Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1998 17:23:40 -0700 From: Jean Richter Subject: 10/12/98 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. MA: Free reports on LGBT youth available 2. CT: Teacher points out the need for GSA 3. OH: Insensitive editorial trivializes LGBT students' needs 4. WY: Articles & statements on student's brutal murder posted to web ======================================================================= Date: Fri, 09 Oct 1998 20:28:27 -0400 From: schools@Youth-Guard.Org (by way of Jason Hungerford - Youth Guardian Services ) To: schools@youth-guard.org, youth13-17@youth-guard.org, Subject: FWD to Students, Teachers, Friends, Free Reports Re: G/L FROM: EJLEMAY@AOL.COM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please FWD to Students, Teachers, Friends, Free Reports Re: G/L Students & Youth Ed LeMay The Massachusetts Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth State House Room 111 Boston, MA 02133 617/727-3600 x 312 http://www.state.ma.us/gcgly/index.htm -- The Governor's Commission on G/L Youth http://www.stopthehate.org/ -- the Governor's Hate Crimes Task Force Please call me at the Massachusetts State House 727-3600 x 312 and ask for the following FREE reports by The Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth: Making High Schools Safe for Gay and Lesbian Youth Making Colleges Safe for Gay and Lesbian Youth Prevention of Health Problems Among Gay and Lesbian Youth Gay and Lesbian Student Resource Guide (Including 140 high school + College Gay/Straight Alliances). There are over 10,000 copies of our reports in circulation and over 250 Gay Straight Alliances in Massachusetts High Schools and Colleges. The Massachusetts Department of Education administers our Safe Schools program, The Massachusetts Department of Public Health administers our Safe Colleges Program and our Human Services Program. Please check out the web sites GCGLY web search MAGNET (for Massachusetts State Government) DOE search web for Massachusetts Department of Education DPH search web for Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The MA Department of Education also publishes a report 1995 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey Results. Call 781-388-3300 ext. 474 and ask for Tim Hack. Or just reply to this message with your US Post Office Mailing Address and I'll forward reports to you and put you on our mailing list. Groups and Organizations, ask about our videos. Ed LeMay Chair of the Higher Education Committee of The Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth. =============================================================================== Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1998 08:49:38 -0700 From: Jessea NR Greenman Subject: re the Darien CT story Contact info for Darien High School 80 High School Ln Darien, Connecticut 06820 Principal: Mr. Bruce Hall Phone: 203.655.3981 Fax: 203.655.0462 Darien News-Review, October 8, 1998 Darien, CT (E-Mail: darnr@bcnnews.com ) ( http://www.bcnnews.com/darien/news/ ) Area Teacher Says Gay Students Have no Voice at DHS BY HEATHER O'NEILL Darien High School is known to be one of the best public schools in the country. If you are an intelligent, conscientious student or a good athlete, DHS has everything a student could ask for. But what if a Darien High School student has all of the qualities for success... and is also gay? You may be able to join the Key Club, the Young Republican and the National Honor Society at Darien High, but can you join a support group for gay and lesbian teenagers? The answer is no. At Darien High School, there are no organizations for kids who are struggling with issues of sexuality, nor are there any for those who have established themselves as gay or lesbian. According to Dan Woog, journalist and substitute teacher at Staples High School in Westport, that is unacceptable. "I think that every school needs a Gay-Straight Alliance for the gay and lesbian kids, even if they never come out publicly," said Mr. Woog, who helped set up a similar program at Staples. "It is important, even for the kids who would never attend a meeting, to feel that there are people out there who are discussing their issues and trying to understand them." Mr. Woog believes it is equally important for these types of organizations to exist for Darien's heterosexual kids. "These issues are important to understand for everyone," said Mr. Wood. "Including for the straight kids who will grow up and live in a very diverse 21st century." So why doesn't the school have a Gay-Straight Alliance? Darien High School Principal Bruce Hall would not comment on why the school has not formed a Gay-Straight Alliance, nor would he comment on whether the school has considered the formation of such an organization in the past. He explained that no group has ever identified itself to him as in need of such an organization. He conceded, however, that simply because Darien teenagers aren't "outing" themselves, does not mean that homosexuality doesn't exist. "I think the question of sexual orientation is a problem [at Darien High School] in the same way that it is a problem everywhere else. It is a problem nationally," said