaker slips from people who wanted to be heard on the issue. The school board — minus Trustee Neal Tam, who was absent — heard three and a half hours of testimony on the curriculum on Tuesday.
Supporters of the curriculum said it’s a tool desperately needed by teachers to combat anti-gay slurs and bullying that starts as early as kindergarten. It’s not about sex, they said, but about offering positive images of gays and their families who are members of the community but invisible inside school walls.
The consequences of not addressing the bullying or offering such positive reinforcement is dire, they said: Statistically, gay youth are much more likely to skip school, abuse alcohol and drugs and commit suicide than their straight peers.
Alameda parents debate lessons addressing gay slurs, bullying
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/alameda-paren…
Two Los Gatos residents pledge $1 million to San Jose State University’s new Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center
Los Gatos residents Larry Arzie and David Stonesifer have pledged $1 million from their estate to support San Jose State University’s new Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center.
The center opened in the fall of 2008.
“They’re going to be a beacon and a lifeboat to a wide demographic of people,” Arzie said. “They’re there to help anyone who is questioning their sexuality.” Stonesifer graduated from SJSU in 1965 and Arzie graduated in 1966. “San Jose State is dear to our hearts,” Arzie said, “and so is this new center that’s opening up. The reason we did this is because money’s tight everywhere.” Arzie and Stonesifer owned the popular N. Santa Cruz Avenue home decorating store, The Porch, for three decades. They are well known in town for their philanthropy and have opened their historic home, La Estancia, to many nonprofit organizations, including the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Foundation and Jazz on the Plazz.
The bequest, Arzie said, is a way to encourage other alumni to include the LGBT Center in their wills. “This is something you look down the road on,” he said.
In addition to the $1 million bequest, Arzie and Stonesifer also made a small cash donation to help the center with immediate needs. See Two Los Gatos residents pledge $1 million to new gay and lesbian …
San Jose Mercury News * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/two-los-gatos…
Pizarro: Activist Cleve Jones to make an appearance in San Jose – San Jose Mercury News
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Pizarro: Activist Cleve Jones to make an appearance in San Jose
San Jose Mercury News, USA Well, the real Cleve Jones will be in San Jose Thursday night to discuss his lifetime of social activism, especially for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and victims of HIV/AIDS. His 8 pm talk will be at the Billy DeFrank LGBT … |
Miss USA contestant Carrie Prejean defends anti-gay stand
Still the center of a raging debate two days after her anti-gay-marriage remarks at the Miss USA pageant, Miss California Carrie Prejean went on the “Today” show Tuesday and maintained she was proud of what she had said.
During Sunday night’s competition, Prejean was asked by openly gay celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, a judge in the pageant, if she felt all states should move toward allowing same-sex marriage.
She said, “I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman … that’s how I was raised.” Besides setting off a firestorm of pro- and con-gay-marriage/freedom-of-speech twittering and blogging, the remark was widely believed to have cost her the crown. It also prompted Hilton to later post a nasty and unprintable rant about her on his massively popular Web site perezhilton.com.
“I was ready for my question, and when I heard it from (Perez), I knew at that moment after I’d answered the question, I knew that I was not going to win because of my answer,” she said. “Because I had spoken from my heart, for my beliefs and for my God. … It’s not about being politically correct, for me, it’s about being biblically correct.”
Earlier in the day Prejean went on MSNBC’s morning show, where she was asked about Hilton’s attack on her.
“I can only say to him that I will be praying for him. I feel sorry for him, I really do,” Prejean said. “I think he’s angry, I think he’s hurt.
See : Miss USA contestant Carrie Prejean defends anti-gay …
San Jose Mercury News
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/04/miss-usa-cont…
California Supreme Court appears likely to uphold gay marriage ban
The California Supreme Court today appeared inclined to uphold Proposition 8, but showed obvious reluctance to void thousands of same-sex marriages already in place when voters restored a ban on gay marriage last fall.
During three hours of arguments in San Francisco, the justices peppered lawyers opposing Proposition 8 with questions that suggested they do not believe they have the authority to trump the will of the voters.
At the same time, even justices who voted against striking down California’s previous ban on gay marriage indicated that Proposition 8 should not wipe out an estimated 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place last year. Those couples mobilized around the state to obtain marriage licenses after the Supreme Court ruled last May that California’s prior ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional.
“Is that really fair to people who depended on what this court said was the law?” Justice Ming Chin asked Ken Starr, the former Clinton impeachment prosecutor who argued that same-sex marriages shouldn’t be recognized under Proposition 8.
See California Supreme Court appears likely to uphold gay marriage ban
San Jose Mercury News – CA, USA
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/03/california-su…
We are family, too: Vietnamese gays and lesbians join San Jose’s …
Dressed in a form-fitted black tuxedo, holding a bridal bouquet of white roses specked with yellow and red orchids, Annie Nguyen beamed, surrounded by men in colorful traditional Vietnamese wedding attire.
For the 50-year-old factory supervisor and mother of five, the short march in downtown San Jose’s 12th annual Vietnamese Spring Festival and Parade marked a personal milestone.
Two years ago, after decades of being in the closet, the San Jose woman came out to her husband and children. On Sunday, standing behind a sign in Vietnamese and English that said, “Love and support ALL of your children,” Nguyen made a public declaration and appeal:
“You could lead two lives: one out, one hidden. But you’ll not be part of your family. Parents should accept their children.”
Nguyen was one of 40 Vietnamese gays and lesbians from the Bay Area and other parts of California who marched during the traditional annual celebration of Tet, the lunar new year. It was only the second time in the parade’s history that gays and lesbians marched openly — and the first time that families joined them. For Vietnamese gay and lesbian groups, the event signaled a new kind of visibility and openness in a culture that traditionally views homosexuality as shameful — and something to hide.
See We are family, too: Vietnamese gays and lesbians join San Jose’s …
San Jose Mercury News, USA
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/we-are-family…
