Date: Fri, 02 Jul 1999 16:48:08 -0700 From: Jean Richter Subject: 7/2/99 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. FL: School board balks at granting minority status to gay students 2. GLAAD news on Massachusetts hate crime and California bill's defeat 3. CA: Action alert: contact legislators who voted against AB 222 ========================================================================== SUN SENTINEL, June 7, 1999 200 E. Las Olas,Fort Lauderdale,FL,33301 (Fax 954-356-4624 ) ( http://www.sun-sentinel.com ) (E-MAIL: letters@sun-sentinel.com ) Buddy Nevins (Excerpt) Schools pressured Gay and lesbian activists have been pressuring the School Board to add sexual orientation to its definition of minorities. [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] ================================================================================= Reply-To: listserver@channelq.com Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 21:07:03 -0700 From: "Channel Q" Subject: GLAADLines June 7, 1999 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JUNE 7, 1999 GLAADLINES Contact: Jerry Weinstein GLAAD Publications Manager (212) 807-1700 x18 weinstein@glaad.org http://www.glaad.org News and Breaking Stories about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community [unrelated items omitted] Index to Stories: MASSACHUSETTS PREP SCHOOL STUDENT VICTIM OF HATE CRIME CALIFORNIA ANTI-DISCRIMINATION MEASURE DEFEATED BY ONE VOTE MASSACHUSETTS PREP SCHOOL STUDENT VICTIM OF HATE CRIME: The prestigious Northfield Mount Hermon school was the site of a horrific attack against a member of its student body. On May 27, a junior was allegedly forced against a dorm room wall by two graduating seniors who carved the epithet, "HOMO" in 5-inch block letters across his back with a pen knife. The victim came forward to his headmaster two days later. On June 1, police charged Matthew Rogers, 20, and Jonathan Shapiro, 18, as follows: assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault with intent to maim, and assault with intent to intimidate, resulting in bodily harm. The third charge made the alleged assault a hate crime. Both young men have pleaded not guilty. Laurie MacLeod, a Massachusetts Northwestern Region assistant district attorney, was unaware of whether the victim identified as gay or was perceived as such. For further information, please contact Jim Anderson, communications director at the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) at (212) 727-0135 x 136 or by e-mail at janderson@glsen.org. CALIFORNIA ANTI-DISCRIMINATION MEASURE DEFEATED BY ONE VOTE: On June 4, after rancorous debate, California's AB 222 missed passage by one vote. Authored by openly lesbian Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl, the bill would have amended non-discrimination provisions of the California Education Code to include sexual orientation, thereby prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in California's public schools and community colleges. In the weeks prior to the roll call, a conservative Christian group took out full-page print ads, targeting the Latino/a community, asking assembly members to "Protect the children against sexual assault," and to vote down AB 222. Following the vote, the bill was placed on the inactive file, and it can be reconsidered for a fourth time next year. For further information, please contact Eric Astacaan at (916) 455-1049 or by e-mail at laxnmsfmca@tomatoweb.com, of the California Alliance For Pride And Equality, the co-sponsor of this legislation. For context on issues that affect lesbian and gay students, please contact Jim Anderson, communications director at the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) at (212) 727-0135 x 136 or by e-mail at janderson@glsen.org. GLAAD is the nation's lesbian & gay multimedia advocacy organization. GLAAD promotes fair, accurate, and inclusive representation as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. To subscribe, contact Wonbo Woo at (212) 807-1700 or at woo@glaad.org. "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) glaad@glaad.org TO REPORT DEFAMATION IN THE MEDIA - Call GLAAD's Alertline at 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or go to the GLAAD Web Site at www.glaad.org and report through our Alertline Online. TO JOIN GLAAD AND RECEIVE GLAAD's QUARTERLY IMAGES MAGAZINE, call 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or join on the Web today at www.glaad.org/glaad/join/join-about.html TO SUBSCRIBE TO GLAAD-Net, GLAAD's electronic mailing list, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Subscribe GLAAD-Net" (without the quotation marks). Make sure that you turn off all signatures and extraneous text. TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Unsubscribe GLAAD-Net" (without the quotation marks). Make sure that you turn off all signatures and extraneous text. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is a national organization that promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in the media as a means of combating homophobia and challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc. ================================================================================= Date: Tue, 08 Jun 1999 11:26:16 -0700 From: "Richard, Jennifer" Subject: Lambda Letters Alert on Digntiy for All Students Act - E-mail Add resses of those who Opposed AB 222 LAMBDA LETTERS ALERT LAMBDA LETTERS ALERT LAMBDA LETTERS ALERT Please Support The Dignity for all students Bill Are you growing weary of all these alerts? You may well be. I know I sometimes get weary of preparing them. However, we are having an incredibly successful year in the legislature this year, and I believe the messages you have been sending have had a lot to do with that success. In just the month of May, you all sent over 42,000 messages to your legislators. That has to have had a beneficial affect So I hope you will be patient with us as we work together through the rest of the legislative season. This time the issue again is the Dignity For All Students Bill (A.B. 222) introduced by Sheila Kuehl. The bill was not approved by the Assembly by the June 4th deadline for getting bills out of their house of origin. This means the bill cannot be given any further consideration this year. However, Jennifer Richard, of Sheila Kuehl's staff, tells me they may try to take up the bill again next January. She says it's important now to thank the Assembly Members who voted