Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 15:02:49 -0700 From: Jean Richter Subject: 9/21/98 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. OR: Governor signs LGBT history month proclamation 2. GLSEN grades school districts' LGBT policies ======================================================== Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 08:25:20 -0700 From: ncop@mail.hrcusa.org Subject: Oregon's Governor Again Proclaims "Lesbian and Gay History Month" FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 13, 1998 CONTACT: FLO OLKOSKI, (503) 588-2259 Oregon governor John Kitzhaber has proclaimed October 1998 to be "Lesbian and Gay History Month," the Coalition to End Bigotry announced today. The proclamation acknowledges the contributions that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people have made to society throughout Oregon history. The month of October offers the opportunity for positively affirming the lives, families, and culture of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals, says the proclamation. 1998 marks the fourth year that Governor Kitzhaber has issued a statewide proclamation concerning Lesbian and Gay History Month at the request of the Coalition to End Bigotry. Lesbian and Gay History Month was founded in 1994 and is coordinated nationally by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network. Noted gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered Oregonians who have enriched our society include gourmet and author James Beard, Lebanon cobbler Ray Leonard, native American guide and interpreter Ko-come-ne-pe-ca, physician and women's rights activist Marie Equi, physician and writer Alan Hart (nee Alberta Lucille Hart), and film directors Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting) and James Ivory (Room With a View). The Coalition to End Bigotry was founded in 1993 to celebrate diversity of all people by actively supporting individuality and securing civil equality and social justice for gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. In addition to sponsoring the statewide Lesbian and Gay History Month Proclamation, the Coalition to End Bigotry also sponsors the Mid-Willamette Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Pride Celebration (Salem Gay Pride); a monthly book discussion and potluck; and a quarterly street cleanup. For more information, telephone our voice mail at (503) 373-4173; write us at PO Box 13144, Salem, OR 97309; or email at CEB@open.org. Text of proclamation: WHEREAS: Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people have made many important contributions to society throughout Oregon history; and WHEREAS: the Oregon Legislature in 1993 made history in preventing local antigay initiatives from being implemented, and Oregon voters rejected similar statewide measures in 1992 and 1994; and in 1996 the State of Oregon filed a brief in the United States Supreme Court against Colorado's Amendment 2; and WHEREAS: there are lesbian, bisexual and gay legislators who are today working hard to legislate on issues to benefit all Oregonians; and WHEREAS: October is the month in which annual recognition of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered history is being coordinated; and WHEREAS: national and statewide commemorations offer the opportunity for positive affirmation of the lives, family, and culture of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgendered individuals; and WHEREAS: the Kitzhaber administration is committed to activities that promote historical understanding, and uphold dignity, social justice, and equal rights for all people. NOW, THEREFORE, I, John A. Kitzhaber, Governor of the State of Oregon, hereby proclaim October 1998 to be LESBIAN AND GAY HISTORY MONTH in Oregon and encourage all our citizens to join in this observance. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereunto set my hand and cause the Great Seal of the State of Oregon to be affixed. Done at the Capitol in the City of Salem in the State of Oregon on this day, August 7, 1998. (signed) John A. Kitzhaber, Governor (signed) Phil Keisling, Secretary of State ================================================================================ Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 18:09:56 -0800 From: Doug Case To: nyac@nyacyouth.org (National Youth Advocacy Coalition), Subject: GLSEN grades anti-gay atmosphere in schools BAY AREA REPORTER San Francisco, CA September 17, 1998 GLSEN grades anti-gay atmosphere in schools by Bob Roehr The room at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. was hushed as Leslie Sadavasian recalled the sad tale of her son, Robbie Kirkland, at a news conference for the release of "Grading Our Schools," the second annual report of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), on September 10. Sadavasian recounted that her son made his first attempt at suicide when he was in the eighth grade. His note began, "Whatever you find, I'm not gay." It ended with, "The boy who told himself, sit down and smile, shut up, and pretend you're happy. It didn't work." Robbie "was perceived as different and eventually as gay," Sadavasian said. It started in elementary school, but the child never told his family. He held it inside and tried to change, pretend crushes on girls, and try to fit in. But the harassment escalated in junior high, most of it out of the teachers' view. His mother found out about it when a female classmate shared a letter from Robbie. "I'll tell you why people make fun of me," he wrote, "I talk differently, I have a slight lisp, and I'm kind of klutzy at sports. People call me names." He also described everyone at school as homophobic, including himself, Sadavasian said. Robbie hoped that moving on to high school with a larger student body would mean a fresh start, but the pattern of