[back.to.school.campaign.96] Provided by: GLSTN 122 West 26th Street, Suite 1100 New York, NY 10001 USA Tel: (212) 727-0135 Email: glstn@glstn.org Web: http://www.glstn.org/respect/ 1996 BACK TO SCHOOL CAMPAIGN > ONLINE INFORMATION KIT < Contents: * Back-to-School Campaign Frequently Asked Questions * Statements from Back To School Spokespeople * Excerpts from Sample Letters * Campaign Endorsements from Other Organizations * "What You Can Do" Suggestions * Calendar of Campaign Events * Press Announcement BACK TO SCHOOL CAMPAIGN FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) WHAT IS THE BACK TO SCHOOL CAMPAIGN? First staged in 1995, The Back to School Campaign is an annual grass-roots education and advocacy effort in which lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults and their allies to write to their former schools and share their own experiences to help school staffs understand the impact of homophobia on young people. WHY DO WE NEED TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL? It's simple. Many teachers, administrators, and community members believe homophobia is someone else's problem, something that doesn't happen in their community or at their school. This flies in the face of some basic facts: 97% of high school students report regularly hearing homophobic comments in their schools; 53% of high school students report hearing homophobic comments from school staff; 28% of lesbian, gay, and bisexual students drop out of high school; and 30% of all lesbian, gay, and bisexual adolescents attempt suicide. WHY WRITE A LETTER? Studies show that the single most effective way of reducing homophobia is for an individual to know an lesbian, gay, and bisexual person. GLSTN has found that contact with lesbian, gay, and bisexual alumnae/i is the most powerful single motivating factor in getting school administrators and teachers to take action on homophobia issues. The Back-to-School Campaign uses the letter-writing technique to make sure that school staff understand that homophobia is damaging to young people by "putting a human face" on the issue--one of a former student whom they knew. The empathy these letters generate will provide a powerful motivation for staff to act to ensure that their schools are places where all students get the education they deserve -- regardless of sexual orientation. HOW DO INDIVIDUALS GET INVOLVED? INDIVIDUALS CAN FOLLOW THESE THREE EASY STEPS: 1. Write a letter to someone at your former school this fall and use your own experience to illustrate to them what homophobia does to young people. 2. Follow up your letter with a phone call, offering to provide resources such as GLSTN's "What You Can Do" Suggestions (see below) or perhaps you might even offer to return to your old school to speak with faculty or students. 3. Join GLSTN and become involved in your local chapter's work to end homophobia in your community's schools. STATEMENTS FROM 1996 BACK-TO-SCHOOL CAMPAIGN SPOKESPEOPLE KELLI PETERSEN > Biography: Kelli Petersen received national attention in the spring of 1996 after founding a Gay-Straight Student Alliance at East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah. Rather than allow the club to meet (which it had a right to do, under the Federal Equal Access law), the Utah legislature met in a special legislative session in April, 1996 and passed a law that banned all students clubs rather than allow the East H.S. GSA to meet. Kelli graduated from East H.S. in June and is currently preparing to enter a teacher training program. > Statement: Kelli wrote this about her high school experience: "Freshman year, a group of girls in my gym class started teasing me, saying things like "You're such a queer. You even look like a boy." As I was pulling my backpack on one day in the locker room, I was pushed to the ground by someone who was behind me. When I hit the ground, they began kicking me and screaming at me, "Dyke!" and "Faggot!" JAMIE NABOZNY > Biography: "Jamie Nabozny attended public schools in Ashland, Wisconsin, where he was subjected to years of anti-gay harassment. When his parents met with school administrators to protest his treatment, one remarked 'boys will be boys,' and no action was taken. In response, Jamie filed the first-ever federal suit against anti-gay violence in public schools. > Statement: Jamie wrote this about his high school experience: As a high school student in Wisconsin, I suffered through over four years of anti-gay violence. In seventh grade, after a teacher left the classroom, two boys wrestled me to the floor and acted out a rape on me, saying 'You know you want it,' while the rest of the class watched and laughed. In ninth grade, two boys knocked me to the floor and urinated on me. In