[newsletter.spring.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/ GLSTN NEWSLETTER SPRING 1996 Volume V, No. 3 .......................................................................... DIRECTORıS LETTER: PUT ON A HUMAN FACE by Kevin Jennings It hasnıt been the easiest of winters at GLSTN Headquarters -- and not just because weıve been relentlessly pounded with snowstorms here in New York! Across the country over the past few months, weıve seen more and more attacks mounted by the Radical Right on our work. In Washington, the House of Representatives held ³Parents, Schools, and Values² Hearing in December in which, for example, it was claimed that AIDS education funds were being used by lesbian/gay groups to ³recruit² children and set up ³gay whorehouses²; in Byron Center, Michigan, that month, gay music teacher Gerry Crane was hounded by parents and deemed an unfit role model by his school board after answering a studentıs question about his marital status; and in Salt Lake City, the Board of Education voted in February to ban student clubs rather than allow equal access to Gay-Straight Alliances in their high schools. These are but a few of the battles weıve faced this winter, and a let-up is not in sight. Itıs easy to get down sometimes in the face of what seems to be a relentless onslaught. Itıs even easier when you see folks who are willing to slander an outstanding teacher like Gerry, or deny students the right to form clubs, all to enforce their own bigotries on a community. But itıs also important to see beyond the attacks. Take some heart from stories like these: * in Washington, GLSTN Board member Anne Simon was the only teacher called to the ³Parents, Schools, and Values² hearings, and carried the day with a dose of sanity when, under intense Congressional questioning, she revealed the secret source of funding for her Gay-Straight Alliance: ³Bake sales,² she answered, shaming hysterical right-wing members into silence for once; * in Byron Center, students rallied at a raucous school board meeting with banners reading ³Donıt Take Away Our Teacher,² showing that those best equipped to judge on the matter donıt see Gerry Crane as ³unfit;² and * in Salt Lake City, teacher Clayton Vetter bravely came out in a press conference on the State House steps and announced the formation of a Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Teachers Alliance group there to counter the Board of Educationıs anti-education agenda. These events give me hope. They donıt undo the damage already done by Radical Right attacks in these instances; kids have been scarred and progress has been set back, and there is no way to hide this face. But we need to look beyond these short-term losses to the larger picture. The real struggle we are fighting is to overcome the invisibility with which we have been cloaked for far too long. It is that invisibility which has allowed the Jesse Helmses of this world to portray us as monsters, and that invisibility is our real enemy. Every time we put a human face on the issue of homophobia and what it does to peopleıs lives, we win. We may lose some individual policy battles and maybe some elections, but we win the real battle. The next time the issue comes us in the U.S. House or in Byron Center or in Salt Lake City, there will be a real human being attached to it, a human being whose very existence disproves the claim that our only motivation is a desire to ³recruit children.² That humanizing of the issue makes equality inevitable in the long run. They can only win if we seem like monsters; we can only lose if we stay hidden and let them get away with portraying us that way. GLSTNıs goal in 1996 is to erase that invisibility in every way we can. One way is to expand into areas where we ³arenıt supposed to be,² such as we are doing with our first Southern Regional Conference in Atlanta on May 4 and our first major conference at an elementary school in Los Angeles on April 20. But the most exciting initiative for me is the release of our video ³Setting the Record Straight,² an eleven-minute answer to the highly effective ³Gay Agenda²-type films the Right has been circulating for years. In the showings weıve organized so far, Iıve seen the stories of students and teachers told in the film visibly move audiences and inspire them to get organized -- All because the issue now has a human face. As the year progresses, we plan to start more chapters, produce more videos and publications, and expand our existing programs (such as our Leadership Institute) that improves the skills of our local organizers. Thatıs where the real victory will be won. As we move forward in our struggles, we need to keep in mind that putting a human face on this issue is our most important objective. In the end, only by speaking up can we win our battle. On those days when we have the urge to hide (and we all have them), we need to remember Audre Lourdeıs words: ³Your silence will not protect you.² The closet is a place of refuge from a hostile world, but it is not a safe place. Only a world where we are viewed as real human beings is truly safe. And only we and our allies can make that world a reality. Kevin Jennings Executive Director ....................................................................... MS. SIMON GOES TO WASHINGTON On December 5, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities (Pete Hoekstra, R-MI, Chair) held hearings on ³Parents, Schools, and Values.