Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 15:10:14 -0700 From: Jean Richter Subject: 9/25/98 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. Lesbian couple attending prom sought for magazine interview 2. "Out of the Past" available for Gay & Lesbian History Month 3. KY: Students testify on anti-gay abuse in school 4. URL for Common Bond, an online support group 5. Update on We Are Family website ================================================================ Subject: JUMP Magazine looking for a lesbian couple Date: Thu, 24 Sep 98 18:33:46 -0500 x-sender: glsenalert@trudy.digitopia.com From: GLSEN news from GLSEN To: News from GLSEN ............................................................ An important message from GLSEN-Alert, the electronic news service of GLSEN. The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network -- GLSEN 121 West 27th Street, Suite 804 New York, NY 10001 212-717-0135; 212-727-0254 - fax glsen@glsen.org http://www.glsen.org/ ............................................................ Hi everyone. My name is Cindy Waxer and I'm a writer for Jump magazine, an international teen magazine catering primarily to girls age 15 to 25. I'm interested in interviewing a lesbian couple who attended their high school prom together either this spring or the spring before. The article is intended to demonstrate how a lesbian couple stuck to their principles and attended a typical high school prom together despite the surrounding controversy. Jump believes that such a story will inspire other lesbian and gay couples who feel isolated from their peers and left out of the the whole prom scene. Please note that Jump will need to take photos of the couple for publication which means that this couple must be comfortable with their sexual identity and obviously out of the closet. If you qualify and would like to be interviewed, please feel free to call me collect at 416-222-3384 or e-mail me at cwaxer@sprint.ca If you decide to e-mail me, please be sure to leave your number so that I can call you back. Thanks very much. Cindy Waxer ............................................................ Visit the GLSEN Blackboard online: http://www.glsen.org/ Past GLSENAlert posts are archived on the GLSEN Blackboard: http://www.glsen.org/pages/sections/news/glsenalert/ ............................................................ TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE You may add or remove yourself from this mailing list by going to: http://www.glsen.org/pages/sections/news/glsenalert/ If you have problems or questions, you can contact the list server administrator at: ............................................................ ======================================================================= Subject: Award winning film Out Of The Past available for Gay and Lesbian History Month Date: Fri, 25 Sep 98 09:56:06 -0500 x-sender: glsenalert@trudy.digitopia.com From: GLSEN news from GLSEN To: News from GLSEN ............................................................ An important message from GLSEN-Alert, the electronic news service of GLSEN. The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network -- GLSEN 121 West 27th Street, Suite 804 New York, NY 10001 212-717-0135; 212-727-0254 - fax glsen@glsen.org http://www.glsen.org/ ............................................................ For Immediate Release For further information, please contact: Eliza Byard (212) 727-0135 x132 ebyard@glsen.org AMERICAN HISTORY COMES OUT OF THE CLOSET EDUCATORS AND COMMUNITIES NATIONWIDE USE AWARD-WINNING FILM TO OPEN DIALOGUE IN COMMEMORATION OF GAY AND LESBIAN HISTORY MONTH October marks Gay and Lesbian History Month, dedicated to recounting the often-untold contributions of lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans throughout history. In observance of the month, communities across the country are opening a new chapter of dialogue -- despite potential controversy. The focal point of this national grassroots movement will be the critically-acclaimed documentary "Out of the Past," winner of the 1998 Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. "For centuries the contributions of lesbian, gay and bisexual people have gone untold. The five history textbooks most commonly used in American public schools never once mention the words lesbian or gay. This silence robs lesbian, gay and bisexual youth of a sense of their history, and presents all students with a distorted image of our past," stated Kevin Jennings, Executive Director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). In an effort to bring attention to these unacknowledged contributions, "Out of the Past" documents the emergence of gay men and lesbians through 300 years of American history. The stories are framed by the present-day struggle of Kelli Peterson, a young woman who stirred national controversy as she attempted to form a Gay-Straight Alliance at her public school in Salt Lake City. Lauded by critics and audiences, "Out of the Past" was awarded one of Sundance's highest accolades earlier this year and will be broadcast nationally on PBS this fall. Now the film is serving as a catalyst for dialogue in communities across the country. GLSEN has mounted a massive grassroots campaign to screen the film for local educators, students and other constituents in cities as far-ranging as Los Angeles and Greensboro, NC. The long-term goal is for communties to adopt "Out of the Past" into their classrooms. "We see this as a tremendous opportunity to open