tenth grade, about ten boys trapped me in a hallway and one kicked me in the stomach so bad that I had to go to the hospital later. It was terrible. Whenever I walked around a corner, I never knew who would be there and what they would do to me. Instead of disciplining the kids that beat me up, the school started to treat me like I was the problem. They moved me into separate classes, change my assigned seat to the front of the bus so I had to sit with the elementary school students (even though I was 16), and forced me to use a separate bathroom in the home economics classroom." About the Back-to-School Campaign, Jamie wrote: "If everyone who cared about gay youth would write one letter, it would save many gay youth from going through what I went through in high school." GREG LOUGANIS > Biography: Greg Louganis is best-known today as the Olympic Gold Medalist and best-selling author of Breaking the Surface. But long before he achieved his fame, he was a California high school student who felt terribly alone and isolated, despite his outward appearance of success. In 1995 Greg joined the GLSTN Honorary Board and became a spokesperson for the Back-to-School campaign as part of his work to make it better for the next generation. > Statement: The following is an excerpt from Greg's "Back-to-School" letter: Dear Teacher: It's been a long time since I was in one of your classes at Valhalla High School. You probably thought of me as one of the school's most popular and successful students. At age 16, I had just won an Olympic silver medal. Everyone wanted to be my friend, and I'm sure most of my peers thought I was the luckiest, happiest guy on campus... In reality, those years were very painful for me. I couldn't help wondering. What would they think if they knew my secret? My secret, of course, was that I am gay. In my senior year, the sense of having a guilty secret became overwhelmingly oppressive, and I decided to make the final escape. I stole a handful of valium and codeine from my parent's medicine chest, swallowed them, and went to bed for what I hoped would be the last time. I survived, but a lot of high school kids don't... Kids need to love themselves to protect themselves, and self-esteem is what high school kids are all too often lacking--especially gay and lesbian kids. But teachers and administrators can make a big difference. There are millions of gay teens, and they need your help even more than I did... Please write me back and let me know what you're doing to reach out to gay and lesbian kids at Vahalla High, to make their experience better than mine was. Sincerely, Greg Louganis Class of 1978 SAMPLE EXCERPTS FROM LETTERS "The beatings, punches, slaps, kicks, and horrible names created a great deal of mental anguish for me. The words "Queer," "Fairy," "Sissy," and "Faggot," are forever etched in my brain. I seriously considered suicide, but fortunately, I rejected that alternative. I also considered speaking with a teacher, a guidance counselor, or the principal, but I never did because I was afraid of what information I would have to disclose. Who would they tell?" John C. Brown Class of '69 Dryden Central Schools, Dryden, NY "I often wonder how different my life would have been if I had once heard the words gay and lesbian uttered. Our sexuality education then was restricted to the obligatory menstrual education provided to girls. I knew no one, certainly not one of my teachers, who was gay or lesbian. I'm not even sure I knew the words. I certainly was not given the information that would have helped me figure out what was missing, that might have spared me 25 years of a marginal, numb life." Eileen Raymond Class of '58 Hull High School, Hull, MA "I recall with sadness how brutal a place Gonzaga sometimes seemed to be, especially for a young gay person. . . The homophobia was strong among faculty and students alike, and I don't recall a priest-or anyone else-ever mentioning that gay slurs were even mean spirited and un-Christian until my sophomore year in college, when the Catholic chaplain finally spoke out during his homily at Mass. Instead, at Gonzaga I have bitter memories of one teacher, in particular, who told homophobic stories in class and suggested that those boys who did not attend the morning pep rallies were probably 'queer'." David Doster Class of '70 Gonzaga College High School, Washington, D.C "I knew I was different but I didn't have enough courage to ask anyone about it. I hoped I would change, but it just came natural for me to like other guys. I experienced self-hate because I was gay. It would take many years before I could accept myself as a handiwork of God's creation and realize it was good, that I was good. That pain is what I wish I could save