Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997 15:30:43 -0700 From: richter@eecs.berkeley.edu (Jean Richter) Subject: 9/22/97 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. NY: Martina Navaratilova to speak at GLSEN Mid-Atlantic conference 2. CA: San Diego OKs Lesbian & Gay History Month celebration 3. MA: Governor OKs funding for gay youth programs 4. VA: Teacher's discrimination claim rejected ===================================================================== From: GLSTNAlert@aol.com Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 20:29:08 -0400 (EDT) Subject: OCT. 25: NAVRATILOVA AT GLSEN CONFERENCE--REGISTER NOW! GLSEN/NYMetro PRESENTS THE 1997 MID-ATLANTIC CONFERENCE: FROM DIRT ROADS TO CYBERSPACE GAY ISSUES IN EDUCATION FOR THE 21ST CENTURY **** Special Youth Registration of $5!!! **** CONVERSATION WITH MARTINA NAVRATILOVA Join athlete and activist Martina Navratilova [spokesperson for the Rainbow Card Program] as she leads a "town meeting" discussion with students, teachers, and parents on what anti-gay bias in our schools does to our youth and our families. PANEL DISCUSSION LOOKING TO THE FUTURE Listen to specialists including Center Kids Director TERRY BOGGIS, Mediaopolis President CARL PRITZKAT and others talk about the issues that face us as we approach the 21st Century. WORKSHOPS DEALING WITH * GLBTQ Youth * Legal Issues * Using the Internet * Union Issues * Gay and Lesbian Families * Religious Issues * Homophobia in Athletics * Straight Allies * Independent & Public School Issues * Curriculum Issues PRESENTERS INCLUDE: DAVID BUCKEL, Lambda Legal Defense and Educatin Fund KEVIN JENNINGS, Executive Director of GLSEN DAN WOOG, author of "School's Out, Hetrick Martin Institute, The Harvey Milk School and WEM; producers of "It's Elementary". ----------------------------------------------------------------- LOCATION: GRACE CHURCH SCHOOL 86 Fourth Avenue [between 10th and 11th Streets] NYC, NY 10003 DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS? CONTACT US by phone: [212] 749-6866 by e-mail: "GLSTNMatt@aol.com" FEES AND REGISTRATION Registration: To register, please complete and mail the attached form, postmarked no later than October 17th. No Confirmation: Nothing will be mailed to you -- your cancelled check is your receipt. SPACE IS LIMITED! ----------------------------------------------------------------- REGISTRATION FORM: FROM DIRT ROADS TO CYBERSPACE: GAY & LESBIAN ISSUES IN EDUCATION FOR THE 21ST CENTURY OCTOBER 25, 1997 Grace Church School, New York City (This form may be duplicated for additional registrations. Please print in ink or type. Return to GLSEN/NYmetro by October 17, 1997.) _________________________________________________________ Last Name First Name _________________________________________________________ Title and Company/Organization, if applicable _________________________________________________________ Address [no. and street or box no.] _________________________________________________________ City State Zip _________________________________________________________ Daytime Phone Evening Phone _________________________________________________________ E-mail CONFERENCE FEES: GLSEN members $40_____ non-members $45_____ Conference & GLSEN Membership $65_____ [special membership rate of $25 -- a 30% discount!] Youth [24 and under] $5 ____ Limited Income $15_____ ON-SITE Registration will be: GLSEN members - $50 non-members - $55 Youth and Limited Income remain the same ($5) Registration Scholarships are available -- contact us by Voicemail: [212] 749-6866 Make your check payable to: "GLSEN/NYmetro" Mail this form with your check to: GLSEN/NYmetro PO Box 551, Cathedral Station New York, N.Y. 10025 Grace Church School is wheelchair accessible. _______________________________________________________ The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) 121 West 27th Street, Suite 804 New York, NY 10001 212-727-0135 http://www.glsen.org _______________________________________________________ Do not hit reply to send an email to GLSEN. GLSEN's email address is glsen@glsen.org Staff Addresses: Deidre Cuffee-Gray: dcuffee-gray@glsen.org Jenesha de Rivera: jderivera@glsen.org Janice Goldfarb: jgoldfarb@glsten.org Kevin Jennings: kjennings@glsen.org John Spear: jspear@glsen.org Student Pride: studentpride@glsen.org GLSEN Interns: GLSTNintrn@aol.com _______________________________________________________ GLSENAlert is a GLSTN news bulletin service of the The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). * * * * * * * To Unsubscribe from GLSTNAlert simply send an email to GLSTNAlert@aol.com with the words "unsubscribe" in the subject line (no quotes and note the lack of space in GLSTNAlert). * * * * * * * To Subscribe to GLSTNAlert simply send an email to GLSTNAlert@aol.com with the words "subscribe" in the subject line (no quotes and note the lack of space in GLSTNAlert). Also: please write your name in the message portion of your email. _______________________________________________________ ==================================================================== Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 16:43:05 +0100 From: jgarbosk@ec.sdcs.k12.ca.us (Jan Garbosky) To: schools@critpath.org Subject: L/G History Month Celebration Hi all! I'm proud to announce that San Diego City's Schools Superintendent's Committee on Lesbian, Gay, & Bisexual Issues in Education has received permission to hold it's 2nd Annual Lesbian & Gay History Month celebration on the lawn of the Education Center (4100 Normal St.) on Thursday, Oct. 9 from 3-5 p.m. We already have one of our board members lined up to speak & hope to have a local gay youth group "Queer Players" perform. You're all invited & please spread the word to anyone you know living in the area. If anyone would like more information they can email me or give a call at (619) 293-8512 (w) or (619) 462-1973. Thanks for always being there to share joys & concerns-- Jan Garbosky ==================================================================== Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 17:18:56 -0800 From: Doug Case To: NYouthAC@aol.com, Subject: Massachusetts governor OKs funding for gay youth programs Massachusetts: Governor OKs funding for Gay youth programs by Wendy Johnson Years of educating Massachusetts lawmakers about the need for Gay youth