Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 17:05:04 -0700 From: Jean Richter Subject: 10/28/99 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. CA: Public meeting to discuss queer youth shelter 2. OR: Reaction to school board's ban of Boy Scouts recruitment 3. MTV anti-violence PSA available on the web 4. UT: GSA's lawsuit against Salt Lake City school board can proceed ============================================================================ Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 15:57:55 -0400 From: "Oren Slozberg" Please distribute! If you haven't come to a shelter meeting this is the time to come! This is your chance to express your support for a LGBTQQ homeless youth project. This meeting is a public forum, we need as many supporters as we can muster to show that the Castro is supportive of the idea. This meeting will determine what happens! Bring your friends, co-workers, neighbors, merchants, service providers, youth and family members. Anyone who lives, works, plays or is involved in the neighborhood or LGBTQQ community. ****************************************************** Castro LGBTQQ Homeless Youth Project Community Meeting Last and Voting Meeting November 9, 1999 7:30pm Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy 19th Street between Collingwood and Diamond San Francisco, CA 94114 IMPORTANT PUBLIC NOTICE! Our next meeting will be a public forum to discuss and get Neighborhood input and approval on the proposal to establish a temporary Adult Residential Facility at 2500 Market Street. If approved by the neighborhood this final proposal will be submitted to the Board of Supervisors by the CAC. To see the proposal that will be voted on check out - http://www.cyberwolves.com/castrocac/ ********************************************************* If you need more information e-mail Oren =============================================================================== Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 03:31:32 -0700 (PDT) From: Mike Montalvo Reply-To: Boyscout@Texas.net Subject: Email received from Nancy Powell re: Portland BSA School Case Hi Folks, Please check for background under Nancy Powell/Portland if you are not familiar with the Portland case at: Scouting Issues Research http://boyscout.home.texas.net/ I found the below comments on the developing news in Portland from Nancy interesting... Mike Montalvo ======================== Hi everyone, I hope this reaches your all and all are well; As most of you have probably read the Portland Public School Board has reversed their position on Boy Scout recruiting during school hours. In an apparent attempt to do the right thing by changing a policy that was harmful to our kids, the board has excluded all groups from access to the schools or to even verbal recruitment or information about outside school groups. This has lit up the switchboard of protest. I believe the reasons they took this approach are two fold. First, when the district personnel were hanging their necks out for the Scouts and saying to the media "that woman's wrong......the Scouts don't discriminate and she is just mean to say that" nobody from the Scouts picked up the phone and said "well um um um um maybe that's not entirely true" leaving the district culpable and looking like the idiots. So the district feels betrayed and does not want to take any more chances. The second thing that I believe comes into play is that by excluding all groups they don't really take on the discrimination issue and are then forced into singling out the Scouts. This way everyone suffers the payment for bigotry the Scouts have earned, but the district has not said anything wrong about the "beloved" BSA. After all, the Boy Scouts did pay the schools legal bills in defending my lawsuit. NOW HERE IS THE HEADS UP PART: I believe that as a direct result to Monday night's surprise suggested change by the Portland Public School Board, United States Atheists, our community center, was picketed by a religious group at the Tuesday's regularly scheduled meeting. My house got staked out by unknown persons on the morning of Wednesday, October 6th and later that day the school my kids attend and I can be found most everyday all day (I am PTA president) we also were picketed. I understand that picketing and parking by someone's house and staring, are not against the law, but clearly some people are really unhappy about atheist involvement. I am not trying over react or anything I just think a pound of prevention is perhaps due now. They were chanting at the school "Don't listen to the atheists come get a ticket to heaven" "You will go to hell if your do not come see me now. Atheism is a religion but they won't let us in." My children attend an elementary school. I hope you can image how angry I was, am. I hope you are angry too. We are talking about approaching very little children 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 year olds. I am proud to say the school personnel and parents were appalled at the picket and attempts at placing the blame on "the atheists" did not work this time. Just be alert. Looking forward to seeing all of you at the symposium. What a breath of fresh air that will be. Rationally, Nancy Powell Infidelmom@aol.