students in our district from. When I was in school, I scoured the dictionary trying to look up words and become educated about was I was experiencing in my own life. I couldn't find any books in the library. I wonder nowadays if kids can find anything in their school libraries." John Hoffman Graduate St. Thomas Catholic School, Lousville, KY "There was nothing about gay people in my textbooks and I doubt there is now. In most textbooks there is no evidence that a gay person ever lived, before Columbus, during Columbus or after Columbus--I find that appalling, shocking and a travesty. There was no mention of the fact that a gay man as myself would have had to wear a pink triangle sewn on my chest in Nazi Germany, and my well have ended up incarcerated and exterminated along with the many Jews. Neither did I learn that many respected, contributors to human history were gay--e.g. Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Plato, Florence Nightingale, Richard the Lion-Hearted, Peter Tchaikovsky, Francis Bacon, Lord Byron, to name only a few." Peter Di Giulio Class of '70 Medina High School, Medina, NY "While I am sure that many of the faculty, including some of those in the counseling department, would have been supportive had any of us had the courage to tell our secret, there was no encouragement to believe that homosexuality was discussible. My guidance counselor, Brother Duffy, in fact, announced to our senior class, 'If you guys come in and tell me you've screwed a chick, I'll talk to you. If you tell me you're queer, I'll kick you out of my office.' He will never know the long term impact of his inappropriate, unprofessional comment. As I am sure you agree, no one's religious beliefs are comprised by common decency." Brian R. McNaught Class of '66 Brother Rice High School, Bloomfield Hills, MI "The reason for this letter is to tell you and other people there, that while I was a student, I felt isolated and confused because I was struggling with my sexual identity. For two years, I had a girlfriend but didn't dare tell a soul for fear of ridicule or harrassment. I knew it was not OK to be a lesbian. I couldn't even say the word. I struggled with this alone for two years until the fear and isolation overwhelmed me and I broke off the relationship. I now know that I was not alone. There were at least 10 other gay and lesbian teens in my class, but with no support and little information, we were too afraid to try to find each other. 13 years later, I am proud of who I am and I'm writing in hopes that I can spare some of your present students the pain and isolation that I felt." Jane Miles Class of '83 Ladue High School, St. Louis, MO "I am grateful for the education I received at Radnor. . . I must, however, tell you of the loneliness and isolation of being gay or lesbian at Radnor. NEVER, during four years of tremendous academia at Radnor was a word mentioned about those of us who suffered in silence. I was denied the role models my heterosexual classmates had. My identity was stunted by the omission of silence. All that I knew was that I was painfully different and suffered from the disease of terminal uniqueness. . . The only choice gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered youth have is whether to lie about who they truly are or be honest." Janice Pinto, M.Ed., M.S.C. Class of '66 Radnor High School, Philadelphia, PA "I have no idea what life is like at Brookside today. Maybe you and your staff are already showing a concern for students who are gay and lesbian and for those who are perceived as such. I hope that the staff at my alma mater won't stand for the terms "fag" and "faggot' any more than they would allow the term "nigger." I hope that gay or lesbian students (or those concerned about the issues) feel that there are safe, accepting staff members they can talk to at Brookside High School. When I was a student at Brookside (Vice-President of the class of '70), I had no idea that one day I would realize that I am a lesbian. I was very unaware at the time that one of my best friends was tormented by other students because they assumed he was gay. I tried hard to be his girlfriend so that I could protect him from the cruelty of our classmates. (He and I are still friends today.)" Judith Montgomery Class of '70 Brookside High School, Sheffield, OH "I feel that my existence in school was a lie because an essential piece of myself was shut down. I couldn't break free of the self hate that I developed and the homophobia that I knew first hand existed at Lenape High School. I had no role models to counter the negative images I received, no one to talk to about my feelings, and no outlet that I could turn to for support. There weren't any gay or lesbian books