Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 17:05:22 -0800 From: Jean Richter Subject: 12/14/99 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. WA: Deadline for Lambert House job opening extended 2. RI: Young advocates call for more HIV and sexuality education 3. NY: Shenendehowa high school implements new harassment policy 4. UT: Salt Lake City school will not censor gay-positive views ============================================================================= [the full job opening annoucement can be found at: http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/Alerts/States/Washington/opening ] From: SLSiefert@aol.com Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 17:33:39 EST Subject: Job Update: Deadline extended through 12-20 Lambert House News: Please note that the deadline for applications for the Program/Services Coordinator position at Lambert House has been extended by one week to include postmarks through Monday, December 20th. All applications received to date are still in review. Applicants can expect an initial correspondence by Dec. 31st with an update on the hiring process. A detailed job description may be obtained by calling 206-322-2515 x34 or sending an e'mail to alix@lamberthouse.org . Thanks for your assistance, Steve Siefert Executive Director ================================================================================= Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 03:42:34 -0500 (EST) From: "Tina M. Wood" Subject: RI: Young advocates call for more HIV/AIDS education (fwd) Young advocates call for more HIV/AIDS education By Associated Press, 12/02/99 01:02 PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) Concerned about the continuing presence of HIV/AIDS, a young group of Rhode Island advocates implored educators to improve sex education and make condoms available in schools. The 21-member group, known as Inner Circle, describes itself as an advocate for HIV and teen pregnancy prevention. They spent months surveying more than 2,000 Rhode Island teen-agers about their sex education programs. Ninety percent of those kids said more HIV education was needed. [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] ============================================================================== From: SARATOGANY@aol.com Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 08:11:49 EST Subject: Clifton Park, NY: Shenendehowa HS Implements New Harassment Policy To: SARATOGANY@aol.com, bdm3g@gateway.net Message from: The Coalition for Safer Schools of NYS PO Box 2345, Malta, NY 12020 Email: saratogany@aol.com Tel: 518-587-0176 New Harassment Policy That Includes Sexual Orientation Protection to be Implemented After Gay Student Being Assaulted The new Shenendehowa HS (Clifton Park, NY) harassment policy will be read over the loudspeaker on Friday morning (12/3), kicking off "Zero Tolerance" week. (see text below) Student Brendan Neff-Hall, from Niskayuna HS Gay Straight Alliance student club, will be speaking to small groups of Shen students at the high school about harassment against lgb youth. Brendan has participated in many workshops sponsored by the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Capital Region Chapter, church and civic groups throughout the area. CSS-NYS commends the Shenendehowa HS administration, the efforts of GLSEN, the Capital District Gay Lesbian Community Council, the mother and family of the assaulted student and the many allies within the Shenendehowa school district and surrounding area. A special thanks goes out to Mitch Hahn, chair of the GLSEN Capital Region Chapter who works tirelessly in the trenches to stop anti-gay abuse in schools. Last but not least, CSS-NYS thanks Jim Regalski, Albany Times Union Saratoga Bureau Chief for his two (2) supportive columns, The Saratogian for their supportive editorial, the Clifton Park Spotlight for their supportive article and the local TV coverage, all regarding the Shen incident. It is imperative that the media break the silence about the rampant anti-gay abuses in schools. John Myers Director of Operations and Programs ====================================================== Shenendehowa Central School District (approximately 6,000 students) Shenendehowa Central High School HARASSMENT POLICY It is the policy of Shenendehowa Central High School that harassment is unacceptable conduct and will not be tolerated. This is in keeping with efforts to establish an environment in which the dignity and worth of all members of the school community are respected. The goal of S.C.H.S. is to provide a community in which all students are accepted and judged as individuals. Harassment includes epithets, comments, gestures, and any other behaviors that demean, intimidate, threaten or offend another based on gender, race, color, religion, cultural background, ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical condition or abilities. Behaviors that are prohibited under the harassment policy include, but are not limited to the following: 1.. graffiti 2.. vandalism 3.. hate talk 4.. stereotypic name calling, epithets, or slurs 5.. trash talk during athletics 6.. display of visual materials or the alteration of visual materials displayed by others 7.. jokes or humor 8.. comments, gestures, or look Any person committing any form of harassment will be subject to disciplinary action if: 1.. the gestures, comments, epithets or behaviors are commonly considered by members of the group