Mr. Hall. "People wrestle with this issue on every level of society." Doug Nissing, co-founder of OutSpoken, a support group for gay and lesbian teens at the Triangle Community Center in Norwalk, suggested that the homogeny of Darien presents a special set of problems to gay teenagers. "My own thoughts are that a town like Darien which places a high value on sameness makes it more difficult for kids to identify a difference in themselves," said Mr. Nissing."There is not a lot of racial or ethnic diversity in Darien so kids feel an immense need to conform." Mr. Woog believes that there may be a misconception in the community as to what the Gay-Straight Alliance stands for. "The important thing to remember," he said. "is that this is the Gay- Straight Alliance. It is not a gay club. Gay issues are important to everyone. They are important to kids who are gay and lesbian, they are important to kids who have gay or lesbian relatives and they are important to any child who may grow up to one day have a gay or lesbian roommate, colleague or , perhaps, child." The proper avenue for teaching children about gay issues, Mr. Woog believes, is in the school. "I would like to see faculty address gay and lesbian issues through in- service training," said Mr. Woog. "I would like to see gay and lesbian issues brought up as a normal - not special - part of the everyday curriculum, whether it be in English class, as part of history or biology or wherever else it may arise." Mr. Woog believes that, though Darien High lacks a Gay-Straight Alliance, that the student body and faculty are evolving. "What we are hearing is that Darien High has become a more comfortable place for gay youth," said Mr. Woog. "Comfortable means that a young person who is gay or who is questioning their sexuality knows that he or she can talk confidentially to at least a few staff members, can come out to at least a few friends and not have to spend every day terrified that his or her secret will result in verbal or physical abuse." To encourage this feeling of comfort, Mr. Woog insists that a Gay- Straight Alliance is essential to all involved. "The Gay-Straight Alliance is for everyone," he said. "It is for the gay and lesbian students that attend, even if they never come out publicly and it is for the straight kids and faculty, to help them realize that gays exist and are in their classrooms and halls." Whether or not a person condones homosexuality, gay and lesbian people live in every town in America, said Mr. Woog. "Eight to 10 percent of the population is gay," he said. "Gay and lesbian youth are in every school, no matter how small or isolated the community. Just because the students and teachers and administrators cannot see them does not mean that they don't exist or that their worries and fears are not real." "I would like to see every adult in every school, in every town and city recognize that whether they understand and accept homosexuality is not the point," he continued. "The point is that every young person has a right to a safe comfortable learning environment and every adult has a responsibility to provide that to every child." For information on local support groups, contact Doug Nissing at 838-2367 or contact the Triangle Community Center at 853-0600. [Dan Woog is onlines at dwoog@optonline.net] O+O+ O+O+ O+O+ O+O+ jessea@uclink4.berkeley.edu (Jessea NR Greenman) "My goddess gave birth to your god." Berkeley bumper sticker ================================================================================ Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1998 08:59:01 -0700 From: Jessea NR Greenman Subject: Cleveland OH schools Cleveland City School District Phone: 216.371.7100 State Board of Education of Ohio Ohio Departments Building, Room 804 Columbus, Ohio 43215-4183 Ohio Department of Education 65 South Front Street Columbus, Ohio 43215 Dr. John Goff, Supt. of Public Instruction [the below is from Fenceberry....] Plain Dealer, October 9, 1998 1801 Superior Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44114 Fax 216-999-6209 E-MAIL: letters@plaind.com Cheers & Jeers JEERS . . . to the recent furor over whether Ohio's schools properly protect homosexual students and staff members from discrimination. The "failing grades" given school systems by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network certainly raise a question of priorities in Cleveland. Schools with a long way to go just to produce literate graduates have a lot of pressing problems to solve before they work their way down to sexual interest-group politics. =============================================================================== I've posted a collection of news articles, press releases, and action items concerning the brutal murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard to our web page at URL: http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/Alerts/States/Wyoming/murder.html At over 23K, it's too long to post here, but if you can't access the web and would like to have it emailed to you, please let me know. =============================================================================== 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/