Students - Know Your Rights!

This is for all American public school students who are Queer or allied. This is a small write up about your rights provided by the ACLU - Get Busy, Get Equal!

"If you experience any problems at school, first talk to your principal or another official. If nothing happens it's time to take action.

HARASSMENT:
If you are being harassed, or witness harassment, report it to the principal, a counselor, or another official immediately, and keep notes with dates and descriptions of all incidents and when you reported them. Being silent may seem easier but it will not end the abuse, and you have the right to be yourself and safe.

PRIVACY:
Teachers and school officials do NOT have the right to "out" you to anyone without your permission or use your sexual orientation to manipulate you in any way.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH:
Sometimes schools try to silence students who are open about their sexual orientation. If you go to a public school you have a constitutional right to be out of the closet and express your opinions.

GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCES:
Gay-Straight Alliances (GSA's) are non-curricular student clubs, just like Chess clubs or Key Clubs, that allow students with a common interest to get together and have discussions and activities. The law says public schools must allow GSA's if other student clubs exist.

*For info on starting or being part of a GSA go to GLSEN or call 212-727-0135

PROM:
Public schools cannot stop you from bringing a same-sex date to prom. Federal law protects this as freedom of expression, and you cannot be barred from prom because of your date's gender."

If you are encountering difficulty, the ACLU can provide free assistance... Do not hesitate to contact them with questions about your rights or to ask for legal assistance.

getequal@aclu.org
Phone: 212-549-2627

Oklahoma Teacher Fired Over Laramie Project Film

Grandfield High School's Debra Taylor the school’s Ethics and Street Law class teacher has been fired over controversy surrounding the showing of gay-themed film The Laramie Project. The movie is about Matthew Shepard's murder and the teacher wanted to facilitate discussion and promote tolerance after initial approval by the schools principal.

After the school principal reneged on his decision and Superintendent Ed Turlington told Ms. Taylor she could no longer show the film due to its subject matter, the teacher held a mock funeral in a nearby park where students could write down their thoughts and release them into balloons to develop a sense of closure on the topic.

The district says she was suspended and then fired by the board for her actions in the park, but others believe it is due to the nature of the play.

Superintendent Ed Turlington can be contacted at:

580-479-5237
eturlington@grandfield.k12.ok.us

Shared Differences Examines LGBT Students of Color Experiences in School

LGBT students of color face unique and diverse challenges regarding victimization at school, according to Shared Differences: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Students of Color in Our Nation's Schools, a report released today by GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

Key Findings:

Across all groups, sexual orientation and gender expression were the most common reasons LGBT students of color reported feeling unsafe in school. More than four out of five students, within each racial/ethnic group, reported verbal harassment in school because of sexual orientation and about two-thirds because of gender expression. At least a third of each group reported physical violence in school because of sexual orientation.

More than half of African American/Black, Latino/a, Asian/Pacific Islander, and multiracial students also reported verbal harassment in school based on their race or ethnicity. Native American students (43%) were less likely than other students to report experiencing racially motivated verbal harassment.

About a quarter of African American/Black and Asian/Pacific Islander students had missed class or days of school in the past month because they felt unsafe. Latino/a, Native American, and multiracial students were even more likely to be absent for for safety reasons - about a third or more skipped class at least once or missed at least one day of school in the past month for safety reasons.

Native American students experienced particularly high levels of victimization because of their religion, with more than half reporting the highest levels of verbal harassment (54%), and a quarter experiencing physical violence (26%).

Less than half of students of color who had been harassed or assaulted in school in the past year said that they ever reported the incident to school staff. Furthermore, for those students who did report incidents to school staff, less than half believed that staff’s resulting response was effective.

Native American (57%) and multiracial (50%) students were more likely than other students of color in our survey to report incidents to a family member.

Performance at school also suffered when students experienced high levels of victimization. Students’ overall GPA dropped when they reported high severities of harassment based on sexual orientation and/or race/ethnicity. Students experiencing high severities of harassment also reported missing school more often.

