Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 06:12:31 -0800 (PST) From: jessea@uclink4.berkeley.edu (Jessea NR Greenman) Subject: Belated relay of report from LGBT Youth Forum (IN) || Denver CO mayor proclaims LG history month || Journal of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Identity || new resource from Holocaust Museuem [from one of our correspondents comes the following {edited for length}....] I'd like to take the opportunity to report about a youth forum that met [friday oct. 18] in South Bend, Indiana. As many of you already know I work as a volunteer with IYG, a statewide youth group whose sole purpose to educate, to foster healthy attitudes and lifestyles, and to provide support and peer networking for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered youth ages 13-20. IYG started in Indianapolis in the late 1980s and was founded by the late Chris Gonzales and his partner Jeff Werner; the group started out in Indy but has spread to 9 other chapters (with still more in the planning stages). IYG has a nationwide toll-free peer monitored hotline for gay youth to talk, to seek counseling, or just to hear a friendly voice. IYG also sponsors a pen pal campaign for gay youth as well. [*Indianapolis Youth Group, POB 20716, Indianapolis, 46220-0716. (317) 541 8726, 635 TEEN, (800) 347 TEEN. ] Today, after two years of planning, our organization sponsored WHAT ARE WE SAYING TO OUR YOUTH? A FORUM OFFERING SUPPORT TO OUR G/L/B/T YOUTH, the forum was an outstanding success!!! Approximately 50 participants attended the forum which consisted of 6 breakout sessions, plus our keynote speaker was Dr. Gilbert Herdt, author of CHILDREN OF HORIZONS. The six sessions included: Combatting Homophobia, The Bible & Homosexuality, Health Concerns for Today's Gay Youth, PFLAG, Youth Panel-- Our Lives, and Outreaching, Supporting and Empowering Our Gay Youth. [...] Four of our youth spoke to our audience members, relating their lives. I was very proud of them and the job they did in letting adults know what they go through (3 of our 4 youth have home schooling because of the harassment they faced in the schools). Each of them related on aspects of how they have felt as a gay teen. Some moments were poignant, some were funny and some rather somber and serious. [...] As to our keynote speaker, Dr. Gilbert Herdt, Professor of Human Development at the University of Chicago, all I can say is if you EVER get the opportunity to attend one of his lectures, you must. I feel he was the best speaker I have ever heard speak on this topic. He was eloquent, simply brilliant, and shed some fascinating ideas on what constitutes a gay identity. Interestingly, two years ago we held a similar, but much less comprehensive, forum. It was well attended by several local fundamental Baptist church congregations, who if not for our excellent moderator, would have turned it into a hate-fest. Our poor youth held their own, but who needed this kind of crap? In any case, our moderator, who at the time, was a coordinator from Planned Parenthood, turned their hostility back upon them. While it was a productive meeting, too much time was spent arguing instead of focusing on our objective of educating the public to our needs. This time we took measures to avert such problems. Oddly enough, the answer was, for us, to charge a ten dollar admission fee for the forum (which included a nice box lunch). I found it interesting, and I do believe this was the key, that few fundamentalists are willing to go to such a forum and HAVE to pay for the opportunity to cause havoc. [...] I could go on, but I won't and if any of you have comments, suggestions, or questions, please free to write me and I'll get back to you. Thanks. Doug Douglas.C.Mappin.1@nd.edu =========== =========== [this from GLSTNCO@aol.com] GLSTN/Colorado is proud to announce that Denver's Mayor's Wellington E. Webb officially proclaimed October as Gay and Lesbian History Month. PROCLAMATION WHEREAS, The city of Denver has banned discrimination, including discrimination based on sexual orientation; and WHEREAS, The Webb Administration is committed to fairness and the recognition of the full rights and responsibilities of all residents, including Gays and Lesbians; and WHEREAS, Gay and Lesbian people have made numerous historic contributions to society, including the contributions of Gay and Lesbian writers, composers, artists, athletes, and government leaders; and WHEREAS, Recent research has shed new light on these contributions and has increased our understanding of Gay and Lesbian people and their history; and WHEREAS, Awareness and acknowledgment of the contributions of all people, including Gays and Lesbians, is the responsibility of our entire community. NOW, THEREFORE, I WELINGTON E. WEBB, MAYOR of the city and County of Denver, Colorado, by virtue of the authority vested in me, do hereby officially proclaim the month of October to be: "GAY AND LESBIAN HISTORY MONTH" IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the official seal of the City and County of Denver to be affixed this month of October, 1996. Wellington E. Webb Mayor ============= ============= From: blumenfeld@educ.umass.edu (Warren J. Blumenfeld) JOURNAL OF GAY, LESBIAN, AND BISEXUAL IDENTITY The new quarterly _Journal of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Identity_ is out. The Journal is an international interdisciplinary forum dedicated to the exchange of new knowledge and ideas about every major aspect of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender life. It features original peer-reviewed scholarly articles, clinical studies, research papers, personal essays, interviews, "roundtable discussions," reviews, and poetry. On occasion, individual issues of the Journal will focus on thematic topics, for example, LGBT youth and schools, sexual identity formation at all stages of life, politics and public policy, internalized oppression, interconnections with other social identities and/or other forms of oppression, the relationship between AIDS and sexual/gender identity, multiculturalism within sexual and gender identities, and others. The Journal is a source of information for professionals involved in public health and human services; the social and behavioral sciences; the humanities; political science; law; religion and spirituality; and the arts. It also provides an essential line of communication among community organizers, students, and parents of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons. Overseen by its Editor, Warren J. Blumenfeld, the Journal boasts an international editorial board composed of accomplished academics, writers, activists, and administrators from diverse backgrounds. For a complimentary premiere issue and subscription information for the JOURNAL OF GAY, LESBIAN, AND BISEXUAL IDENTITY, contact the publisher directly: Human Sciences Press, Inc. Attn: Dept. HGL 233 Spring Street New York, NY 10013-1578 1-800-221-9369 via the World Wide Web: gopher://plenum.titlenet.com:6200 The editorial board welcomes the opportunity to review your original manuscripts dealing with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender topics. Please write to the Editor for complete submission guidelines: Warren J. Blumenfeld, Editor Journal of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Identity P.O. Box 929 Northampton, MA 01061 ============== ============== forwarded message: >The Museum is on the WWW. Address: http://www.ushmm.org/outreach > >And, from an article entitled "New Series on Holocaust Victims": Four new >educational publications from the Museum focus on Jehovah's >Witnesses, Sinti and Roma ("Gypsies"), people with disabilities, and >homosexuals as victims of Nazi persecution and genocide. .. .Copies of the >booklets are available at the Museum in the Resource Center for Educators. >e-mail education@ushmm.org >The Museum is on the WWW. Address: http://www.ushmm.org/outreach *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ OK TO RE-POST. Jessea NR Greenman, The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project is an all-volunteer effort CHECK OUT OUR FREE INFO-LOADED WEB PAGE AT http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/ "Speak to the people you fear, even if your voice shakes." Maggie Kuhn, co-founder of the Gray Panthers