Date: Mon, 4 Aug 1997 16:45:31 -0700 From: richter@eecs.berkeley.edu (Jean Richter) Subject: 8/4/97 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. MA: Stoneham GSA seeks submissions for anthology 2. CA: More letters on Pacifica lawsuit 3. IN: Update on high school poster controversy 4. TX: School for LGB youth to open in September 5. NH: Letter refuting bad editorial on gay youth suicide =============================================================== Date: Sat, 02 Aug 1997 01:02:23 -0400 From: Cobweb Destiny Anne Subject: Prism project~*~ Greetings! Hello! My name is Meaghan Sinclair, you're probably wondering why I'm writing to you. Well, this is the reason, the Gay/Straight Alliance at my school, PRISM, is putting together an anthology of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans-gender, Questioning and supportive youth, dealing with issues of sexuality. I came up with the idea almost two years ago and now it's materializing, which is very exciting! All forms of writing are welcomed as well as black and white artwork and photography. If you or anyone you know would be interested in submitting something please send submissions to: prismproject@hotmail.com If you have any questions or comments you may write me here or at: prismproject@geocities.com I just put up a PRISM homepage, with more details and a submission form. The URL is: http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Heights/7178/index.html Thank you! Cobwebbed, meaghan* ============================================================== From: Laursiegel@aol.com Date: Sat, 2 Aug 1997 11:06:03 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Lawsuit in Pacifica CA Two more letters to the editor of the Pacifica Tribune regarding the sexual harassment lawsuit in the Laguna Salada School District in Pacifica CA. Comments can be sent to the Tribune at (they require name, address, phone number and they print name and city - they print pretty much ALL letters). I'll be glad to send you the text of the original Tribune article on the lawsuit if you email me at Dear Editor, I want to thank you for your coverage of the Laguna Salada sexual harassment suit. As a gay man who is both an alumni of the school district along with the Jefferson Union High School District, I am glad to see that these issues are finally being addressed. I hope this is done in a way that will not only help remedy a longstanding form of abuse in our schools but, help raise public awareness around the situation. Like the young man, whose parents are so nobly filing the suit, I too faced quite a bit of harassment by other students while attending public school in Pacifica twenty years ago. My mother and I moved to Pacifica in 1974, when I was 10 years and enrolled me into 5th grade at Crespi Grammar School. My status as an newcomer made me self-conscious. Being big for my age and uncoordinated made me an easy target. I particularly remember trying to participate in an afternoon basketball game where my athletic shortcomings became all too apparent. My teammates showed their displeasure in my performance by pummeling me with the basketball. It wasn't long before I was given labels that stuck with me until I graduated from High School, "pussy", "sissy" and, of course, the worst thing one kid can call another, "faggot". The walk to school was unbearable, my tormentors kept growing in numbers. I began having problems concentrating in class ? I started to become very nervous. My grades began to plummet. My teachers picked up that I was having problems and they asked me what was wrong. When I told them that the other kids were making my life unbearable by picking on me, they told me to stand up to my tormentors and fight back. They would do nothing to help me, I was assured that I could only help myself. It didn't matter that these kids only picked on me when they were with a group of friends and I didn't have a chance. What that translated to for me at that age was that unless I was going to fight back, I obviously was a faggot and deserved everything I got. I couldn't go back to the teachers after that because I began to fear that they would think I was a faggot also. As I grew up, I came to realize that it was better not to assert myself and keep a low profile. Aside from the taunts and threats from classmates there were constant reminders from the school administration that my kind was not welcome. From the High School Gym Coach who warned us that the football team was "no place for sissies" to the obvious disdain of an effeminate teacher by not only the student body but the other faculty members as well; the message was crystal clear - 'your kind is not welcome here'. My life was full of fear until I graduated in 1982 and moved to San Francisco. Recently, I had a conversation with my mother about my move from Pacifica to San Francisco and my subsequent revelation to her of my homosexuality. She said to me "my biggest fear was the homophobia you would face for the rest of your life," and I had to say to her "you know mom, by that time I had already faced the worst of it". When I think back to what would have really made a difference for me and others who've had to face homophobia while growing up is if I had a place to turn for support. If those teachers at Crespi Grammar school hadn't dismissed me so easily and if I thought for a minute that they didn't think I deserved everything I got, it would have helped a great deal. If I ever thought that they would have been willing to stand up for me it would have meant so much more. It also would have meant something to read about a suit like the one you reported on back then and to learn that someone was fighting back and that I wasn't alone. Maybe I would have had some hope that I wasn't the one who was doing something wrong by merely existing. I commend the mother and son in your article for having the courage to standup to the school administration and go forward with this lawsuit. Hatred and Bigotry in all forms is wrong and should have no place in our schools. I thank the Tribune for having the courage to report on it in such an objective manner. Sincerely, Dirk Slater Dirk@mail.nycnet.com Dear Editor, What the heck is happening in this world? I remember when I went to school (and that was not that long ago) being harassed and teased at school was called part of growing up. Wake up and smell the coffee. Kim Ham ======================================================================= From: LGBTFAIR@aol.com Date: Sun, 3 Aug 