The report also looks at differing experiences based on the racial/ethnic make-up of students’ schools. For all groups, LGBT students of color who were minorities in their school were much more likely to feel unsafe and experience harassment because of their race or ethnicity than those who were in the racial/ethnic majority.

To download the full report, click here.

Anti-Gay Principal Reneges on his Decision to Resign

Back in May we discussed the Columbia, South Carolina Irmo High School's vote and rally on whether to allow the formation of a Gay-Straight Alliance. In light of the fact that the school voted to allow a GSA principal Eddie Walker had announced he would resign since the club "conflicted with his values" and he felt it was inappropriate for a club to discuss things of a "sexual nature."

Now according to CountOn2News:

"Lexington-Richland District 5 spokesman Buddy Price told The State newspaper Thursday that interim superintendent Herbert Berg got a letter from Walker that said he wanted to stay."

The anti-LGBT principles contract is up for renewal in the Spring. If you aren't in favor of this homophobic principle keeping his position please join us in contacting the interim superintendent and members of the board in the district.

Berg, Herbert
Position: Superintendent
Email: HBerg@lex5.k12.sc.us
(803) 476-8116

Contact Members of the Board!

Nationwide Student Protest for Marriage Equality 12/3/08

NATIONWIDE STUDENT PROTEST
FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY

On 12/3 Walk out of class at 9 am in your own time zone.
When you leave, please leave a note on your desk or chair that says, "SCHOOL TAUGHT ME NOT TO DISCRIMINATE. SAY NO TO H8. SAY YES TO EQUALITY".

We'll leave it up to the students at each school to figure out what they want to do while they are out of class, but we encourage you all to meet up as a group somewhere nearby and protest for equal rights for everyone. Coordinate through facebook, myspace, text messages, and word of mouth.

Home Page, Facebook Group, Myspace Page

CLICK HERE to print flyers that allow you to write in a place for local students to meet up and protest.

CLICK HERE to print a flyer without adding a place to meet up.

CONTACT:
Eric Ross - eross@studentsforequality.com

Elijah Nouvelage - enouvelage@studentsforequality.com

Word of the Gay: "Safe-Space"

A "safe-space" is a person or an environment that is considered non-tolerant of physical or verbal violence against LGBT people. They are generally considered understanding of LGBT issues as well as accepting and affirming.

Grossmont Union H.S. District Endorses Proposition 8

"The Grossmont Union High School District went on record yesterday supporting a November initiative that would ban same-sex marriage in California.

The board voted 4-0 to pass a resolution endorsing Proposition 8, which would amend the state Constitution to recognize marriage only between a man and a woman." (San Diego Tribune)

This bigoted move by the school district has zero to do with education and sends a message intolerance and bigotry to students, faculty, and the community.

Click here to contact the governing board, and superintendent.

Word of the Gay: "LUG"

"LUG" stands for Lesbian Until Graduation, the term is used to describe women who are of high school or college age and are experimenting with their sexuality or self-identify as lesbian or bisexual while they are in school. These women later go onto live and self-identify as heterosexuals.

The Bisexual community looks at this term as a form of Biphobia and that these women were never really lesbian to begin with, nor straight after school ended, but merely Bisexual and sexually fluid regardless of how they choose to self-identify.

ACTION ALERT: South Carolina School District Voting on GSA Issue Tonight!

"A request from a student at Irmo High to form a Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) club at the school has presented a difficult and complicated decision for the School Board. While this club is student-initiated and not school or district sponsored, if the school has permitted the formation of other non-curricular clubs, federal law requires that the school provide equal access to a Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) Club. The law is very clear that if non-curricular clubs are allowed at a school, which they currently are at Irmo High, it would be discriminatory not to allow the formation of a Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) club." More info on the story here.

Please contact the board and have your voice heard on the issue. Students should have the right to form a club and be free to have a safe space to discuss issues of concern to LGBT students and allies.

Contact Members of the Board!

Clovis Superintendent Apologizes for Lesbian Couple's Photo's in Yearbook!

"Clovis Schools Superintendent Rhonda Seidenwurm on Tuesday apologized to parents and residents offended by the inclusion of lesbian couples in the 2008 high school yearbook.

