Date: Wed, 02 Jun 1999 17:08:13 -0700 From: Jean Richter Subject: 6/2/99 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. CA: Urgent action alert on AB 222; Contact info for Bonsall school board; Hemet GSA under fire from students 2. NY: Letter to editor announces "It's Elementary" airing 3. WI: Pastor's anti-GSA mailing backfires ==================================================================== Date: Tue, 1 Jun 1999 17:33:07 -0700 Subject: NGLTF Action Alert - CA Dignity for All Students Act From: "Channel Q News" To: (LGBT Political Activists), queerpolitics@abacus.oxy.edu ********************************************* NATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN TASK FORCE ACTION ALERT Contact: Dan Hawes, Field Organizer dhawes@ngltf.org 202-332-6483 x3222 1700 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20009 http://www.ngltf.org ********************************************* YOUR CALL IS NEEDED TODAY TO HELP PASS THE DIGNITY FOR ALL STUDENTS ACT - AB 222! SUPPORT DISCRIMINATION FREE SCHOOLS FOR GLBT YOUTH! This Thursday the California Assembly will be voting on AB 222, the Dignity for All Students Act, which would prohibit discrimination based on actual or perceived sexual orientation in all of California's public schools. If you live in one of the following California Assembly districts, please call your assemblymember immediately and urge them to vote yes on AB 222. It is critical for these legislators to hear from their constituents that they support discrimination free schools for GLBT youth! Lou Correa, District 69, Orange County - 916/319-2069 Sarah Reyes, District 31, Fresno, Tulare - 916/319-2031 Tony Cardenas, District 39, Los Angeles - 916/319-2039 Nell Soto, District 61, Los Angeles, San Bernadino - 916/319-2061 Mike Machado, District 17, San Joaquin - 916/319-2017 Dennis Cardoza, District 26, Merced - 916/319-2026 Call today to make California's schools a productive learning environment for all youth! __________________________________________________________ Founded in 1973, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force works to eliminate prejudice, violence and injustice against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people at the local, state and national level. As part of a broader social justice movement for freedom, justice and equality, NGLTF is creating a world that respects and celebrates the diversity of human expression and identity where all people may fully participate in society. _________________________________________ This message was issued by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. If you have a question regarding this post, please direct it to the contact at the top of this message. ***************************************************************** This message has been distributed as a free, nonprofit informational service, to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. Please do not publish, or post in a public place on the Internet, copyrighted material without permission and attribution. (Note: Press releases are fine to reprint. Don't reprint wire stories, such as Associated Press stories, in their entirety unless you subscribe to that wire service.) Forwarding of this material should not necessarily be construed as an endorsement of the content. In fact, sometimes messages from anti-gay organizations are forwarded as "opposition research." ================================================================================== Regarding yesterday's item about the Bonsall school board voting to oppose AB 222 - Contact information for the Bonsall School Board: Bonsall Union 31505 Old River Road, Bonsall, CA 92003 (619) 631-5200 Schools: 2 Students: 1,239 San Diego County Bonsall Middle, 06-08 (619) 631-5210 Bonsall CA 92003 Bonsall Primary, KG-05 (619) 631-5205 Bonsall CA 92003 ================================================================================== Riverside Press-Enterprise, May 19, 1999 3512 14th St.,Riverside,CA,92501 (Fax 909-782-7630 ) (E-MAIL: letters@pe.net ) ( http://www.pe.net/ ) School's Gay Club Provokes Backlash Some students at West Valley High School in Hemet say they want to form a heterosexual organization Karin Marriott, The Press-Enterprise HEMET - If a club supporting the gay lifestyle can start up at West Valley High School, then another focusing on "adolescent heterosexual preferences" should be allowed, students told the Hemet school board Tuesday. Three West Valley students told Hemet Unified School District trustees the "Horndog Club" was being formed in response to the Gay/Straight Student Alliance on their campus. But the students would not name the faculty member who would advise the group and said a constitution had not yet been drafted. The students said they have nothing against gays, but did not think any group based on sexual orientation should be allowed on campus. "I truly don't see a reason for either of the clubs," said Laura Leavitt, 16, who spoke to the school board. While two of the students said they would not be members of the Horndogs, they said they believed the Alliance gave gays on campus more privileges than their straight peers. The students said they believed gay students are given lighter punishments than their straight peers. They also said the Alliance allowed students to discuss sexual topics without the restrictions of a classroom. Drama teacher Stacey Bailey, co-adviser of the Alliance, said the 15-member group officially began three weeks ago to give gay students a safe place to gather. Its goal is to promote tolerance and students have not discussed sex, she said. Students suggested a support group form after an openly gay University