² Scheduled at the behest of the far-right Traditional Values Coalition (headed by Lou Sheldon), these hearings were initially trumpeted as an investigation into the ³promotion of homosexuality in public schools.² Unsurprisingly, witnesses were heavily weighted toward the anti-gay extreme, and only one actual teacher was called to testify: GLSTN National board member Anne Simon, a learning specialist at Lincoln-Sudbury High School and advisor to their Gay-Straight Alliance. Anneıs moving testimony is reprinted below: I canıt imagine a better statement for why we need to be doing our work. -- Kevin Jennings TEACHING THE VALUES OF RESPECT AND FAMILY by Anne Simon We all wear different hats. I am a teacher, a daughter, a mother, and a wife. I am a friend, a sister, and a Jew. At school, I also have many roles. I am a disciplinarian, counselor, helper, and teacher. I have always wanted to be a teacher. Like countless little girls I would play school with my friends only I always had to be the Teacher. For the past five years I have been a learning center teacher at a suburban public school in Sudbury Massachusetts. Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School prides itself as having, as a core value, respecting human differences. However, on one November day during my first year I learned that not all students were respectful of human differences. On that day, two young women decided to show the school their new found love by holding hands in the halls, something that different sex couples do all the time. As they were walking to class some students started teasing them, calling them names, and shouting at them. I went out to investigate and saw a circle of kids surrounding something. I broke through the circle and found the two girls clinging to each other not out of love but out of fear. I quickly got the two girls into my office and called for a housemaster. Our core value of respecting human differences was clearly not working and those two girls sobbing in my office was proof to me and to our administration. We set about trying to make our school a safer and more tolerant place. We invited speakers and learned that one out of every three gay teens attempts suicide during adolescence. We determined that we should poll the student body to determine the amount of harassment that was taking place in the school. In February of 1993 we asked students a number of questions including "How often have you heard homophobic remarks made at your school?" A staggering 98% replied that they had heard them. When asked "Would you be upset or afraid if people thought you were gay, lesbian, or bisexual?" 64% said yes. Just like any survey of high school students we got a variety of comments. One student wrote, "...just keep them out of my sight and away from me.", another "I hate them." There were some that thought a club should be formed or that homosexuality should be more frequently discussed. "I think that it is right to have support groups if the people were teased or need to get it in the open." From the survey we determined that there was a need for a place where students could get together to discuss homophobia and ways to end it. This club became our Gay-Straight Alliance and it meets just like any other club. Teachers often tell students to write from their own experiences. I, too, speak about this topic from my personal experience. My sister is a lesbian. Emily came out to me when I was in high school. Although I wasn't the best student in the world, I was an outgoing, friendly kid who got decent grades and came from a cohesive, loving family. Suddenly my world fell apart. I will never forget the fights, the discussions, and the trauma my family went through. My grades suffered and I'm sure my teachers wondered what was going on. Had there been a place like our Gay-Straight Alliance I would have been able to talk to other students, I would have known what faculty I could talk to, I would have felt safe enough to learn. If you were to ask teachers to honestly say if they liked every one of their students they would have to say no. But if you were to ask them if they still attempted to teach that student geometry, basketball, or earth science they would say of course, that it is their job. We are hired by our school committees to teach. I am not asking teachers, administrators or anyone who works in a school to like a student's homosexuality, or to condone a student's parents' sexual orientation. I am asking that they make their classroom a safe place and a place where every student regardless of sexual orientation can learn. After all, that is what they were hired to do. I will teach my daughter that it is important to respect all human differences. In day care I have included a picture of my sister and her partner in my daughter's family tree. I want her to be proud of her family and for others to see the love that her aunt has for her. At Lincoln-Sudbury's graduation last June, a parent came up to me. She said, "You don't know me but I'm Michael's mother." Michael was a member of the Gay-Straight Alliance and came out to his family during high