From: communications@pflag.org Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 12:40:50 -0500 Subject: PFLAG Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JANUARY 24, 1997 CONTACT: Shelley Golden, Sgolden@pflag.org Rob Banaszak, Rbanaszak@pflag.org 202/638-4200 PFLAG RESOLUTION FOR 1997 CREATE SAFE SPACES FOR GAY YOUTH Concerned by recent violent hate crimes against gay students, verbal harassment of gay youth, and attempts by school boards to deny extra-curricular status to gay/straight alliances, the members of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) have committed to cultivating safe spaces for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youth, and children of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered parents in 1997. "Today's youth will be tomorrow's teachers, technicians and tacticians," said PFLAG president and educator, Nancy McDonald. "As adults, we have a responsibility to set an example. We must be aware of what we say -- what messages we are sending to children. How can we talk of creating a more tolerant nation when we condone hate speech and violence in our classrooms and communities?" McDonald's nine year-old granddaughter was recently taunted with anti-gay remarks after wearing a T-shirt from PFLAG's 15th annual conference to school. Current attempts by state legislatures to pass anti-gay bills, and lack of action by schools and community groups to provide safety to gay youth have prompted PFLAG members to act: * Following a savage gay bashing which left her son in the hospital, PFLAG member Carolyn Wagner wrote to President Clinton, imploring him to address hate crimes as a civil rights issue. Wagner's 16 year old son, Willie, had his nose broken, kidneys bruised and back scraped when he was attacked by two teens after leaving school in Fayetteville, Ark. Since Willie came out to his family in junior high school, he has been the target of verbal and physical abuse from classmates, often without intervention by school officials. "We tried to stay quiet," said Wagner about her family's response to her son's previous harassments. "We tried to stay calm, and not be demanding, hysterical parents with the schools. We tried to be rational but persistent and it got us nowhere. Our son was beaten all the same. That approach did not work, and now that we think about it, has never worked. Gay, lesbian and bisexual people are murdered all the time, and beaten and taunted. It's time to stand up, and say, 'we're not going to take this abuse any longer.'" * Members of PFLAG Seattle-Tacoma participated in the Safe Schools Coalition, a Washington state group comprised of 37 public and private agencies representing educators, parents, religious organizations, health care providers and youth. The coalition recently released its third annual report, which is based on in-depth interviews and a survey of public high school youth. The report found that nine percent of all students identified themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual or unsure, and that straight students, as well as gay students, have been targets of anti-gay harassment. The report also offered recommendations for making schools safer for students. PFLAG Seattle-Tacoma Co-President Tawney Collins-Feay spoke at the press conference releasing the report. "Every single one of us knows what it is to feel put down, criticized, mocked, for just being the way we are," she said. "The difference for our gay children is that this is an officially sanctioned cruelty -- not from every pulpit, but from too many; not from every loved and respected adult in the child's life, but from too many; not in every classroom nor on every playground, but in too many... For the sake of all the children who are looking to us with their bright, hopeful faces, we must make sure that each one has a chance to bloom." * When students at Dimond High School, in Anchorage, Alaska, met with resistance while trying to form a gay/straight alliance, PFLAG member Fred Hillman urged local school board members to examine the strategies other states are employing to provide safe space for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students. "Alaska," he said, "a state of pioneers, should be leading this issue." PFLAG members were also vocal in the original school board fight for safe space for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youth in Salt Lake City, Utah. Last year, the local school board banned all non-academic clubs in an attempt to prevent students from forming a gay/straight alliance. The school board has adopted a new policy concerning clubs, and PFLAG Salt Lake City members are investigating whether any action is needed to ensure that the club will be able to meet. * Eric Edberg, the faculty advisor of United DePauw, the gay student group at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., appreciated the online help of PFLAG activist Maggie Heineman after students published a newspaper mocking gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. From her home in Pennsylvania, Heineman established a web site (http://www.critpath.org/action-project/depauw.html) and sent national e-mail alerts letting the college administration know that reprimands for such attacks were expected. As a result of Edberg's and Heineman's collaboration, the newsletter editors have issued an official apology, the student congress has sponsored a panel discussion, "Is DePauw Homophobic?" and a PFLAG-led discussion of the Brian McNaught video Gay Issues in the Workplace with university faculty is planned. "We have to do more than speak up in the communities where our family members and friends live," said Heineman. "We must be advocates for safe spaces anywhere there is a need. New technology provides opportunities to support each other in unprecedented ways." Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian and bisexual persons, their families and friends through: support, to cope with an adverse society; education, to enlighten an ill-informed public; and advocacy, to end discrimination and secure civil rights. PFLAG provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation, and acts to create a society that is healthy, and respectful of diversity. Founded in 1981, PFLAG is now organized in 400 communities in every state, with 65,000 household members. For more information concerning PFLAG's work to create safe spaces for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youth, and their families and friends, please visit PFLAG's web site at http://www.pflag.org or call (202) 638-4200 ext. 213. ==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==*==* Julie Gedden Director of National Operations PFLAG 202.638.4200 x215 202.898.0562 fax jgedden@pflag.org http://www.pflag.org AOL: Keyword: PFLAG