Subject: 8/3/98 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news
From: Jean Richter <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 15:23:25 -0700

1. National Day of Silence seeks western regional coordinator
2. TX: Pro-active letters to politicians, and an anti-slur policy

===================================================================

From: "Jessie Gilliam" <[email-masked]>
Organization: Advocates for Youth
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 1998 13:27:22 +1100, EST
Subject: (Fwd) Day of Silence Project Seeks U.S. Western Regional Coord

Can you suggest 
anything, or forward it on to people you might know?

Thanks,

Jessie Gilliam

----

Hey out West!

In 1998, a team of 8 students from across the United States and Canada
coordinated the Day of Silence
Project(http://www.youth-guard.org/dayofsilence), an event in which students
at over 200 colleges, universities, and high schools participated. 

This year, WE WANT YOU to be part of our team! We are looking for a 
U.S. WESTERN REGIONAL COORDINATOR. 

People can apply by sending a  cover letter, a resume detailing your experience with
 activism/community service/leadership, the name of the position you are applying for, and
the answer to the following question (500 words or less):
What can I contribute to the Day of Silence Project?
*regional applicants, focus on what you can bring to your region
*high school applicants, focus on what you can bring to high schools

to Jessie Gilliam, Co-Chair  at [email-masked] (please e-mail because Jessie 
is moving back to college and doesn't have a mailing address right 
now!) by AUGUST 31, 1998.

-------

The U.S. Western coordinator will work to recruit and inform schools (mainly
colleges, but also high schools) in their region about the event. In
the fall, coordinators will research how the Day of Silence Project
can be presented best in their region: developing a specialized "how
to" guide for their area which will be due by December. They will also
research contact information and begin to recruit schools. In the
spring, they will continue recruiting schools, and serve as advisors
to participating schools in their area. Regional coordinators should
live in the region they are working in.

Anyone is eligible to apply for this position: preference will be
given to youth applicants (25 and under). People of all sexual
orientations are encouraged to apply.

Coordinators should have the ability to work independently & be
able to communicate well and consistently with others. They should
show initiative, and they should be/have been involved in lgbt
organizing on some level. They should be very reliable.

Coordinators are required to keep daily e-mail contact with the
Day of Silence Project team, and should expect to spend about 7 hours
a week on the project in the fall, and 10-15 hours in the spring.

Positions will be required to attend a Day of Silence Project
organizing summit October 9, 10, and 11. Details of this event will be worked
out as soon as possible.Coordinators will must fundraise to get 
themselves there.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Jessie Gilliam
Intern, Advocates for Youth
[email-masked]
1025 Vermont Avenue, NW Suite 200
Washington, DC 20005
ph: 202-347-5700 fax: 202-347-2263
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

===============================================================================

Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 21:44:05 -0500
From: JLSE <[email-masked]>
Organization: Mexican Border Web Projects
Subject: Pro-active

Subject:
       Fwd: Taking it to the Policy-makers
   Date:
       Fri, 31 Jul 98 17:06:13 -0700
  From:
       GLSENTalk <[email-masked]>
    To:
       GLSEN-Talk Discussion List <[email-masked]>

............................................................
This message is from GLSEN-Talk, the list-serve of
GLSEN's chapter
leaders.

TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE
 You may add or remove yourself from this mailing
list by going to:

http://www.glsen.org/pages/sections/chapters/glsentalk/

............................................................

---------------- Begin Forwarded Message
----------------
Date:        07/30  9.32 PM
Received:    07/31  5.00 PM
From:        Jennifer Parvin, [email-masked]
To:          [email-masked]

Hello everybody!

I want to share a strategy that we used in Dallas
with good success.  We sent
individually addessed letters to all of the school
board members and
superintendents of the Dallas Public Schools as well
as two suburban
districts. (Carrollton and Plano)  These letters
were Fed Exed to the
individual members (courtesy of a generous GLSEN
underwriter) and we followed
up with individual telephone calls.

We had good responses (the letters provide a
rationale for their attendance at
our July meeting, specifically and the need to be in
legal compliance relative
to anti-gay harassment at school, generally) from
two Dallas School Board
members and the Superintendent.  The Superintendent
of the Carrollton district
sent two designees to the meeting.