demeaned to be disparaging to that group, and 2.. such conduct either A.. interferes with the comfort, safety, and work or study performance of the person(s) to whom the conduct is addressed or directed, or B.. makes the work, study, or social environment hostile or intimidating to members of average sensibilities of the group demeaned. Any instances which can be perceived as harassment should be reported immediately to a faculty member or an administrator. (Note: The above policy is a replica of the standing policy at Guilderland Central School District. It is highly recommended that other school districts across the state implement this policy.) ================================================================================= From: LLDEFNY@aol.com Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 13:11:16 EST Subject: Gay-Positive Views Will Not Be Censored =========================================== LAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND www.lambdalegal.org NATIONAL CENTER FOR LESBIAN RIGHTS www.nclrights.org AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF UTAH www.acluutah.org News Release ============================================ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, December 2, 1999 CONTACT: Peg Byron, Lambda, 212-809-8585 x230, 1-888-987-1984 pager David S. Buckel, Lambda, 212-809-8585 x 212 Jon W. Davidson, Lambda, 323-937-2728 x 228 Carole Gnade, ACLU, 801-521-9862 Kate Kendell, NCLR, 415-392-6257 ============================================ Gay-Positive Views Will Not be Censored, Salt Lake City School Officials Guarantee Federal judge dismisses school clubs case after students get what they wanted (NEW YORK, December 2, 1999) - A federal judge has dismissed a student lawsuit against the Salt Lake City school board because school officials have produced a definitive policy guaranteeing the right to express pro-gay opinions, attorneys for the students said Thursday. Lead counsel Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, representing the students, were pleased by the judgment by United States Senior District Judge Bruce S. Jenkins. Ruling in East High Gay/Straight Alliance v. Salt Lake City Board of Education late Tuesday, Jenkins wrote that there was no need for future litigation due to the district's declaration that gay-positive views would not be censored. "If nothing else, plaintiffs...exacted the defendants' reaffirmation that as a matter of policy, gay-positive viewpoints as to matters relevant to the school curriculum may be freely expressed in the existing forum at East and West High Schools,"said Jenkins in his six-page order. He added, "In light of the District's affirmations made in open court and on the record, one may expect the District to maintain a viewpoint-neutral forum, even without an injunction." Additionally, Jenkins rejected the notion that gay issues are always inappropriate in schools, saying, "[I]t would be naive at best to assume that expression of such views necessarily would involve the advocacy or even the description of particular sexual behavior or practices. Concerns about discussion of human sexuality in the public school setting have little bearing upon a discussion of the role of gay and lesbian persons in the Holocaust, or the orientation of various historical or literary figures and its impact upon their lives and work." Keysha Barnes, one of the named plaintiffs, said, "I'm happy because our case has made a difference. This is a step in the right direction because students will feel safer being who they are." The lawsuit was filed in March 1998, after the school board banned all non-curricular student groups rather than allow the Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) to meet. The students from both East and West High School charged that the district infringed first amendment rights and violated a federal law in refusing to allow the GSA to meet. In October, Judge Jenkins agreed that the Board violated the Equal Access Act - a federal statute prohibiting public schools from picking and choosing among non-curricular clubs - because school officials continued to allow some non-curricular clubs to meet even after those clubs had been banned. He disagreed, however, with the students' argument that the violation was continuing. In response to the students' first amendment claims that the prohibition on gay-positive viewpoints went beyond non-curricular clubs, the school board unexpectedly announced that students would not be silenced if they tried to express gay-positive views because district policy and a statewide regulation prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in schools. With those guarantees in place, the judge determined that the students had obtained what they had sought and dismissed the lawsuit. "The future anticipated by the District's unequivocal policy does not differ dramatically from the future envisioned by plaintiffs' prayer for relief," he said. (East High Gay/Straight Alliance v. Board of Education, No. 2:98CV193J) --30-- Link directly to Lambda's news release: http://www.lambdalegal.org/cgi-bin/pages/documents/record?record=534 ======================================= Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund www.lambdalegal.org National Headquarters 120 Wall Street, Suite 1500 New York, NY 10005-3904 212-809-8585 phone 212-809-0055 fax lambdalegal@lambdalegal.org ==================================================================================