1997 16:02:31 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Chesterton Poster Update [here's how to contact the Duneland School Corporation: Duneland School Corporation, (219) 926-1104, 700 W POrter Ave Chesterton, IN 46304-2205] POST-TRIBUNE, August 1, 1997 1065 Broadway,Gary,IN,46402 (Fax 219-881-3232, print run 73,500) A POSTER PERFECT STUDY OF TOLERANCE EDITORIAL Rick A. Richards [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] =================================================================== From: bt@imagenet1.com Date: 3 Aug 1997 15:14:32 CST Gay and Lesbian Private School To Open ANNOUNCEMENT: The Walt Whitman Community School will open its doors for the coming school year on September 2, 1997. The new private high school, which will be located in Hope House at 3121 Inwood Road, will provide a positive, challenging, and safe school environment for teenagers who are homosexual, bisexual, or heterosexual. The project wa founded by Becky Thompson, MA, LPC, and Pamala Stone, MS, who believe that these young people deserve a school in which they can excel withou the harassment and discrimination issues present in conventional schools. The Walt Whitman Community School is an opportunity for an education which all teenagers accept as a basic right in this country even though this population of young people is often denied that chance. Because these adolescents have special issues related to their sexua orientation, the school is taking its place as part of the gay communit of the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex. The school will provide an education service to the members of the adult community by guaranteeing their children a tolerant, supportive, and academically challenging environment in which to learn. Ms. Thompson says, "We are counting on the community to provide scholarships and financial support so that students of all economic means will be able to attend." The Walt Whitman Community School, joining only a handful of similar schools nationwide, will accommodate up to forty young people in grades nine through twelve. Classes will be held from 9:00 a.m. until 3:50 p.m., Monday-Thursday. Students will work toward high school diplomas in a program organized around a variety of options including traditional academic courses, work/study programs, internship/mentoring opportunities, and dual enrollment at the area community colleges. Students of varied academic ability will be able to experience success in small classes which utilize individualized curricula. An extensive fine arts program will be the main emphasis in the elective program. An additional emphasis will be the encouragement of personal growth through a focus on conflict resolution skills and health education, which will include drug and alcohol education as well as HIV/AIDS and other health issues specific to this population. NOTICE OF NON-DISCRIMINATORY POLICY TOWARD STUDENTS: Walt Whitman Community School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin and sexual orientation to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admission policies, and athletic and other school administrated programs. ===================================================================== From: RLKottwitz@aol.com Date: Sun, 3 Aug 1997 22:48:20 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Letter to the Editor of Union Leader Manchester Union Leader, Manchester, NH Sunday, Aug. 3 Letters to the Editor Manchester Union Leader Box 9555, Manchester, NH 03108 SHOULD SEEK OTHER INFORMATION To the Editors: I would like to respond to the editorial of Richard Lessner (July 10, 1997) titled "Lies and Statistics: Homosexual Suicide Rate Grossly Exaggerated". If Mr. Lessner considers the study he cites flawed, he would do well to investigate other information which does, indeed, support the contention that gay and lesbian youth are at higher risk than the general teen population. For example: the report titled "Making Schools Safe for Gay and Lesbian Youth: Breaking the Silence in Schools and in Families" prepared by the Massachusetts Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, is based not only on federal statistics, but the testimony of students, parents and school personnel gathered across the state during five hearings in the fall of 1992. Their testimony (and subsequent hearings) are compelling witness to the verbal and physical abuse and isolation suffered by gay youth. Or Mr. Lessner might look at the results of a more recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey (copy enclosed) conducted by the Massachusetts Department of Education, with funding from the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (one of the sources cited by Mr. Lessner). The study compares at-risk behaviors of gay, lesbian and bisexual students to those of other students, and finds that in every case the former are at significantly higher risk. Or he might read the third annual Safe Schools Anti-Violence Documentation Project report produced by the Washington State Safe Schools Coalition. The project is an ongoing statewide research effort to examine the phenomenon of anti-gay harassment and violence in schools, kindergarten through grade 12. In the first three years of the five-year study, seventy-seven incidents were reported to the Project. They ranged from one-time, climate-setting incidents through verbal and physical harassment to assault and gang rapes (10 of the reported incidents). Best of all, Mr. Lessner might contact PFLAG in New Hampshire (603-536-5522), and talk with members who themselves, or as parents of gay and lesbian children, are witness to the kinds of abuse which put gay and lesbian youth at risk. Finally I would challenge Mr. Lessner to answer this question: is it right for even one adult or young person to be harassed, isolated, persecuted, beaten, or otherwise denied protection, safety, or laws which guarantee equal treatment and civil rights? The state of New Hampshire is to be commended for its answer to that question, and for its recent vote to extend the assurance of civil rights to all citizens. Judith A. Nardacci, Northeast Regional Director Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays 29 Stringer Ave., Lee, MA 01238 ====================================================================== Jean Richter -- richter@eecs.berkeley.edu The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) CHECK OUT OUR INFO-LOADED WEB PAGE AT: http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/