by dfw-ix2.ix.netcom.com (8.8.4/8.8.4) Date: Sun, 30 Mar 1997 19:13:23 -0600 (CST) From: Jim Fagelson Subject: Parents' Network 3/30/97 --=====================_859780417==_ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" --=====================_859780417==_ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" PARENTS' NETWORK March 30, 1997 SCHOLARSHIP OFFERING FOR CONNECTICUT STUDENTS A scholarship is being offered for a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered student between the ages of 16 and 21 years who will be attending college next fall. The student must be a Connecticut resident, and not a previous winner. The amount is $500, courtesy of GLSTN/CT. Application deadline is April 15. Contact: Ronnie Kim, G. H. Robertson School, 227 Cross St., Coventry, CT 06238. WE ARE FAMILY Request for Information We are Family, an organization working for the acceptance of gay and lesbian people is developing a web site and is asking for assistance. They are made up of straight people who have come to understand the tragic loss which results from the prevailing pattern of prejudice and discrimination and gay people who have experienced this loss in their lives. Their particular focus is gay, lesbian and questioning youths, and they work to improve the youth's life by educating adults who work with and provide counsel to these kids--teachers, guidance counselors, religious leaders, family counselors, psychiatrists. Their principal medium is direct mail. Their web site will have a "lending library" of interesting and informative articles, position papers, essays, etc.--some original, some reprints-- on subjects of interest, including: Non-traditional families, Gay parenting, Gay marriage, Religion and homosexuality, Coming out to parents, the world, and their children; Health/HIV/AIDS; The costs of discrimination against G/L children; Bisexuality; Curing people who are gay: fact or deception; Current political issues; Conferences; etc. They request that if you have materials which fit into these categories or other categories they haven't thought of, please send them to We Are Family or Tom Myers, We Are Family, POB 30734 Charleston, SC 29417 (tel 803-937-000 fax 803-937-0020) ACTION ALERT: CHRYSLER RECONSIDERS ADVERTISING ON "ELLEN" IN "POLARIZED AND EMOTIONAL ENVIRONMENT" Chrysler Corp. has said it might not buy any more advertising time during ABC's "Ellen" show until the "media and public hype" surrounding the April 30 coming out episode subsides. Chrysler spokeswoman Megan Giles told USA Today, "We're not making a social statement" about sexual orientation. "But it's not sound business for us to be involved with an episode that's in such a highly polarized and emotional environment." Giles said that Chrysler's continued sponsorship of "Ellen" will depend on "whether the media and public hype recedes." HRC questions the sincerity of these statements. Since the point of television advertising is to reach the largest audience possible, it makes no sense for a company like Chrysler to withhold advertising from a program until it is less popular. One of the other major "Ellen" advertisers is General Motors. A GM spokesman, Dean Rotondo, told USA Today that his company would evaluate advertising on future episodes based on their "fairness and family values." The Rev. Jerry Falwell and the extremist American Family Association have announced a public pressure campaign against Chrysler, GM and Johnson & Johnson, which they identified as the three corporations that have been the biggest sponsors of "Ellen." ACT NOW - Contact Chrysler and General Motors and let the companies know you appreciate its past sponsorship of "Ellen." Politely ask the companies to reconsider their plan to withhold advertising until the all the media attention dies. Encourage them not to succumb to the anti-gay tactics of Falwell and the AFA. Let them know that gay men and lesbians also comprise families, and that we also deserve to be treated and portrayed fairly in the media. * Chrysler Corp., Chairman Robert J. Eaton, 1000 Chrysler Dr., Auburn Hills, MI 48326, Phone 810-576-5741, Toll Free 1-800-992-1997. * General Motors Corp., Chairman John F. Smith, 3044 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit, MI 48202, Phone 313-556-5000, FAX 313-556-1988. CORRECTION TO 3-23-97 Parents' Network Thanks for the note about my book "The Lesbian and Gay Book of Love and Marriage" in your latest online newsletter. I wanted to give you more correct info, however. The book will be published by Broadway Books in 1998 (it's not just under consideration). Paula Martinac (not Paul!) is the author. Couples and families who would like to be part of the project by telling their stories may contact me at PMartinac@aol.com. NEW RESEARCH REQUEST My name is Elbert Almazan and I am an undergraduate in