Date: Sun, 16 Jun 1996 12:37:32 -0700 (PDT) From: jessea@uclink4.berkeley.edu (Jessea NR Greenman) Subject: (Fwd) CA Alert: L.A. Schools Gender Equity Programs Threatened [sent to The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project list because a) it's coalition support time. many gender equity activists support us; let's return the support now b) gender equity and LGBT rights are related in that homophobia is related to misogyny. winning gender equity (which, by the way, is freedom from gender constraints for BOTH sexes, i.e. males could be allowed to be less stereotypically "masculine" in a gender equitous society) will help in the struggle to win equality for LGBT folk, too.] PLEASE DO NOT PRESS REPLY! For more info e-mail the "From" address below. FORWARDED MESSAGE from PolWoman: To: AAUW members From: Kanani Fong (Kanoa@aol.com) Please act on this and pass this information on! ________________________________________________ June 14, 1996 Los Angeles Unified School District Commission for Gender Equity Move to eliminate Gender Equity Programs in the Los Angeles Unified School District threatens to turn back the clock on fairness in educational opportunities for women and girls. **Your FAX is needed now! The LAUSD Commission for Gender Equity is the only fully-funded position in a public school district in the U.S. Los Angeles Unified is in the second largest school district in the United States. The prominence of this commission is significant throughout the U.SA. **Fax= 213/626-2815 [snail = LAUSD Board of Education, 450 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles CA 90012] An action by the Los Angeles City Board of Education to remove a key staff person would sidetrack an important tool in the battle for gender equity: The Commission for Gender Equity. Since 1980, the Commission has worked for girls and women in the schools. Addressing such key issues as the right to an equal education for pregnant and parenting teens, the elimination of occupational segregation by gender in vocational education, stopping sexual harassment in schools, and equity for girls and women in school sports programs, the Commission has repeatedly and successfully pressed the Board of Education to act on programs to insure equal access for girls and women. Leaving the Commission without a director, its only staffer, would be a tremendous setback. COMMISSION FOR GENDER EQUITY successes have included: *Establishing and funding a District-Wide Office for Pregnant and Parenting Teens.Successfully developing new Board of Education policy mandating a pregnant/parenting teen advocate at every secondary school. *Successfully developing new Board of Education policy mandating training at every middle and high school about stopping sexual harassment. Funding OFF LIMITS, in partnership with the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women, to train all students and adults in the Los Angeles Unified School District about stopping sexual harassment. *Establishing the first, ongoing pre-apprenticeship class for women, taught by tradeswomen, at a District occupational center, established and supported through an Educational Foundation grant from the American Association of University Women. *Funding PLAYGROUND PARITY, the first program designed for elementary school girls to work with high school and college women athletes to develop self-esteem in sports. *Achieving new Board of Education policy updating sexual harassment prevention guidelines for employees. *Achieving new Board of Education policy establishing goals and timetables mandating school district contractors to hire tradeswomen. The COMMISSION FOR GENDER EQUITY is a voice for girls and women in the Los Angeles schools. Other projects have focused on promoting access for girls in advanced math and science classes; equal representation of women in textbooks; forums for staff, students, and parents on gender equity in the schools; appointment of Women's History Month coordinators in every District school; and providing speakers on gender equity issues to schools, including child care centers and adult schools. The Commission for Gender Equity has presented workshops at local and national conferences, and has just been invited by the White House InterAgency Council on Women to be part of a national steering committee to organize an event commemoration the United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing. Although a small office, the Commission means a great deal to girls and women in the community. Particularly for girls of color, who have to face double barriers, this advocacy from this program is critical. Staff for the Commission must remain in place. ________________________________________________________ Eliminate a successful and effective program? Outrageous! ----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE Friday, June 14, 1996 Page A21 GAY PROM MAKES PROUD RETURN * Party expected to draw larger crowd despite opposition Tara Shioya, Chronicle East Bay Bureau Just like any high school prom, there will be live music and disc jockeys, crepe paper streamers and a king and queen. The only difference is that the boys won't necessarily dance with the girls. The Gay Prom -- Northern California's only prom especially for gays and lesbians -- returns to Hayward's Centennial Hall tonight, hoping to build on its successful debut last year and to draw four times as many ``lavender'' youth this time around. The organizers are expecting up to 800 people 25 and younger from as far away as New York and Chicago. Campbell resident Lora Edson will be at tonight's prom, dressed in a black tuxedo, with her girlfriend and her best friend. "I think it's really awesome,'' said Edson, 17. "Just to be in a place where people aren't going to say, `Oh my gosh, she's dancing with a girl!'" The prom was created last year by Hayward's Lambda Youth Project as a safe, alcohol- and drug- free alternative for young gays and lesbians who felt uneasy about attending their own high school proms. Coordinator Ken Athey said gay and lesbian teenagers who come out to their high school peers often become targets of harassment and violence. "The Gay Prom is to give gay and lesbian youth a sense of pride,'' said Athey, who describes his own prom experience as "miserable.'' "They can bring a person of their choice, or even meet someone of their choice, and not have to think twice about it or worry about who's watching.'' Anti-gay groups have called the prom a ``magnet'' for gays and lesbians seeking to recruit impressionable youth. Last year, critics of the prom tried to lobby Hayward's City Council to withdraw Lambda's funding, and a trio of protesters wearing ``Jesus Saves Sinners from Hell'' T-shirts heckled promgoers as they arrived. Mark Zapalik, director of the East Bay chapter of the Traditional Values Coalition, called the event ``another milestone in the deterioration of the moral fiber of America.'' ``It's sad for our youth and it's sad for America,'' Zapalik said yesterday. ``I think it's deplorable that it would be supported by school administrators who are supposed to be there to help our children grow up healthy.'' But despite such opposition, the Gay Prom has grown in size and popularity. This year's event will occupy the whole of Centennial Hall, instead of just some of the rooms like last year, thanks to increased community donations. ``New York, NY'' is this year's theme. There'll be Times Square, Central Park and Broadway. Promgoers can stop by for cheesecake, espresso and other refreshments at the Stonewall Bar. ``Coney Island,'' one of the adjacent rooms, will be devoted to HIV outreach and prevention, with all-interactive exhibits and games. The event's $10,000 budget includes money from community groups like the Alameda County Leather Corps and Gays and Lesbians Organized for Betterment and Equality (GLOBE). Corporate sponsors are Kaiser Permanente and CommPre, a program of the nonprofit Horizon Services. Community groups and businesses also gave in-kind donations, ranging from door prizes like tickets to Oakland Athletics games and the San Francisco Zoo to souvenir key chains that serve as both a whistle and a light. And once again, drag royalty from the Imperial State Empire will help judge the evening wear contest. To 18-year-old Jeff Oscar of Campbell, a first-timer at the gay prom, it sounds like a perfect evening. ``I'm looking forward to having a good time -- and not feeling like I'm the only person there who feels the way I do,'' he said. *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ OK TO RE-POST. Jessea Greenman The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) CHECK THIS OUT FOR TONS OF INFO - - http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/ Please cc us (for our files) on correspondence you send or receive re our action alerts.