discussion in our school, and to give students a more accurate sense of their history. I honestly feel that our community and educational standards will be strengthened by this effort," stated Judy Vreeland, director of the Boston-area Walden School. But the movement is not without its detractors. Some educators feel that high school is not the place to be teaching young people about gay men and lesbians, regardless of their contributions to society. In addition, several PBS affiliates have chosen not to air "Out of the Past" even though the network will be broadcasting the film across the country on October 15. GLSEN and its supporters are forging ahead with their efforts, propelled by the strength of the documentary and the attention it has garnered in national media. "'Out of the Past' speaks powerfully to the high school audience. Every school's effort to celebrate diversity and promote tolerance is advanced by showing and discussing this film," stated Eileen Mullady, Head of the Horace Mann School in New York. A full press kit, including press clips, a synopsis, production notes, photographs, honors and awards, is available upon request . Contact Matt Lavine, (212) 727-0135 x105 or mlavine@glsen.org. The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is the largest national organization working to end the destructive effects of anti-gay bias in schools nationwide. With over 85 local chapters throughout the country, GLSEN strives to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation. For more information about GLSEN, please visit www.glsen.org. "Out of the Past" is directed and produced by Jeff Dupre, and executive produced by Andrew Tobias. The film is distributed theatrically by Zeitgeist Films, and can be ordered on videocassette by contacting GLSEN. For more information about "Out of the Past," please visit www.glsen.org and www.pbs.org/outofthepast. Gay and Lesbian History Month will be observed during the month of October. Local communities across the nation will be organizing events including seminars, exhibitions, and gala screenings of "Out of the Past." For more information about specific events, please visit www.glaad.org and www.glsen.org. ### ............................................................ Visit the GLSEN Blackboard online: http://www.glsen.org/ Past GLSENAlert posts are archived on the GLSEN Blackboard: http://www.glsen.org/pages/sections/news/glsenalert/ ............................................................ TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE You may add or remove yourself from this mailing list by going to: http://www.glsen.org/pages/sections/news/glsenalert/ If you have problems or questions, you can contact the list server administrator at: ............................................................ ======================================================================= Louisville Courier-Journal, September 2, 1998 525 W. Broadway,Louisville,KY,40202 (Fax 502-582-4075 ) (E-MAIL: cjletter@louisv02.gannett.com ) Girl says jeers drove her from Spencer school Federal jury hears claims of sexual, ethnic harassment by Beverly Bartlett, The Courier-Journal [NOTE: Spencer County is a rural county southeast of the Louisville metropolitan area. It's dominated by fundamentalist Christianity.] In a soft but steady voice, a 17-year-old girl told a federal jury yesterday that she was driven out of the Spencer County public schools three years ago by sexual harassment and taunts about her national origin. Alma McGowan, whose mother is an immigrant from Germany, told the jury that she suffered from the time she was 11 until she left the school system at 15. During that time, her pleas for help were often ignored or dismissed by administrators, she said. At one point, an assistant principal told her that one boy who tormented her just had a crush on her, she said. A lawyer for the Spencer County schools said, however, that the faculty did all it could, given what it knew at the time. That lawyer, Bob Chenoweth, said in his opening statement that many of the school administrators will testify that they don't remember being told of the incidents, though McGowan says they were. Chenoweth said administrators could not be aware of what was going on unless someone told them. "They are not walking hand in hand with students in the hallways and other places students hang out." McGowan testified that in one incident, a boy backed her up against a wall, started taking off his pants and said he was going to rape her. It started with a classroom discussion about abortion, she said. When the teacher left the room, several students began taunting McGowan about her belief that a woman should have the right to decide whether to terminate a pregnancy, she said. Several students started asking her if she was a "good Christian," made remarks about her wanting to kill babies, and said she "slept with the devil," she testified. She said one boy told her "if I sleep with the devil, I could sleep with him." Then he accosted her and threatened to rape her, she said. McGowan said another boy eventually stepped in and broke up the crowd. The next school day, McGowan brought in a handwritten note from her mother about the incident, which said that McGowan could have been hurt if one boy hadn't had the courage to step forward. McGowan said she delivered the note to the office and it was forwarded to the teacher. The teacher made her recount the story in a room with the boys she was accusing, she said, and she added that she did not think