the Department of Sociology at the University of California at Riverside. I am currently conducting my senior thesis of same-sex parenting and I am looking for male couples with children. These couples will be given a confidential survey in the mail that would ask about their child care responsibilities. This research is funded under the University of California Presidential Undergraduate Research Fellowship, the most prestigious research grant given to University of California undergraduates. If you and your partner are interested in taking the survey and/or if you know anyone else who can participate, please e-mail me at ealmazan@wizard.ucr.edu . All surveys received by a certain April date will be placed in a drawing for (1) $100 and (1) $25 gift certificates for any department store of their couples choosing. ENGLAND - Friday March 28th (NewsPlanet Staff) The prospect of a south-east London gay male couple becoming foster parents to an 11-year-old boy with developmental disabilities has been causing a media stir in Britain this past week. His birth mother, who put him into the foster care system about 1-1/2 years ago when his special needs proved more than she could handle, raised a storm of protest. Her reaction was based partly on his being removed from a heterosexual household where he had shown considerable improvement, partly out of her feeling that the decision was made without consulting her wishes in the matter, and partly because in her words, "I'm not homophobic, but my son is the kind of boy who likes to hold hands and kiss people. I wouldn't feel happy if two men were giving him these sort of cuddles." The boy is described as having the emotional development of a five-year-old. In the face of the publicity and the family's threat to withdraw the boy from public care, social services has put the transfer on hold. The social services view of the matter is that the birth mother had been invited to all the meetings regarding her son, but she had "not attended any meetings nor made her views known at any stage regarding this issue," and she had become "sporadic" in her contacts with her son. They hand-delivered an invitation to her to come discuss the matter at her convenience this week. The gay couple were the first in Britain to serve as foster parents. They are currently fostering two other children and the social services department thinks highly of their work. The placement with the gay couple would have brought the child now in question closer geographically to his birth mother and grandmother. The mother has three other children, another of whom is also in voluntary placement. FROM LAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND NEWSLETTER Near $1 Million Settlement Raises Standard for Protection of Gay Youth There is nothing like the vindication of a jury verdict. After a two-day federal jury trial in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, with Lambda and our cooperating attorneys representing Jamie Nabozny, the unanimous view of seven jurors was that Jamie's school principals had failed him by closing their eyes to the four years of brutal anti-gay abuse Jamie suffered from classmates in the Ashland, Wisconsin, schools. These seven Midwesterners opened those eyes wide -- and the eyes of educators everywhere. In an historic, first-of-its-kind case, the jury found that Jamie's public school principals during middle school and high school were liable to him for violating his constitutional right to equal protection from harm by repeatedly refusing to come to his aid when he was beat up in school for being gay. Hours after the jury verdict, the two sides reached agreement on a nearly $1 million settlement, a figure further punctuating the message that there is a high price to pay for ignoring abuse of lesbian and gay students. After all, Jamie already has paid an excruciating price -- suffering isolation, depression, humiliation, loss of his education, psychological and physical pain -- as a result of the school officials ignoring his pleas for help. Many gay students like him are driven to drop out or attempt suicide as a result of harassment in school. Fortunately, Jamie Nabozny has stood up for all of them. At the November Nabozny v. Podlesny trial, Jamie testified for an emotional 90 minutes about the years of abuse he suffered, including being shoved into a urinal and urinated on, an assault and mock rape in a classroom, and a beating so severe he required hospitalization. He described his many futile efforts to get the school to intervene. His mother, Carol Nabozny, corroborated his story and told the court how school officials repeatedly ignored complaints from her and Jamie's father Robert. Jamie's former teachers, counselors, and even a classmate who had regularly harassed him (but had never been punished) and that young