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com =============================================================================== From: SARATOGANY@aol.com Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 09:54:00 EDT Subject: View Online GLSEN/Judy Shepard PSA Currently Being Shown On MTV Msg from: The Coalition for Safer Schools of NYS, PO Box 2345, Malta, NY 12020 Email to: saratogany@aol.com "The Actual or Perceived GLBT Student Protection Project" The public service announcement now being aired on MTV is also available for viewing on the Internet. It is located at the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network's website (www.glsen.org). It is short and very powerful. It is so real it is scary.....John Myers GLSEN - NEWS PSA ACTION http://www.glsen.org/pages/sections/news/psa/action If you have a problem viewing write to webdiva@glsen.org. =============================================================================== From: LLDEFNY@aol.com Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 16:02:11 EDT Subject: Gay/Straight Alliance's Lawsuit to Proceed Against Salt Lake School Board =========================================== LAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND www.lambdalegal.org AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION www.aclu.org NATIONAL CENTER FOR LESBIAN RIGHTS www.nclrights.org News Release ============================================ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, October 8, 1999 CONTACTS: Joneil Adriano, Lambda, 212-809-8585 x 241, 1-888-987-1971 pager David Buckel, Lambda, 212-809-8585 x 212 Jon Davidson, Lambda, 323-937-2728 x 228 Carole Gnade, ACLU, 801-521-9862 Shannon Minter, NCLR, 415-392-6257 ============================================ GAY/STRAIGHT ALLIANCE'S LAWSUIT TO PROCEED AGAINST SALT LAKE SCHOOL BOARD Utah federal judge says barring student group may have violated the First Amendment (NEW YORK, October 8, 1999) - Ruling that the Salt Lake City Board of Education violated a federal statute and also may have violated the First Amendment, a Utah federal district judge has given the green light to gay and straight students suing the Board for trying to ban meetings of their student club and suppressing gay-positive views in existing and new student groups. "The First Amendment protects expression of all viewpoints, regardless of either their popularity or lack of general acceptance, or even the fears that particular opinions may engender," Federal District Judge Bruce S. Jenkins wrote in his 55-page ruling on summary judgment motions released Thursday. Lambda Supervising Attorney Jon W. Davidson and Staff Attorney David S. Buckel argued the motions for the students. Lead counsel Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed the lawsuit on behalf of the East High School Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) and two of its members. Plaintiff Ivy Fox, a senior at East High and co-president of the GSA, said following the ruling, "It feels great that the judge recognized a violation of our rights, and said that we get to have our day in court." Because the students' first amendment rights may have been violated, Jenkins moved their lawsuit forward to trial. He also ruled that the Board had violated the federal Equal Access Act, since at least one non-curricular club was allowed to meet in the 1997-1998 school year, when the lawsuit was filed. But Jenkins disagreed with plaintiffs' contention that the Board allowed non-curricular groups to meet in subsequent school years. That issue will be appealed after trial of the first amendment claims, unless the Board decides to modify its policies, which the plaintiffs have been asking it to do throughout the dispute. Under the Equal Access Act, a federally funded public school that provides access to any non-curricular club - such as use of the public address system and school bulletin boards - must also provide equal treatment to all other non-curricular clubs, regardless of the views of those clubs' members. Schools cannot pick and choose among non-curricular clubs. In April 1996, the Board terminated 46 school clubs it deemed not directly linked to the curriculum, including Students Against Drunk Driving and the Young Republicans, in an effort to keep an earlier GSA from meeting. Alliances of gay and straight students have become increasingly common at schools around the country, often forming in response to anti-gay hostility and violence from other students. Fox has reported that forming their group helped to reduce some of the anti-gay harassment at her high school. (East High Gay/Straight Alliance v. Board of Education, No. 2:98CV193J) --30-- ======================================= Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund www.lambdalegal.org National Headquarters 120 Wall Street, Suite 1500 New York, NY 10005-3904 212-809-8585 phone 212-809-0055 fax lambda@lambdalegal.org ================================================================================ Jean Richter -- richter@eecs.berkeley.edu The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) These messages are archived by state on our information-loaded free web site: http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/