school. "I just want to thank you for being so kind to my son. Without your and others' support I don't know if he would have made it through Lincoln-Sudbury." A parent thanking a teacher for making it so that her son could learn and go on to college. Teachers go into teaching because they have the desire to help students learn and grow, because they want to inspire their students. Last June I heard the words that all teachers long to hear--that they had made a difference in a student's life. I hope that when my daughter is graduating from High School that there is no need for a Gay-Straight Alliance because our hard work of teaching tolerance and respect for difference will be the norm and that all schools are a safe place to learn for all students regardless of their sexual orientation. Postscript: Congressional ³investigation² into ³promotion of homosexuality² continues, and it is likely that legislation will be filed in 1996 to protect ³parental rights² by forcing schools to notify parents of any mention of homosexuality in the curriculum or if their child participates in a Gay-Straight Alliance meeting or similar activity. GLSTN urges all members to contact their Representatives now and educate them about why schools need to address homophobia. Tell your story -- it makes a difference, just as Anneıs did. ....................................................................... WHATıS NEW AT GLSTN SECOND ANNUAL LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE SET FOR UCLA, JULY 14-20 GLSTNıs Second Annual Leadership Institute will be held this year at the University of California at Los Angeles from Sunday, July 14 to Saturday, July 20. Featuring six days of training on making change at the grassroots level and organizing effective local chapters, the Leadership Institute is unique in the gay and lesbian movement. ³No other organization I know of offers a training of comparable length and depth to its local leadership,² said John Spear, GLSTNıs Assistant Director. ³It gives our folks a real chance to develop the skills they need to be effective.² The Leadership Instituteıs curriculum, developed jointly by GLSTN chapter leaders, staff, and volunteers from the Harvard Business School, features hands-on training and is designed for those who will be organizing or leading chapters in 1996-97. Brochures are available from the national office for those interesting in attending: registration cost is $475 (and financial aid is available!), and the final deadline for registration is May 1. STUDENT JAMIE NABOZNY RECEIVES THIRD ANNUAL ³PATHFINDERS AWARD² On March 9 in Chicago, at its Second Annual Midwestern Conference, GLSTN presented its Third Annual Pathfinders Award to Jamie Nabozny. Nabozny, 20, is the plaintiff in the first-ever federal case challenging anti-gay violence in public schools, in which he is represented by Lambda Legal Defense. While a student in Ashland, Wisconsin, Jamie was repeatedly trapped in school hallways and bathrooms, where other students punched, kicked, and even urinated on him because he is gay. Complaints brought by himself and his parents were dismissed out of hand by school officials, who told the family on one occasion that ³boys will be boys.² The Pathfinder Award was created in 1994 to honor individuals who have created new paths for others to follow in the fight against homophobia in schools. ³Jamie was the perfect recipient this year, because his courage in bringing suit sends an important message to youth who are being harassed: you donıt have to take it,² said Kevin Jennings. ³And he also sends an important message to schools that are failing on the job of protecting their students: watch out -- we are holding you accountable. Nabozny is the first youth to receive the award: past winners include GLSTN Co-Founder Kathy Henderson (1994) and David Lafountaine (1995), Chair of the Massachusetts Governorıs Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth. CHAPTER PROJECT PROFILE: GLSTN/DETROIT by Frank Colasonti, Jr., Co-Chair Although only four months old, our GLSTN/Detroit chapter undertaken a major project. To discover how to best serve schools, school districts, and school personnel, GLSTN/Detroit (with tremendous help from the Intermediate School Districts) mailed over 2,500 user-friendly surveys to administrators and counselors regarding the safety level of their school environment for gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth. In just the first week, weıve had 115 returned! The results of the survey will be published for distribution and used to launch GLSTN/Detroitıs public awareness campaign on the need for schools to address the issues of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth. If you wish to obtain a copy of the survey, write us at: GLSTN/Detroit, P.O. Box 893, Birmingham, MI 48012. PUBLICATIONS CATALOG RELEASED GLSTN has released its first publications catalog, making available over forty publications on everything from faculty trainings to curricular materials to getting proclamations from elected officials. ³Our publications catalog makes available a wealth of Œdo-it-yourselfı resources for local organizers,² said John Spear, Assistant Director for Field Services. ³And members even get a 10% discount on anything they order!