support programs paid off recently, when Acting Governor Argeo Paul Cellucci (R) approved an $18.4 billion budget that designates an unprecedented $1 million for Gay youth programs. The money will be used to fund Gay youth suicide prevention outreach programs and is believed to be the largest amount ever allocated in a state budget for non-HIV related Gay youth programs, according to Rea Carey, director of the the National Youth Advocacy Coalition. Although the state's fiscal 1998 budget bill was signed July 10, the $1 million allocation did not become public until the governor announced it Aug. 14 in a letter to David LaFontaine, chairperson of the Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth. "My Administration is strongly committed to abolishing the hatred and prejudice which lead to tragic consequences for so many gay and lesbian youths," Cellucci wrote. "We are determined to make our schools safe for all our students and to ensure educational equity for all students." According to LaFontaine, the money will be funneled through the state's education department and divided among high school and community outreach programs, and, for the first time, among Gay student groups at state colleges and universities. The funding was allocated through identical amendments sponsored by state Rep. Alice Wolf (D-Cambridge) and 11 colleagues in the House, and state Sen. Stanley Rosenberg (D-Amherst) and 11 colleagues in the Senate, Bay Windows reported. Such support, said LaFontaine, is the end result of years of "intensive public education" by the commission. "We've really changed the consciousness of the public through the personal stories Gay and Lesbian students have told to the media and to their representatives," he said. Former Gov. William Weld, a Republican who resigned July 29 to pursue a nomination as ambassador to Mexico, established the commission five years ago to help implement the education department's Safe Schools Program for Gay and Lesbian Students. Since then, the commission has helped increase the number of Gay/straight alliances from two to 100 and has steadily increased the amount of state funding for non-HIV-related Gay youth programs. Last year, the state provided $750,000 for such programs, funded mainly through the collection of state tobacco taxes. The $1 million for this year's fiscal budget represents not only an increase but also the first time Gay-related youth funds are part of a separate budget line item. At least $600,000 of the money will distributed through grants to help support high school Gay/straight alliances and education programs for teachers and parents; $300,000 will help train human service providers about Gay youth issues and will help fund agencies that provide counseling and crisis intervention to Gay youth. The remaining $100,000 will support Gay/straight alliances at state colleges and universities. "Five years ago, we couldn't have gotten this money," said LaFontaine. "Today, there's widespread understanding of the problems of Gay youth." Some of those "problems" include an increased risk for dropping out of high school, attempting suicide, and abusing drugs and alcohol, according to a 1995 survey by the state's education department. More recently, a study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that Gay and bisexual teenage males are up nearly eight times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. Carey, whose D.C.-based organization advocates on behalf of Gay, bisexual, and transgender youth, called the Massachusetts budget allocation "incredible," and said it is the first time that a state has included non-HIV-related funding for Gay youth programs as a unique budget line item. "Young people across the country would be much better off if their state supported them in the way that Massachusetts does," said Carey. "[State lawmakers] truly value the physical and mental health of Gay, Lesbian, bisexual, and transgender youth in that state. Massachusetts has been the leader in this area." So far, at least 90 high schools have applied to the state education department for grants, said LaFontaine, adding that he hopes an equal number apply for assistance during a second round of the grants process next spring. The new funding has already led to the creation of several new resources for Gay youth, including an outreach project for Gay youth of color, and a statewide Parent Pride conference, Bay Windows reported. In addition, LaFontaine said his commission is working to establish Gay/straight alliances in each of the state's 300 high schools. "We've made a good first step but we have a long way to go," he said. "We will keep pushing for more funding and keep applying pressure to high schools to make sure they have established Gay/straight alliances." =================================================================== WASHINGTON POST, September 20, 1997 Around The Region (Excerpt) Discrimination Complaint Rejected The Fairfax County Human Rights Commission has rejected a religious discrimination complaint by gay rights advocate Karen Solon against a Falls Church Montessori preschool that declined to hire her as a teacher. Solon, who is not gay, told the commission she thought preschool owner Judy Clarke's decision showed religious bias because Solon's gay rights activities and religious beliefs were entwined. The commission agreed that her advocacy "emanates from her religious beliefs," but voted 5 to 2 that Solon "never conveyed to her potential employer that her advocacy was religious in nature." Both Solon and Clarke are Unitarians. Clarke told the commission she decided not to hire Solon because she feared Solon's commitment to gay rights might hurt Solon's relationship with parents or force her to suppress views she held dear. Clarke said she was forced to spend $6,000 in legal fees to defend herself against the complaint over the $270-a-week job. Religious discrimination is illegal in Fairfax County, but discrimination against gays or their advocates is not. Solon's husband is a member of the commission but did not take part in the decision. ==================================================================== Jean Richter -- richter@eecs.berkeley.edu The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) CHECK OUT OUR INFO-LOADED WEB PAGE AT: http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/