in the library and the teachers hardly mentioned homosexuality." Michael Kozuch Class of '88 Lenape High School, Medford, NJ "I attended Mt. Tabor High School as a freshman in 1977-78, long before you were principal, so I don't expect you to have any idea of who I am. But I want to tell you a story that I hope will help you better serve today's students. . . Mt. Tabor began to become a nightmare for me. I had once loved school, but now it became a place of dread, where I was taunted, harassed, and tormented on a daily basis. I once went to a guidance counselor for support. He told me that he knew the student whom I accused of tormenting me, and that he couldn't imagine what I was saying could be true about such a fine young man. I learned that no one would be by my side. Not even the adults would stick up for the school fag." Kevin Jennings Class of '81 Mt. Tabor High School, Winston-Salem, N.C. "I suspect many educators have not given thought to the many ways that homophobia can hurt students who are not gay. Sensitive and artistic males become targets for harassment and violence -- being "straight" does not protect them; males grow up to be emotionally crippled because they think that showing their feelings is a sign of weakness; and for every boy who is sarcastically called "girl," there is a misogynist message -- Homophobic remarks also put down women." Joel Heller Harvard Class of '86 Harvard-Westlake School, North Hollywood, CA "I hated myself for being gay for a multitude of reasons. I hated being gay because when I was young, my father told me that when he was a Sergeant in the Marines he and his buddies used to beat up gay men and leave them unconscious in the street. How could I feel good about myself knowing that my father used to practically kill people like me? In the classrooms of Shenendehowa, teachers would allow students to use words like 'faggot' and 'dyke' and teachers themselves would even use those words. How could I fully concentrate on my studies and be the student I want to be, knowing that the adult in the front of the classroom considered people like me worthy of that torment? And on the athletic fields coaches I had would say, 'You're all playing like a bunch of faggots.' Little did my coaches know that their star player was a faggot." John Spear Class of '87 Shenendehowa High School, Clifton Park, NY BACK-TO-SCHOOL ENDORSEMENTS The following organizations have formally endorsed the Back-to-School Campaign (as of August 13, 1996): American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Gay and Lesbian Caucus Bay Area Network of Gay and Lesbian Educators (BANGLE) Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere (COLAGE) Empire State Pride Agenda Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Gay and Lesbian Parents Coalition International (GLPCI) Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund Human Rights Campaign (HRC) International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) Latino/a Lesbian and Gay Organization (LLEGO) Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Center The NAMES Project National Advocacy Coalition for Youth & Sexual Orientation National Association of Pupil Service Administrators (NAPSA) National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) National Organization for Women (NOW) New York City Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center Parents, Friends, and Families of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) WHAT YOU CAN DO: TEN ACTION POINTS and RESOURCES FOR EDUCATORS DEALING WITH GAY AND LESBIAN ISSUES TEN ACTION POINTS The suggestions below are not all-inclusive, but are intended as starting points as you begin to think about how to end homophobia in your school. 1. GUARANTEE EQUALITY Gay and lesbian members of the school community need to know that their schools value equality and that they are protected against discrimination. Schools should add "sexual orientation" to their non-discrimination statements in all school publications as a way to communicate their commitment to equal treatment for all. 2. CREATE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT Every member of the community has a right to play his or her role without fear of harassment by peers: it is the school's obligation to take pro-active measures to ensure this right. However, in too many schools, physical and verbal harassment against gay and lesbian people is the norm. Schools must make it clear that neither physical violence nor harassing language like "faggot" and "dyke" will be tolerated. Clear harassment policies, which include sexual orientation as a protected category, must be developed and then publicized to the entire school community, so that the consequences of and procedures