for A.B. 222 and to express our disapproval of those who voted against it. At the end of this alert, you will find a list of the E-mail addresses of those who voted against A.B. 222 or were absent or abstained along with a letter of disappointment at their failure to support the bill. Some who voted against the bill are not on the list because they do not have e-mail. Please send a letter of disapproval to each of the legislators on the list. Please forward this alert to all of your friends so as to maximize the flow of mail to the legislators. The Dignity For All Students Bill (A.B. 222) would prohibit sexual orientation based discrimination and harassment in California's public schools. You can find a copy of it at the following Internet address: http://www.sen.ca.gov/htbin/testbin/ca-html?GOPHER_ROOT2:[BILL.CURRENT.AB.FROM0200.AB0222]CURRVER.TXT;1/bill/AB222 Or you may go directly to a copy of the bill by clicking on the following link: Click here: Legislation Please let us know if you respond to this alert. It helps us determine whether or not these alerts are effective. It also helps us respond when legislators claim they are receiving no calls, letters or messages in support of our position. NOTE: WE HAVE AN EASY WAY FOR YOU TO LET US KNOW THAT YOU RESPONDED TO THIS ALERT. We include our e-mail address at the end of the list of addresses of the people whom you need to write to. If you cut and paste our address along with those of the others we will get a copy of your message. There will be no need for you to send a separate confirmation to us. SECOND NOTE; We have added a parenthesis to the list of e-mail addresses of the people who need to be messaged. As a result, if you use America On Line, you can cut and paste all of the addresses into one address block, but the message received by each person will contain only his or her e-mail address. If you use some other Internet server, you may need to use another technique to accomplish the same thing. E-mail messages should be sent to the members of the Assembly on the following lists.(You may cut and paste this list into the address block of your message. NOTE: WE HAVE THREE VERSIONS OF THE LIST IN THREE DIFFERENT FORMATS. ALL THREE VERSIONS CONTAIN THE SAME ADDRESSES. YOU MAY USE WHICHEVER VERSION YOU CAN CUT AND PASTE MOST EASILY.) Addresses Version 1: (a36@assembly.ca.gov, a64@assembly.ca.gov, a66@assembly.ca.gov, a70@assembly.ca.gov, assemblyman.leonard@assembly.ca.gov, assemblymember.correa@assembly.ca.gov, assemblymember.florez@assembly.ca.gov, assemblymember.soto@assembly.ca.gov, assemblymember.strickland@assembly.ca.gov, bill.campbell@assembly.ca.gov, bob.margett@assembly.ca.gov, brett.granlund@assembly.ca.gov, george.house@assembly.ca.gov, howard.kaloogian@assembly.ca.gov, jim.battin@assembly.ca.gov, jim.cunneen@assembly.ca.gov, keith.olberg@assembly.ca.gov, lynne.leach@assembly.ca.gov, mike.machado@assembly.ca.gov, peter.frusetta@assembly.ca.gov, roy.ashburn@assembly.ca.gov, sally.havice@assembly.ca.gov, scott.baugh@assembly.ca.gov, steve.baldwin@assembly.ca.gov, tom.mcclintock@assembly.ca.gov, Lambdalp@aol.com) Addresses Version 2: (a04@assembly.ca.gov, a36@assembly.ca.gov, a64@assembly.ca.gov, a66@assembly.ca.gov, a70@assembly.ca.gov, assemblyman.leonard@assembly.ca.gov, assemblymember.correa@assembly.ca.gov, assemblymember.florez@assembly.ca.gov, assemblymember.soto@assembly.ca.gov, assemblymember.strickland@assembly.ca.gov, bill.campbell@assembly.ca.gov, bob.margett@assembly.ca.gov, brett.granlund@assembly.ca.gov, george.house@assembly.ca.gov, howard.kaloogian@assembly.ca.gov, jim.battin@assembly.ca.gov, jim.cunneen@assembly.ca.gov, keith.olberg@assembly.ca.gov, lynne.leach@assembly.ca.gov, mike.machado@assembly.ca.gov, peter.frusetta@assembly.ca.gov, roy.ashburn@assembly.ca.gov, sally.havice@assembly.ca.gov, scott.baugh@assembly.ca.gov, steve.baldwin@assembly.ca.gov, tom.mcclintock@assembly.ca.gov, Lambdalp@aol.com) Addresses Version 3: (, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ) Here is a sample message. Feel free to compose your own message or to cut and paste this sample into the body of your message. Sample Message Dear Assembly Member: I am very disappointed that you chose not to vote for A.B. 222. Frankly it suggests to me that you value lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered children less than other children. Recently there has been widespread talk of the need to find the cause of student on student violence and to take concrete action to prevent such violence. Yet it is well known that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered youth are the victims of violent attacks by their classmates every day. It's also well known that the cause of such violence is rooted in the prejudice of many heterosexual students toward their gay classmates. A.B. 222, proposes remarkably sensible solutions to the problem. It bans sexual orientation-based discrimination in our schools and it requires schools to clamp down on students who commit violence against their gay classmates. Originally A.B. 222 also required schools to eliminate anything from their curriculum that would foster prejudice or disrespect. Somehow people thought that was too radical a concept and her colleagues forced Assembly Member Kuehl to remove that wording from the bill. Even so, you were not willing to vote for A.B. 222. I am very disappointed that you were unwilling to support an bill to end the violence in our schools. Sincerely, (YOUR NAME) (YOUR ADDRESS) --------------------------------------------------------------- Please do let us know if you respond to this alert. It really does help us measure the effectiveness of these alerts. Just send us a cc. ------------------------------------------------------------- Lambda Letters is a private, non profit corporation with no paid employees. It serves people living with AIDS/HIV, lesbians/gays/bisexuals/transgendered people, people of color and women. Do you like the services we provide? If so, please consider making a contribution to the project. Contributions may be sent to: The Lambda Letters Project 6212 Silverton Way Carmichael, CA 95608 Love, Boyce Hinman Lambda Letters ============================================================================= Jean Richter -- richter@eecs.berkeley.edu The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) These messages are archived by state on our information-loaded free web site: http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/