harassment continued. At the end of Christmas break, on January 2, 1997, he made a second attempt at suicide. This time he succeeded. He wrote, "I hope I can find the peace in death that I could not find in life." Robbie Kirkland was 14. "Our love, acceptance, and support ... could not protect him from the rejection and harassment he experienced at his Catholic school and his overall perception of how society and religion viewed his sexuality," his mother said. Not funny 'funny feeling' Kevin Jennings, GLSEN executive director, was clearly moved by the recounting. It reminded him of his own "funny feeling" each Labor Day as the opening of the new school year approached. That "was heightened as a teenager when I realized I was gay and when other kids started calling me faggot. ... It meant returning to a place where I would be terrified, isolated, and harassed during my normal day." Twenty years later, "I wish I could report to you that as a result of our survey, schools have taken steps to make that funny feeling go away, to reassure LGTB students that they are accepted and valued members of the school community with the same right to get a quality education as any other child who attends the school. If I told you that, I would by lying." GLSEN surveyed the 42 largest school districts in the country, about 5.5 million students or 12 percent of the school age population, on policies and practices concerning gays. "We have precious little evidence that school districts care at all about what happens to LGBT students. Nearly half of all districts rated received failing grades-which means they did not have a single policy or program in place to protect LGBT students. "Not one." For Jennings, the political clout of urban gays has resulted in non-discrimination policies on the books, "but that doesn't filter down into the individual school building. Conversely, what we hear from suburban students is that the climate tends to be less hostile, but because of the lack of an organized gay political movement, there are fewer policies." San Francisco schools earned an A for the second straight year; the district's program serves as a model. A passing grade of C was assigned to Oakland schools, according to the report. Jennings cited New York City, which has policies in place but offers no training. He called that "a sop to the gay political group, with no commitment by the district itself to actually equip the educators and administrators with the skills they need to enforce the policies. ... When you see policies with no program, no training, I would suggest that the policies are window dressing." The "honor roll" of cities is essentially bi-coastal. And "it is obvious that districts in the South have done far less than districts in other parts of the country," Jennings said. "That is particularly disturbing because those are the districts that are growing most swiftly." Perhaps most disturbing was the attitude of school systems to the inquiry. It was not hostility, "it was as if we were phoning in from Mars," he said, "They were dumbfounded to even be thinking about this issue." No queers in the Big Easy? New Orleans claimed there are no homosexuals in their schools. When the Detroit chapter of GLSEN surveyed all high school principles in southeastern Michigan, 78 percent said that they had no gay students in their schools. But 90 percent felt that their schools were safe for gay students. "Which we found was fascinating. On what did they base that?" Jennings asked. He called that attitude a "disconnect" from what GLSEN's survey of students found to be the case in the classroom. "There is clearly a disconnect between the people who are making the policy and the students who are going to school every day." Jennings noted that the organizations that have signed on to their report represent people "who talk to kids every day," the administrators have lagged behind. Sadavasian said that her son's death led the school president to address the student body and "explicitly spelled out that gays, and indeed all people, have human dignity, and that this is never to be violated." The speech is now given to all incoming freshmen. GLSEN has found that the single most effective way to generate change is to write a school administrator in the community in which you live, relating your experience in the classroom growing up as a gay student. And ask the superintendent what actions they are going to take to change the situation. "There is no substitute for one-on-one education," Jennings said. He admitted that the Jamie Nabozny suit, where a Wisconsin school district was forced to pay $900,000 in punitive damages for allowing anti-gay harassment within the school system, "has been an enormous source of leverage" in getting school districts to move. He pointed with glee to SYMAL (Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League) in Washington, DC, where students have started a "sue your school campaign" to prod systems to offer equal protection and equal education. It is also up to adults to provide support for the teenagers who often literally fear for their safety if they are perceived as being gay. The GLSEN report, including each of the 42 systems rated, is available at their website, www.glsen.org. ************************************************************************ This message has been forwarded as a free, non-profit service to a list of individuals interested in lesbigay youth and/or higher education issues, and is intended for non-profit research and educational purposes only. Please do not publish, or post in a public place on the Internet, copyrighted material without permission and attribution. It's fine, of course, to publish information in press releases. ============================================================================== 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/