for dealing with such behavior are clear to all. 3. PROVIDE ROLE MODELS Studies consistently show that personal acquaintance with gay and lesbian people is the most effective way of reducing homophobic bigotry. Both gay and straight students benefit from having role models such as openly gay teachers coaches and administrators: straight students are offered an alternative to the inaccurate stereotypes with which they have been raised, and gay students get the chance (often for the first time) to see healthy gay adults, which gives them hope for their own future. Schools need to create the conditions necessary for gay faculty to feel safe in "coming out," just as heterosexual faculty "come out" daily through such acts as wearing wedding rings. If no role models are available from within the school community, the school must work to bring in such individuals from beyond the campus. Inviting presenters from a local gay and lesbian speakers bureau, gay youth group, or college gay and lesbian student association can help fill the gap left by the absence of openly gay faculty. These measures, however, cannot substitute for having on-campus role models, and should be seen as interim arrangements until these can be provided. 4. PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS Peer support and acceptance is the key to any student's feeling that he or she "belongs" in the school. "Gay-Straight Alliances" have been the key to creating such an atmosphere in many schools. These groups welcome membership from any student interested in understanding issues of homophobia and sexual identity, regardless of sexual orientation. They have been successfully established in all kinds of schools and in communities as diverse as Los Angeles, Chapel Hill, N.C., Lincoln, Nebraska, and Minneapolis. The diverse range of schools which now have "GSAs" indicates that, if there is a will, there is a way to establish one in any school. 5. PROVIDE TRAINING FOR FACULTY AND STAFF School staff need to be equipped to serve all the students with whom they work, including gay and lesbian ones. Understanding the needs of gay and lesbian youth, and developing the skills to meet those needs, should be an expected of all teachers. Schools must provide the ongoing training necessary for the faculty to fulfill this expectation. 6. REASSESS THE CURRICULUM Teachers need to incorporate gay and lesbian issues throughout the curriculum--not just in classes such as health education, but in traditional disciplines such as English, History, and Science. This can be done in three ways. First, incorporating new scholarship in fields such as gay history can now be done easily, due to the proliferation of such material in recent years. Second, teachers can address the impact of sexual identity on works by gay and lesbian people already included in our curriculum, such as the novels of Virginia Woolf, the music of Tchaikovsky, or the poetry of Walt Whitman. Finally, teachers can undo the "hidden heterosexism" of the curriculum, such as the exclusive use of opposite-sex couples in math word problems and foreign language exercises. The bulk of the school day is spent in class; as long as gay and lesbian issues are seen as "special" and outside the classroom, students will continue to see gay and lesbian people as marginal. 7. PROVIDE APPROPRIATE HEALTH CARE AND EDUCATION While being gay is not a "health issue" (any more than being heterosexual is), health education on sexuality and sexually transmitted diseases should sensitively address the particular issues of gay and lesbian people in this field. Counselors and other health staff should be particularly careful to make their sensitivity to gay issues clear, as the history of psychiatric "cures" for homosexuality has led to a climate of distrust between many gay people and the health care profession. 8. DIVERSIFY LIBRARY AND MEDIA HOLDINGS Often, the library is the first place students turn for accurate sexuality information. Too often, few or no works on gay and lesbian issues are found there. Librarians and media specialists need to be sure their holdings are up to date and reflect the diversity of our world. The existence of collections addressing gay and lesbian issues needs to be communicated to the community, through events such as book displays which include gay and lesbian titles. 9. BROADEN ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMS "Extracurricular" activities often set the tone for the community. Programs such as assemblies and "film nights" should regularly include gay and lesbian content that reflects the diversity of our nation. 