of Wyoming student died in October from being beaten and tied to a fence post, she said. ================================================================================ From: SARATOGANY@aol.com Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 07:21:52 EDT Subject: NY Capital Region: Tolerance of homosexuality needs to be taught Message fwd by: The Coalition for Safer Schools of NYS Daily Gazette Schenectady, NY http://www.dailygazette.com/opinion.shtml#story06020004 June 2, 1999 Letter to the Editor The frequency of school shootings has adults scrambling for answers. We hear about school safety measures that include metal detectors, locker and backpack searches, police patroling, gun-toting teachers, and censoring violence on the Internet, TV, video games. What I am not hearing much about are solutions to root causes that push students to hostile actions - that being a lack of respect and civility among many students. A common denominator regarding shootings in Paducah, Ky., Moses Lake, Wash., Littleton, Colo., and Taber (Alberta), Canada is that the shooters identify as non-gay, and all were gay-bashed by their peers. Many teachers and school staff do nothing to stop anti-gay harassment that takes place on a daily basis in most of our schools and frequently in classrooms. An Iowa study revealed that anti-gay remarks are heard on average 26 times daily on school property. Most of the victims of this abuse and terrorism are not identified as gay. One local boy experiencing daily gay bashing and death threats, complained to the principal. This same principal stated that the boy was "looking for attention." I agree, Mr. Principal, he was looking for your attention. This terrorized 15-year-old boy was desperate for your attention and help. On June 8 at 9 p.m., WMHT, Channel 17, will air "It's Elementary: Talking about gay issues in school." A feature-length documentary film shot in schools across the United States, it makes a compelling case of including gay issues in multicultural education. At its heart are inspiring scenes of elementary and middle-school classrooms where teachers confront anti-gay prejudice and counter gay invisibility. "It's Elementary" is a window into how teachers and school administrators can find age-appropriate, sensitive ways to teach children respect for all people, including gays and lesbians. JOHN MYERS Ballston Spa The writer is director of operations and programs at the Coalition for Safer Schools of New York State, PO Box 2345, Malta, NY 12020. ================================================================================= Capital Times, May 20, 1999 Box 8060,Madison,WI,53708 (Fax 608-252-6445 ) (E-MAIL: tctvoice@captimes.madison.com ) ( http://www.madison.com/ ) GREER'S ANTI-GAY MAILING BACKFIRES By Samara Kalk, The Capital Times Ron Greer's anti-gay message, warning 3,000 parents in the Verona school district about gay support groups in the schools, is actually bolstering support for gay students, say school administrators and activists. "Students are being very tolerant and teachers are using it as a teachable moment,'' Verona Area High School Principal Kelly Meyers said. People understand the school is not promoting homosexuality, Meyers said. "The support has been absolutely overwhelming. It is quite clear that the vast, very vast majority of people want us to promote an atmosphere of tolerance and acceptance for all,'' she said. In an interview Wednesday, Greer said he led a volunteer effort of about a dozen people to send the mailing May 14. Many of the same people helped finance it, he said. Greer did not contribute himself, although Trinity Evangelical Fellowship, where Greer has served as pastor since 1995, put up a portion of the money. There was some speculation in Verona that national Christian groups or possibly retired Green Bay Packers defensive end Reggie White, a fellow minister, financed the mailing. "Reggie is a good friend. I don't ask him to get involved with things like this,'' Greer said. "We'd probably have more than one mailing if we had that kind of money.'' In the letter, the unsuccessful 2nd District congressional candidate and former Madison firefighter warned parents that their children were being "endangered'' by alleged homosexual advocacy in the high school and middle school. Greer enclosed published materials from two gay and lesbian support groups - Gays Lesbian Straight Education Network and a high school student group, the Student Alliance for Acceptance. One was the minutes of a student tolerance meeting that included the names of all attending. The other was a gay/lesbian "Safe Zone'' poster alerting gay youths that they could expect acceptance and place trust in the person, home or office displaying it. "Countless children will unnecessarily suffer physically, emotionally and some will even die as a result of this deception,'' Greer said. Greer has two sons, a sophomore and a senior, attending Verona Area High School. He took them out of West High School last year because he was dissatisfied with Madison teachers and said his sons were spending more time socializing than studying. A third son is in middle school. Greer's wife, Rosalyn, is employed by the Madison school district as minority coordinator at Madison Memorial High School. "Madison is sort of hellbent on social engineering and conditioning our kids to think something different,'' Ron Greer said. Asked about criticisms that he had "outed'' some students and [note: At this point, the online version is garbled with an unrelated story.] ================================================================================ 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/