She took full responsibility for not reinstating a policy that gives school officials oversight of the yearbook. She said the school will put in a policy providing more oversight on the yearbook next year."

(CNJ Online)

This is absurd that the school is trying to censor the yearbook and it is queerphobic that LGBT students would not be able to have their lives displayed.

Email Dr. Rhonda Seidenwurm the Superintendent of Clovis Municipal Schools District:
rhondas@clovis-schools.org

Support the Safe Schools Improvement Act

A new action alert has come out from the The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:

"Across the country, communities are mourning the brutal murder of 15-year-old Lawrence King of California, who classmates say was killed because of his sexual orientation and gender expression. This tragic event reminds us of the importance of creating safe learning environments. We call on schools to honor King’s memory by using this as an opportunity to address violence and harassment directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students. Further, we call on Congress to enact strong anti-harassment and anti-bullying legislation.

U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) has introduced the Safe Schools Improvement Act (H. R. 3132), which would promote bullying prevention efforts in schools across America. H. R. 3132 is vital to protecting America’s students in schools, but the bill needs more cosponsors in the House.

The Senate has included similar language to address bullying and harassment in the draft of No Child Left Behind reauthorization, sponsored by Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo). Senators, especially those on the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, should support maintaining the language that will strengthen state and local efforts to prevent bullying and harassment through the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Act.

Contact your members of Congress today and urge support for strong anti-bullying legislation."

Click Here to contact your representative

Click Here to contact your Senators

U.K. Campaign Against Homophobic Bullying

The Liberal Democrats have launched a campaign to end homophobic bullying in schools across the U.K.

The call is for the following to support and protect the victims of homophobic bullying:

1. Homophobic taunts and name calling in schools should be challenged immediately by staff.

2. All schools' anti-bullying policies should be required to include measures specifically to deal with homophobic bullying.

3. At least one teacher in every school should undergo training which includes how to tackle homophobic bullying.

Please sign the petition which will be sent to the House of Commons and Lords as part on ongoing work to amend the current Education and Inspections Bill to tackle this problem

http://www.libdems.org.uk/campaigns/stop-homophobic-bullying.html

Take Action: Memphis Principle Outs her Students

***UPDATE*** I'm bumping this thread up because apparently the Memphis City Schools Board is defending the actions of Principal Beasley.

You can contact the commissioners by email here

According to Queer Today:

"A public high school principal who posted the names of two boys on a list of students believed to be couples, revealing their relationship to their parents as well as other students and teachers, violated the students’ constitutional right to freedom of association, the American Civil Liberties Union charged Tuesday.

In a letter to school board officials in Memphis, the ACLU demanded that the school reprimand the principal and take steps to ensure such actions never happen again.

In September of 2007, the principal at Hollis F. Price Middle College High told teachers she wanted the names of all student couples, “hetero and homo,” because she wanted to monitor them personally to prevent students from engaging in public displays of affection."

The Principal is:

Daphne Beasley

Email: BeasleyD@mcsk12.net


(901) 435-1765

The school's address is:

Hollis F. Price Middle College High

807 Walker Avenue

Memphis, TN 38126

The Memphis City Schools Superintendent is:

Dan Ward

2597 Avery St., Room 214

Memphis, TN 38112

Phone: (901) 416-5300

Fax: (901) 416-5578

Email: superintendentward@mcsk12.net

Churchie School Should Allow Same-Sex Prom Dates

According to Queerty:

"The all boys school Churchie, located in Australia’s Queensland state, rejected several gay kids requests to bring their same-sex beaus to the end-of-the-year dance. While headmaster Jonathan Hensman says he appreciates their asking, he simply cannot deviate from the dance’s historic trajectory.

"We don’t intend to change our practice. As well as being a social occasion, it’s an education forum and to that end the school decides what is appropriate behavior and what is not.

Not all students take their girlfriends. Some take a female friend. It’s about protocols and decorums."

Please contact the school headmaster and tell him that discriminating against gay students is wrong...

Email: Jonathan.Hensman@churchie.com.au