10. DO NOT ASSUME HETEROSEXUALITY The constant assumption of heterosexuality renders gay and lesbian people, youth in particular, invisible. Such invisibility is devastating to the individual's sense of self. Both the school as an institution and its professionals as individuals must be inclusive in their language and attitudes. Inviting "spouses" instead of "friends," offering health care only to heterosexual families, and encouraging students to find opposite sex dates, are all inappropriate manifestations of heterosexism. By reminding themselves that gay and lesbian people are found on every staff, in every classroom, and on every team (which they are), faculty can "unlearn" heterosexism and become more inclusive in both word and deed. 1996 BACK-TO-SCHOOL CAMPAIGN Calendar of Events (last updated 8/19/96) Mon. Aug. 26: GLSTN/National releases Fall Publications Catalog with new resources to help schools fight homophobia. Info: 212-727-0135. Tues. Aug. 27: GLSTN/Chicago hosts its Back-to-School Campaign Kick-Off with guest speaker Candace Ginrgrich. Info: 847-825-3037. Wed. Sept. 4: GLSTN/South-Central Wisconsin hosts its Back-to-School Campaign Kick-Off with guest speaker GLSTN Executive Director Kevin Jennings. Info: 608-284-1508. Sun. Sept. 8: GLSTN/Austin hosts the Texas premiere of "It's Elementary," the new documentary on gay and lesbian issues in elementary schools by Academy Award-winning director Debra Chasnoff, at the Austin Gay/Lesbian International Film Festival. Info: 512-323-2329. Tues. Sept. 9: GLSTN/San Joaquin co-hosts its Back-to-School Campaign Kick-Off with PFLAG/Stockton. Info: 209-943-1375. Mon. Sept. 14: GLSTN/National launches redesigned World Wide Web Site (http://www.glstn.org/respect/) with new resources to support Back-to-School Campaign. Info: 212-727-0135 or GLSTN@glstn.org. Sat. Sept. 20: GLSTN/Washington State hosts its Back-to-School Campaign Kick-Off with guest speaker Seattle Mayor Norman Rice. Info: 206-760-1973. Sun. Sept. 21: GLSTN/Colorado hosts "Changing Hearts, Changing Minds," a one-day conference on effective ways to address homophobia in schools. Guest Speaker GLSTN Executive Director Kevin Jennings. Info: 303-232-3789. Sun. Sept. 28: GLSTN/South-Central Wisconsin hosts Back-to-School Spokesperson Jamie Nabozny and Wisconsin State Representative Tammy Baldwin at the University of Wisconsin. Info: 608-284-1508. Monday Sept. 29: GLSTN/Oregon and the Oregon Education Association co-host the Portland premiere of "It's Elementary" with director Debra Chasnoff. Info: 503-282-9394. BACK TO SCHOOL CAMPAIGN PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kevin Jennings, Executive Director Deidre Gray, Program Officer (212) 727-0135 STUDENT LEADERS KELLI PETERSON AND JAMIE NABOZNY JOIN GREG LOUGANIS IN LAUNCHING GLSTN'S SECOND ANNUAL "BACK-TO-SCHOOL" CAMPAIGN PLAN TO SEND THOUSANDS OF LETTERS ON HOMOPHOBIA IN SCHOOLS UNVEILED New York, NY (August 14, 1996)--The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Teachers Network (GLSTN) released today its official Campaign materials for its Second Annual Back-to-School Campaign. Leading the Campaign in 1996 will be student heroes Kelli Petersen and Jamie Nabozny, who will join GLSTN Honorary Board member Greg Louganis as spokespeople for the effort. The Back-to-School Campaign, in which lesbian, gay and bisexual adults and their allies write back to their former schools and to educational leaders demanding action to end homophobia in schools, is an annual event staged each September by GLSTN, the only national organization specifically working to end homophobia in K-12 schools. "We're planning to dramatically increase the scope and impact of the Back-to-School Campaign this year," said Kevin Jennings, GLSTN's Executive Director. "We've set a goal of sending a minimum of 5,000 letters, and we're mapping out an aggressive strategy to reach that goal." Jennings points out that all 42 local GLSTN chapters are staging events to involve the community in the Campaign, and that over 50,000 households will be contacted via direct mail to generate grass-roots involvement. "In addition, we've garnered significant support from both the mainstream education establishment as well as from the lesbian/gay community for the Campaign," said Jennings, citing Campaign endorsements by groups as varied as the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Association of Pupil Services Administrators, the National Organization for Women (NOW), and Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Jennings also noted a public education effort, featuring an advertising campaign developed by the New York based Rabid Design Group that targets gay/lesbian publications and will also be distributed as posters for use in schools and the community. "We're getting the word out in every way we can," said Jennings, "that bigotry in our schools is wrong