² Catalogues are available by contacting the GLSTN office: orders must be accompanied by a check at the time of the order to be fulfilled promptly. ³SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT² VIDEO DOES JUST THAT GLSTN premiered its new video, ³Setting the Record Straight,² in February with showings in Seattle, Boston, and Houston. Made by Philadelphia film maker Jim Caiola (winner of a 1995 National Golden Apple Award for his educational film ³AIDS: The Next Generation²), ³Setting the Record Straight² features lesbian, gay, and straight youth addressing how homophobia damages schools. Eleven minutes long, the video is a response to Radical Right films like ³The Gay Agenda² which have been used to defame gay/lesbian people and spark organizing by anti-gay forces in recent years. ³We were tired of having ourselves defined by people who portray us as predators and child molesters,² Kevin Jennings said. ³The point of the film is to give local organizers a tool with which they can fight back the next time there is an anti-gay initiative in their community, especially one dealing with youth or schools.² Director Caiola added, ³The video contrasts the hateful things the Right says about gay people in general and gay teachers in particular -- which are presented with quotes on the screen -- with actual faces and stories of those folks, so that the lies become apparent.² Caiola said of his involvement, ³Iım glad we can finally answer some of the rhetoric Iıve been hearing for years now.² Order forms for ³Setting the Record Straight² may be obtained from the GLSTN National office. The film is one of three videos GLSTN plans to release over the next year, including a faculty training video filmed by Caiola before a live audience in May in conjunction with GLSTN/Philadelphia, and a video on gay and lesbian history for high school students tentatively entitled, ³Out of the Past,² set for production this fall. .......................................................................... WELCOME ABOARD TO: NEW NATIONAL BOARD MEMBERS: Our new Treasurer, Paul M. Ness, the Chief Financial Officer at the Collegiate School in New York; Mike Balaban, Senior Vice-President at Lehmann Brothers in New York; Kevin G. Boyer, President of Communications Management International, a public relations firm in Chicago; Deidre Cuffee-Gray, Director of Upper School Admissions at the Fieldston School in the Bronx, New York (see profile in this issue); Deann Sweeper, a self-employed financial consultant in New York; and Frieda Takamura, an Instructional Services Field Organizer for the Washington Education Association in Washington State; and NEW OFFICIAL CHAPTERS WHICH HAVE SIGNED UP SINCE DECEMBER 1, 1995: Detroit, New York City, San Diego, and San Joaquin, CA. ........................................................................ MEET GLSTN! Two more in an ongoing series of profiles of the folks who make GLSTN go! RANDY FAIR Randy Fair is the founder and co-chair of GLSTN/Atlanta. He teaches at Milton High School in Alptharetta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. He was hard at work organizing GLSTNıs first-ever Southern Regional Conference (schedule for the Friends School in Decatur, GA, on Saturday, May 4) when Kevin Jennings phoned him to interview him. What was school like for you? I went to a real small school in Weber, Alabama, and graduated in 1980. Three hundred kids in grades 7-12 -- everybody knew everybody else forever and knew each otherıs families, too. There wasnıt much homophobia, because people just didnıt talk about sex at all. I do remember one teacher, my tenth grade English teacher, who has us read a story and then talked about the fact that her best friend and roommate from college was a lesbian. All these football players started saying things, like ³How could you stand to have her looking at you?² and she replied ³Iım comfortable in my sexuality, so why would I worry?² That was a really courageous thing to say in Weber, Alabama, in 1978. How did you get involved in GLSTN? Weıd always had an AIDS Awareness Program at our school, but in the fall of 1994, two parents complained and the principal called it off. A group of us banded together and we managed to get it back on the agenda. But being on our own made us realize how vulnerable we were, so we started talking about forming a teachers group down here. There I read ³One Teacher in Ten,² which Kevin Jennings edited, and learned about GLSTN. I wrote to Kevin, because heıd said in the intro he was very disappointed that more Southerners didnıt contribute to the book, and he wrote back and asked me to come to the Summer Leadership Institute and start an Atlanta chapter. So I did. What do you do for GLSTN? Just about everything! Most of my energy right now goes into the Southern Regional Conference. Itıs more work than I could have imagined. Why did you get involved with GLSTN? I became a teacher because I wanted to be a role model for gay and lesbian teenagers. Iım still going to school at night, working on a specialist degree in English education at Georgia State, so I can be the best teacher I can be. GLSTN allowed me to bring all the sides of myself together -- teacher, student, and activist. What are your hopes for GLSTN? I personally want to help