Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 14:38:23 -0800 From: richter@eecs.berkeley.edu (Jean Richter) Subject: 12/10/97 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. PA: Group forms to help gay youth in Philadelphia suburbs 2. CA: More on Youth Lobby Day; GLSEN/SFBA essay contest 3. MD: Piney Branch PTA shows "It's Elementary" =================================================================== PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, November 27, 1997 PO Box 8263,Philadelphia,PA,19101 (Fax 215-854-4483)(E-MAIL: inquirer.editorial@phillynews.com) ( http://www.phillynews.com) Group is forming to help gay youth The Main Line Youth Alliance aims to assist teens struggling with sexual identity issues. By Ralph Vigoda, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] For More Information: Write to the Main Line Youth Alliance, Central Baptist Church, 106 W. Lancaster Ave., Box 309, Wayne, Pa. 19087. ============================================================================ LIFE Institute and LIFE: California's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and HIV/AIDS Lobby are pleased to announce the third annual Youth Lobby Day. The Youth Lobby Day, founded in 1995, is the statewide effort to educate and empower lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning and straight youth. The event is set for January 21, 1998 and will consist of educational activities throughout the day at the State Capitol and the historic Crest Theatre. The Youth Lobby Day is co-sponsored by Frontiers NewsMagazine, incite! Web Site, and OutWord NewsMagazine. The goals of the event are to educate young people about the issues that affect their lives, the legislative process, and avenues for effecting change; to educate the California State Legislature about youth and their needs; and last, for participants to have a great time, make new friends, and be empowered. On January 3, 1996 over 350 young people from all over the state of California came to Sacramento to meet and learn about their elected officials and the legislative process. In 1997 over 550 youth participated--almost doubling the numbers. On January 21, 1998, honoring Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday, this inspiring event will take place again. The 1998 Youth Lobby Day will include workshops, caucuses and other special events, as well as visits with Elected Officials. If you would like more information about participating or volunteering for the 1998 Youth Lobby Day, please contact LIFE at: LIFE Lobby and LIFE Institute 1301 H Street fax (916) 444-3059 Sacramento, CA 95814 life.info@lifelobby.org (916) 444-0424 www.lifelobby.org =========================================================================== GLSEN/SFBA ESSAY CONTEST The prize money has been increased for this year's essay contest. The contest is open to any high school student residing in the nine county San Francisco Bay Area. A flyer is on the next page. It would be great if YOU could see that the contest is brought to the attention of high school English and History teachers in schools near you. The contest would make a great required or optional extra credit assignment. Just seeing the poster on bulletin boards can be a help to sexual minority students. Please make copies of the next page and distribute it widely at schools, libraries, etc. (Feel free to change font size, etc. to make it fit on one page and look reasonable.) If you would also like to help with mailings to schools, or to judge the contest, please contact Bob Latham at (510) 234-3429 or BobLatham@aol.com ESSAY CONTEST _____________________________________________________________ COMPARE AND CONTRAST GLBT DISCRIMINATION _____________________________________________________________ The discrimination and persecution that gays face is sometimes compared to that based on race or religion at various points in history. Pick some specific area of persecution and discrimination in history and compare and contrast that to the persecution and discrimination faced by gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendereds (GLBT) today. First prize: $300 Second prize: $200 Third prize: $100 Sponsored by: GLSEN/SFBA, Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network/San Francisco Bay Area (formerly BANGLE, Bay Area Network of Gay and Lesbian Educators) * Essays must be 300-400 words long, typed, double-spaced, and will be judged on how well they communicate information on the subject. * The contest is open to any high school student, regardless of sexual orientation, in the nine county San Francisco Bay Area, in both public and private high schools. * Be sure to include your name, grade, high school, and mailing address along with your essay. Please include a teacher's name if you use your school as your mailing address. Include a phone number if you would like to be notified by phone. * Winners will be notified by May 1, 1998. The judging will be done by a panel of teachers and writers. Awards will be paid by check. * No more than two entries may be submitted by a single student. Students retain copyright ownership of their entry, but by entering the contest grant GLSEN/SFBA the right to publish the entry in the GLSTN/SFBA newsletter. * Entries must be postmarked by Monday, March 30, 1998. Mail to: GLSEN/SFBA Essay Contest P.O. Box 70554 Point Richmond, CA 94807-0554 ===================================================================== The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) of Piney Branch Elementary School, a school in the Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) system, will sponsor a showing of the acclaimed documentary "It's Elementary--Talking About Gay Issues in School" (35-min. version), to be followed by a round table panel discussion on the promotion of tolerance and respect for all in the school yard, classroom and community. The forum, open to the public, will be held on WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1997 AT 7:30 P.M. AT PINEY BRANCH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, 7510 MAPLE AVENUE, TAKOMA PARK, MARYLAND, with a panel of distinguished Takoma Park/Silver Spring residents: *PROFESSOR JAMIN RASKIN (moderator)(American Univ. law professor and leading First Amendment expert) *DR. ARTHUR BLECHER (ordained rabbi and psychotherapist, father of 8 year old) *MICHELLE CLIVE (Montgomery Blair high school junior, President of Blair's Gay/Straight student alliance) *PROFESSOR CHAI FELDBLUM (Georgetown Univ. law professor and leading gay rights scholar and public speaker) *LISA PAGE (editor, speech writer, media advisor and journalist, and the mother of an 8 year old MCPS student) *DAN PARR (1996 Montgomery Co. school board candidate, former PTA president, and father of a MCPS high school student and graduate) In announcing the December 3 forum, PTA Tolerance Advocacy Committee Co-Chairs Tim Hannapel and Stacey Gurian-Sherman stated: "Our committee works under a mission statement that advances official MCPS policies on Human Relations and Nondiscrimination, directing schools, classrooms and offices to be inclusive, bias-free and to provide a welcoming climate for all. We are fortunate to have a school staff that appreciates the role that public schools play in this effort, and a group of truly outstanding local citizens to further the open and civil dialogue at Piney Branch, which is among the most racially, ethnically and culturally diverse schools in an increasingly diverse public school system. We believe our Committee and this forum, in particular, provides other school communities with a leadership model for fostering tolerance in our community." Contact for more information: PTA Co-President Tim Hannapel (301) 891-6894; Tolerance Advocacy Comm. Co-Chair Stacey Gurian-Sherman (301) 608-9117. ======================================================================= 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/