We have decided to go right to the policy makers and
offer to educate them on
issues of importance to LGBT youth, their families,
and LGBT school staff.

The letter we sent follows:

The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network
P.O. Box 190179.284
Dallas, TX  75219
972 669-5777

July 14, 1998

'Title' 'First Name' 'Last Name'
'Address'
'City', 'State'
'Zip Code'

Dear 'Title' 'Last Name':

We want to invite you to our July GLSEN meeting
where we will discuss
several issues of importance to education
policy-makers.  Our meeting, on
Wednesday, July 29, will address the issue of
anti-gay harassment in school,
as
well as provide information on the Equal Access Act,
which governs the
formation of student clubs in school.

GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network)
is a national
organization with over 70 local chapters.  Kevin
Jennings, GLSEN's national
Executive Director, is a Harvard graduate and a
former U.S. History teacher.
Kevin was named a member of Newsweek magazine's
Century Club, one
hundred leaders whose vision of America promises a
more humane and
productive 21st century.  Kevin also recently
addressed members of the
National
Education Association's Representative Assembly in
New Orleans.

In Dallas, GLSEN has existed for a little over a
year.  Our organizational
mission is "to ensure that each member of every
school community is respected
and valued regardless of sexual orientation."  We
believe that professional
educators subscribe to this mission and that quality
schools--both public and
independent--want to effectively respond to the
needs of an ever-changing
student population.

Our July meeting will include several elements which
will enable schools
to better meet the needs of all of their students.
These are:

A 15 minute video entitled "I Just Want to Say,"
narrated by Martina
Navratilova, which features a discussion among
parents, students, and
teachers about anti-gay bias in school.

This video is especially timely considering the
recent agreement between the
Fayetteville, Arkansas school district and the U.S.
Department of Education's
Office of Civil Rights.  The case in question
involved a student, William
Wagner, who had been repeatedly harassed and
physically attacked at his
school because he is gay.  This is the first case in
the nation under the new
Title IX guidelines which explicitly prohibits
sexual harassment of gay and
lesbian students.

The video and the following discussion will help you
identify and implement
policies and procedures for your school district
which will help to make
school a safe place for all students to learn.

In addition to the video, Edward Ishmael, a Dallas
attorney and Chair of the
Dallas chapter of the Lambda Legal Defense and
Education Fund, will speak
on the Arkansas case. (a Lambda attorney represented
William Wagner)

Mr. Ishmael will also speak on the Equal Access Act,
which governs the
formation of student clubs--such as Gay / Straight
Alliances--in school.

We--the GLSEN Dallas Co-Chairs--are both longtime
educators who
strongly believe in the power of education to create
respect where intolerance
formerly existed.  Education--perhaps more than any
other institution--serves
the
goals of democracy and pluralism in our country.  We
know that  you, as
education leaders, desire a school district which
celebrates the diversity of
its
students and their families and guarantees that all
young people will be fully
included in all aspects of the school community.

We are available to consult with you as you move
toward legal
compliance and toward inclusion of all students and
their families.  To begin
this
process, we invite you to attend this informative
and important meeting.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Parvin,
GLSEN Dallas Co-Chair

Richard Hobbs,
GLSEN Dallas Co-Chair

Enclosures

----------------- End Forwarded Message
-----------------

Subject: Re: Re Taking it to the Policy-makers

GLSENTalk wrote:

> ............................................................
> This message is from GLSEN-Talk, the list-serve of GLSEN's chapter
> leaders.
>
> TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE
>  You may add or remove yourself from this mailing list by going to:
>    http://www.glsen.org/pages/sections/chapters/glsentalk/
> ............................................................
>
> ---------------- Begin Forwarded Message ----------------
> Date:        08/01  12.45 AM
> Received:    08/01  5.09 PM
> From:        Amy Goldman, [email-masked]
> To:          GLSEN-Talk Discussion List, [email-masked]
>
> Here's a copy of our school's anti-slur policy. It's really improved our
> school climate.
> Amy Goldman
>
> All students at Alta Loma are expected to respect others in word, deed
> and action. We do not tolerate language that insults any person on the
> basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or
> appearance.
>
> The following are a series of questions which you are expected to answer
> with honesty and sincerity. These need to be turned in to the Vice
> Principal immediately after you have completed them.
>
> What did you say that brought you to the office today?
>
> Why did you say it? What did you hope to accomplish by  saying this?
>
> What does this statement mean or imply?
>
> Why is what you said hurtful? It is not acceptable to say "I didn't mean
> anything by it."
>
> How would you feel if someone made a comment that insulted you based on
> your race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or
> appearance?
>
> How do you think others felt when you made this comment?
>
> How does it hurt our school when students put each other down?
>
> What will you do differently in the future to make sure you don't hurt
> people?
>
> On a separate sheet of paper, write a letter to your parent/guardian
> explaining why you have spent this period in the attendance office
> instead of in your regular learning environment. This letter needs to be
> signed by your parent/guardian, initialed by an administrator and
> returned to the teacher before you will be admitted back to class.
>
> And a lesson on name calling too.
>
> Lesson on Slurs
>
> Objective: Students will develop empathy for others, through personal
> identification, and realize how devastating words can be when they are
> used as weapons. This is part of the education component of our
> Anti-Slur Policy.
>
> Activity I: Brainstorm (10 to 15 minutes)
> Students will generate a list of categories covering all of the aspects
> of a person's identity and appearance. For example a person's race,
> gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, religion etc.
> Then students give examples of specific put downs and list those under
> the correct category. For instance "four eyes" would go under the
> disability column.
>
> Activity II: Reflective Writing Assignment  3 choices (10 minutes)
> a. Students will write about a time when they were personally put down
> or slurred. Explain what happened, how they responded, and what they
> felt.
> b. Students write about a time when they harassed another person for one
> or more of the above reasons. Explain what happened, why they did it,
> and how they felt.
> c. (If they can't do a or b) Students write about a time when they
> witnessed someone else being put down and say what they saw, how they
> responded, what they wish they could have done/will do next time, and
> how they felt.
>
> Optional: Whole Class or Small Group Discussion (varies)
> You may want to give students a chance to read their incidence out loud
> as part of an extended discussion. Also the group can decide some
> appropriate ways to respond to slurs in the future if they occur.
>
> Activity III: Group Anti-Slur Poster Project (20 minutes or more)
> In small groups students will design a poster showing that slurs are a
> form of violence that must be stopped.
>
> Videos Available:               ask Amy Goldman
> Teaching Respect for All                gay & lesbian issues in education
> It's Elementary                         gay & lesbian issues in education
> Sticks, Stones & Stereotypes            all name calling, 6th & 7th grade
> Shadows of Hate                         historical racism
>
> Suggested Short Story   "Wilshire Bus"  racism, slurs 8th grade
>
> ----------------- End Forwarded Message -----------------

............................................................
Visit the GLSEN Blackboard online:
http://www.glsen.org/

Past GLSENTalk posts are archived on the GLSEN
Blackboard:

http://www.glsen.org/pages/sections/chapters/glsentalk/archive/

............................................................

TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE
 You may add or remove yourself from this mailing
list by going to:

http://www.glsen.org/pages/sections/chapters/glsentalk/

 If you have problems or questions, you can contact
 the list server administrator at:
    <[email-masked]>

............................................................

--
SIGNATURE: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
                                                                - HAMLET

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
CITY OF LAREDO: http://www.cityoflaredo.com/
LIBRARY: http://www.laredolibrary.org/index.html
GLSEN LAREDO BOARD OF DIRECTORS
   % Laredo Queer Space (956)791-1869

QUEER LAREDO ON LINE:

Laredo Queer Space
   Jaime Lopez < [email-masked] >
   http://www.netscorp.net/~jaimel
   (956)791-1869

Hadrian House, Publishers
ANTINOUS E-PRESS
   "Th Ganymede Equation
   A Retrospective, 1971-98"
   http://www.netscorp.net/~hadrian

==============================================================================

Jean Richter -- [email-masked]
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/