kids feel more secure and more comfortable. Every time I am in the Southern Voice [Atlantaıs gay/lesbian newspaper] speaking out as GLSTN co-chair, I have these two gay kids who run up to me in the hallways and tell me theyıve read it. I can see what a difference it makes for them. Making that kind of difference has been the goal of my whole life. For our chapter, I want us to show other cities in the South that they can do this, that this kind of work isnıt something foreign to the South. I love living in the South and wouldnıt want to live anywhere else, but outside of Atlanta the communities are often just starting to get organized. Itıs like it was 20-30 years ago in places like New York. DEIDRE CUFFEE-GRAY Deidre Cuffee-Gray is a new member of the GLSTN family. Deidre joined the National Board of Directors in February, and has been busy doing outreach, serving as a media contact, and working on fundraising projects ever since. She is the Assistant Director of Admission for the Fieldston School, in Bronx, New York, where she is in her third year. John Spear, GLSTNıs Assistant Director, managed to pry her away from her work during the busy admissions season for a few moments to conduct this interview. What was school like for you? School was a pretty conservative place -- issues of race were talked about tentatively, and sexuality was not talked about at all. But in a number of ways school was fine: I took part in athletics -- I played soccer and softball -- and I did well academically. Being a student of color took most of my energy, and I was pretty clueless as to my own sexuality, but as I look back on my high school days, there were times when I struggled with my sexual identity. My coaches and teachers were a great influence and helped me through adolescence. My positive experience with them, as well as my experiences as a student of color, were what influenced my decision to go into education as a career. I wanted to give something back. What do you do with GLSTN? Iım new to the national board, and Iım still getting my feet wet. I will be working on fundraising projects, and doing some outreach and media work as well. Why are you involved with GLSTN? Being an out teacher at Fieldston and working with our Gay-Straight Alliance has helped me come to understand that looking at things globally, as well as working with our individual communities, will create the most change. GLSTN has the proven ability to create change on a grand scale, and thatıs why Iım involved. What are your hopes for GLSTN? I want GLSTN to reach less-than-obvious places. Of course, GLSTN can, and does, have an impact on the general education community, but I want to see more straight folks involved, and more faculty and students of color, and more people outside of education. Increasingly, heterosexual people are understanding their role in seeing that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students feel comfortable in school, and I wasnıt to see that trend continue. I am always impressed when the majority stands up for the minority, and I am pleased to see more and more straight people becoming active in GLSTN. What is the best part of your involvement with GLSTN? It is invigorating to be involved in an organization that concentrates on the positive. In the short time Iıve been with GLSTN, I have met some truly great people from difference places across the country, and that has been very enjoyable. ......................................................................... CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS SPRING-SUMMER 1996 SAT, APRIL 20: THE SECOND ANNUAL GLSTN/WESTERN REGIONAL CONFERENCE. Hosted by GLSTN/Los Angeles at the Center for Early Education, West Hollywood. Keynotes by Marsha Scott, President Clintonıs Liaison to the Lesbian/Gay Community, and actress Jamie Lee Curtis. Info: Lorne Zilkie, 310-547-2604 or GLSTNLA@aol.com SAT, APRIL 27: THE SIXTH ANNUAL GLSTN/NORTHEASTERN REGIONAL CONFERENCE. Hosted by GLSTN/Boston at Cambridge Rindge & Latin School, Cambridge, MA. Keynote by Debra Chasnoff and Helen Cohen of Womenıs Educational Media presenting footage from their new documentary on homophobia in elementary schools, ³Itıs Elementary.² Info: Patty Smith, 617-661-2411 or GLSTNBoston@aol.com SAT, MAY 4: THE FIRST ANNUAL GLSTN/SOUTHERN REGIONAL CONFERENCE. HOSTED BY GLSTN/Atlanta at the Friends School in Decatur, GA. Keynote by GLSTN Executive director Kevin Jennings. Info: Randy Fair, 404-872-4249 or GLSTNAtl@aol.com SAT-SUN, MAY 11-12: THE SECOND ANNUAL GLSTN/SOUTHWESTERN RETREAT. Hosted by GLSTN/New Mexico at the Ghost ranch, Abigiu, NM. A two day retreat for L/G/B/T people in education. Info: Wendy Leighton, 505-820-2004 SUN, JULY 14-SAT., JULY 20: THE SECOND ANNUAL GLSTN LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE (see WHATıS NEW AT GLSTN). Site: UCLA. Info: GLSTN/National at 212-727-0135 or GLSTN@aol.com .................................................................. 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) .................................................................. Copyright is held by the original author(s) of this document. You may redistribute this document for educational purposes provided that you do not change the material and all notices remain intact.