man's mother also took the witness stand and verified key parts of Jamie's testimony, including anti-gay statements by the defendants in meetings to discuss the assaults. On the other side, sadly, the defendants claimed they knew nothing about the problem or any of the meetings. The Pay Off: First, a precedent-setting federal appellate victory, in July 1996, spelled out the constitutional obligation of public schools everywhere to treat abuse of lesbian and gay students and of boys as seriously as any other abuse. Second, Lambda's advocacy and Jamie's forthright testimony have cemented in the public mind that such abuse should be taken very seriously. Future such incidents cannot so easily be swept under the rug without full investigation. Lastly, school boards, administrators, and their insurers have taken notice of the results of this case and are seeking guidance to avoid similar situations. For schools that receive reports of anti-gay abuse, Lambda's advice is really quite basic: treat it as seriously as any other type of student abuse. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The TACOMA NEWS-TRIBUNE, March 26, 1997 I may only be 13, but I am sick of all the fighting about same-sex marriages. If a couple wants to marry and start a family, let them. It's no different than marrying someone of a different race. Nobody can stop you from loving somebody. We are supposed to be people that can live peacefully under the same bright sun. Many of those gay couples want to offer their homes for unadopted children. It sure beats being shipped around from home to home until you're 18 years old. Open your eyes and see those kids who don't care if they have two mommies or daddies to love them. They just want somebody to love them like their real parents couldn't do. Love is shapeless, colorless, and odorless. It's something only two people can share. Let these gay couples make their own decision. MICHELLE C., Tacoma ANNOUNCEMENT FROM PARTNERS TASK FORCE FOR GAY & LESBIAN COUPLES The latest items to be added to their Web site for same-sex couples: (http://www.buddybuddy.com) 1] Same-Sex Marriage Pride Day Project. A great way to capture attention for legal marriage issues during Pride Day parades. 2] Domestic Partner Benefit List compiled by the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. Updated as of February 1997. Can be downloaded as a PDF paginated file. 3] Quick Facts on Legal Marriage. Basics on the status of legal marriage for U.S. same-sex couples. THE LATEST FROM HAWAII The Hawai`i Supreme Judge C.J. Moon issued in favor of the plaintiffs in Hawai`i State AFL-CIO v. Yoshina. The Hawai`I State AFL-CIO had requested the review the of election results on the Constitution Convention question on last November's ballot. The measure had 163,000+ in favor, 160,000+ opposed with 45,000+ blank or soiled ballots. The question became whether or not the 45,000 ballots were to be included in the overall total of the ballot count or not. Judge Moon's opinion was based upon the language that indicated that they should be included. The argument center around "ballots cast" versus "votes tallied." It was expected that the same-sex marriage issue would dominate the Constitutional Convention to be held sometime after 1998. AND THE FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL IS AT IT AGAIN This is the Family Research Council review of "It's Elementary". It's always good to keep in touch with what the opposition is saying, in order to prepare counter-arguments. >WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT >It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School > >"Compelling... incredibly inspiring... creative." --NEW >JERSEY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION'S LESBIAN, GAY AND BISEXUAL >CAUCUS. > >"Essential viewing...I can't recommend it highly enough." >-- CAROLYN B. SHELDON, PRESIDENT OF THE 12,000-MEMBER >AMERICAN SCHOOL COUNSELOR ASSOCIATION (ASCA). > >It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School shows >discussions of homosexuality and prejudice in six classrooms >across the country. Teacher after teacher in the film >presents homosexuality as normal and resistance to the >lifestyle as bigotry -- to children as young as first grade. > >In one scene, a student explains matter-of-factly that >homosexuality "is in your genes." Children learn that >non-acceptance of homosexuality is just like racial or >ethnic prejudice. A fifth grader remarks, "Some Christians >believe that if you're gay, you'll go to hell, so they want >to torture them and stuff like that." Biblical admonitions >about homosexuality are either ignored or misconstrued. > >At one point, an eighth grade girl disparages the notion >that young children should be spared lectures on >homosexuality. "If kids are too young to be taught about >homosexuality, then they are too young to be taught about >heterosexuality," she declares. If children are reading >Cinderella, she says, then they should also read stories >about a "prince and a prince, or a princess and a princess." >A first-grade teacher at Hawthorne Elementary School in >Madison says, "If parents are allowed to have their children >opt out of gay and lesbian units, what will happen when we >teach about Dutch culture or African-American history. It >scares me." > >In a San Francisco eighth-grade class, a man and a woman >from Community United Against Violence (CUAV), a homosexual >activist group, talk to students about their lives. They >assure the students that "we are not here to recruit you at >all," although the man later says that they have been >brought in "to be a role model for gay students." > >Funded largely by the San Francisco-based Columbia Foundation, >the film also credits People for the American Way, the Gay >and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, the California >Teachers Association's Gay and Lesbian Caucus, Friends of >Project 10, and many other foundations and individuals. The >National Endowment for the Arts helped out via the Northwest >Film Center of the Portland (Oregon) Art Museum, which >received a $13,000 grant from the NEA in 1996. > >It's Elementary's main cheerleader is openly lesbian >California Assemblywoman Sheila J. Kuehl, who arranged a >showing in Sacramento last fall and says she wants it shown >in all 50 states. The film has already been screened in >Colorado Springs, Utah, San Francisco, New York, Montgomery >County, Maryland, and other locations. ASCA is carrying the >video in its new catalog, mailed to school counselors >nationwide. > >Paul Navarro, a California education consultant, warns, "it >shouldn't be taken lightly. We can be lulled into thinking >[this trend] will pass [away]." Unless parents and >legislators actively oppose and expose the video, he said, >"it's just a matter of time before we start mandating this >in the classroom." Navarro, who viewed the video at the >Sacramento screening, said, "it was kind of sad that they're >using kids to promote an agenda that they don't really >understand." > >It's Elementary is the latest tool in a fast-growing campaign. >A homosexual teachers group, Gay, Lesbian and Straight >Teachers Network (GLSTN) has produced its own video, Teaching >Respect for All, as part of its second annual "back to school" >campaign. The 50-minute video is based on the staff training >program created by GLSTN for the Massachusetts Department of >Education under Republican Gov. William Weld. > >In recent years, the two-million member National Education >Association (NEA) teachers union has called for portrayal of >homosexuals throughout history, instruction encouraging >pupils to accept diverse sexual orientation, and observance >of lesbian and gay history month. > >The prospect of such conditioning worries Dana Cody, a >California state Senate aide and mother who viewed the film >at its Sacramento showing: "The sad thing is that a lot of >teachers are being exposed to this and are upset but are >afraid to say anything for fear of losing their jobs." > >Action: "Keep an eye out for this stuff," says Peter >LaBarbera, publisher of the Lambda Report on Homosexuality, >which tracks homosexual activism. "And don't believe that >the schools are not slipping it in. Ask to attend any >presentations regarding sexuality --or `diversity training.' >By redefining this as an issue of bias, they are using >`tolerance' sessions to promote homosexuality." AUSTRALIA - Wockner News Service INSURANCE COMPANY COURTS GAY COUPLES Australia's National Mutual Health insurance company is selling special policies to gay couples. A two-page ad in the March issue of the gay magazine Outrage -- featuring two burly, overall-clad lovers wearing "Bear: The Magazine" hats -- states: "Save money on health insurance just by being a couple (isn't that romantic?). "The only commitment required, on your part, is to each other. You just have to be a couple. Until now, couples had only two options. You could take out singles cover separately or insure together as a family (and pay for children you don't have). Neither situation is ideal. That's why National Mutual Health designed Couples's Hospital Cover." SEARCHABLE DATABASE Wockner International News dating back to May 1, 1994, is searchable by keyword, city, state/province, nation and year at http://www.gaytoronto.com/wockner/ ________________________________________________________ To SUBSCRIBE, send an e-mail message to glpcinat@ix.netcom.com saying "subscribe Parents' Network", To UNSUBSCRIBE send an e-mail message to glpcinat@ix.netcom.com saying "unsubscribe Parents' Network" and you will be removed from the list. --=====================_859780417==_--