and needs to be ended today." "If everyone who cared about gay youth would write one letter," said Jamie Nabozny, "it would save many gay youth from going through what I went through in high school." Nabozny attended public high school in Ashland, Wisconsin, where he faced years of anti-gay abuse. About the experience, Nabozny said, "I suffered through over four years of anti-gay violence. In 9th grade, for example, two boys knocked me to the floor and urinated on me. After that, whenever I walked around a corner, I never knew who would be there and what they would do to me." Having received no support from school administrators, Nabozny has filed the first-ever federal suit on anti-gay violence in schools. Nabozny won an important victory in his case in early August when the U.S. 7th Circuit Court remanded the case to a lower court with instruction to reconsider the case as a violation of Jamie's right to equal protection. Kelli Petersen, a 1996 graduate of East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, grabbed national attention last winter when she founded a Gay-Straight Student Alliance club in her school. Kelli was prompted by her own experience of harassment as a lesbian student. "Freshman year, a group of girls in my gym class started teasing me, saying things like 'You're such a queer. You even look like a boy!'" said Petersen. "As I was pulling my backpack on one day in the locker room, I was pushed to the ground by someone who was behind me. When I hit the ground, they began kicking me and screaming at me, "Dyke!" and "Faggot!" Kelli's club, based on the popular model developed by GLSTN, sought to address this kind of harassment. When Utah's elected officials found that they could not ban the cub form meeting under the Federal Equal Access Law, the state legislature met in special session and voted to ban all student clubs in April 1996 to prevent the GSA from having the right to meet. "All students must be cared for in this place where we are forced to be," said Petersen, "and GLSTN's work is helping make that happen." "What happened to Kelli and Jamie is more the norm that the exception," said Kevin Jennings, citing statistics that show that 80% of gay/lesbian youth feel severely isolated at school. "It's time we did something to make equal opportunity a reality for our students." Jennings, a former high school history teacher, went on to add "Everyday we make them pledge allegiance to 'liberty and justice for all.' Isn't it time we kept our end of that bargain for lesbian and gay students?" Note: Reporters wishing copies of the Second Annual Back-to-School Campaign Press Kit, to obtain diskettes with gif-format photos of Campaign Spokespeople, and/or to speak with GLSTN staff, Jamie Nabozny, Kelli Peterson, or individuals in their community, should call Deidre Gray at 212-727-0135. With over forty chapters and a membership of over three thousand teachers, parents, and concerned citizens, The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Teachers Network (GLSTN) is the largest national organization working to insure that schools are places where all people are respected and valued, regardless of sexual orientation. ### .................................................................. This document is one of the many practical resources available online from GLSTN's web site at http://www.glstn.org/respect/. The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Teachers Network (GLSTN) is the largest organization of parents, educators, students and other concerned citizens working to end homophobia in K-12 schools and to ensure that all students are valued and respected, regardless of sexual orientation. To fulfill its mission and to raise awareness of these issues, GLSTN produces audio, visual and text-based educational materials, provides training, produces community programming and conferences, and organizes a growing national network of over 40 regional chapters. Membership in GLSTN is open to anyone -- regardless of their occupation or sexual orientation -- who is committed to seeing that the current generation is the last to suffer from homophobia. More than 70% of our budget is funded by individual donations and we need your support to continue to make resources such as this available. GLSTN is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and all donations are fully tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. GLSTN 122 West 26th Street, Suite 1100 New York, NY 10001 USA Tel: (212) 727-0135 Email: glstn@glstn.org Web: http://www.glstn.org/respect/ (c) 1994-1996, Gay, Lesbian & Straight Teachers Network (GLSTN) .................................................................. 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