they were ever punished. McGowan testified yesterday in Louisville before U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell and an eight-member jury, which included two alternate jurors. McGowan and another student, Steven Vance, 18, filed the lawsuit in July 1996, saying their civil rights and rights under Title IX were violated. They are asking for unspecified compensation. Vance, who suffers from a form of autism and is being treated in Pennsylvania, testified via a videotaped deposition yesterday afternoon. He described repeated harassment from other children, including requests for sexual favors and taunts that he was gay. But he acknowledged that he never mentioned many of the incidents to anyone until after he left Spender County High School. He said he was too scared to report the incidents. In opening statements, lawyers for both sides acknowledged that the case hinged largely on administrators' reaction to complaints. Oliver Barber, the attorney for the plaintiffs, argued that the two students did the best they could to ask for help, and that the system that was supposed to protect them and educate them let them down. McGowan said she repeatedly asked for help, to little effect. When she moved to Spencer County from Jefferson County and started the sixth grade there, she found people friendly the first day, she said. But by the second day, first-graders were greeting he 11-year-old by saying, "There's that German gay girl." "I was shocked. I didn't even know what gay meant,"McGowan said. "I had to look it up in the dictionary." She talked to a counselor, who talked to some of the students, but things only got worse. They started calling her a "German, gay girl tattletale," she said. And when the counselor asked McGowan's mother to talk to the students about her background, thinking that would help, things got even worse, McGowan said. Her mother mentioned having an "alien resident card," and for years afterward the kids called her an alien, telling her to "get her _____ back to Mars," McGowan testified. AT the high school, which she began attending in the seventh grade, things were worse, she said. Once a boy asked her loudly in the library if she was a lesbian, and when she said no, kids taunted her with accusations that she was lying, she said. When she told assistant principal David Shelburne about the incident, he told her that "I was cute and they were just trying to flirt with me," she testified. She said her homework was torn up or written on by other students daily, and during a school assembly when she helped pull in a float, some students shouted "lezzie" at her. Teachers were present, she said, but no one did anything about it. She twice wrote about her problems for school publications--one essay was called "The New Girl" and a poem called "Ready to Drop Out"--but, though teachers complimented her on her writing, she said, no one did anything. Patricia Bausch, an attorney for the school system, pointed out during cross- examination that neither piece specifically mentioned sexual harassment or even harsh teasing. McGowan said she eventually left for home school in the fall of 1995, after a boy told her he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan and would burn her house down and all her family. Bausch asked McGowan why she never filed a formal complaint until May 1995. She left the school the next fall, when she was 15, not long after school started. McGowan, who now attends Jefferson Community College, said she had not realized she could. The trial will continue today. The judge told the jury it will probably end later this week. =================================================================================== Common Bond is an online support group for LGBT people and their friends and families. Their web page is at URL: http://members.tripod.com/~Lyonsden/CommonBond/CBMission.html =================================================================================== Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 14:24:08 -0700 From: "ALERT@WAF.ORG" Subject: WeAreFamily Update We have improved and expanded the WeAreFamily web site. http://www.waf.org Among the new additions is our "Family Archives" (http://www.waf.org/documents.htm) containing documents and letters organized by topic. If you have documents or information that may be suitable to our site please contact us at: familyarchives@waf.org We have also included a page dedicated to our upcoming conference "Growing Up Gay" October 10,1998 (http://www.waf.org/oct_conference/growingupgay.html) We have expanded Safe Space, the first support group for gay, lesbian and questioning youths in the Charleston, SC metropolitan area. More than 150 young people have found a place where they are valued and can talk safely about what is going on in their lives. We provide AIDS Education, counseling referrals, and outreach to gay/lesbian homeless youth. (http://www.waf.org/youthservices.htm) WeAreFamily is working diligently as we follow our mission; to encourage straight and gay/lesbian members of our community to value one another through education. Please join us. -------------------------------------------------------- WeAreFamily PO Box 30734 Charleston, SC 29417 Ph: 843-937-0000 http://www.waf.org -------------------------------------------------------- If you wish to be removed from our list please e-mail to: remove@waf.org Subject: REMOVE ================================================================================== 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/