Date: Wed, 17 Nov 1999 18:05:37 -0800 From: Jean Richter Subject: 11/17/99 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. CT: More on settlement of teacher's libel case 2. WA: More on legislators' opposition to gay youth conference 3. Attorney General supports anti-hate education 4. CA: Call for proposals for GLSEN conference available on web site ============================================================================== Reply-To: listserver@channelq.com Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 14:54:40 -0700 From: "Channel Q" Subject: GLAADLines - October 18, 1999 GLAADLines - October 18, 1999 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Wonbo Woo GLAAD Communications Manager (212) 807-1700 x24 woo@glaad.org http://www.glaad.org News and Breaking Stories about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community [unrelated items omitted] CONNECTICUT SCHOOLTEACHER PROCLAIMS VICTORY IN LIBEL LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT: Retired 70-year-old schoolteacher Veronica Berrill of Danbury, Conn., and Katie and Neal Houdes, parents of a former student in Berrill's Brookfield High School, settled a lawsuit last week filed in 1996 by Berrill and alleging she was libeled and defamed after she posted a pink triangle declaring her classroom a "safe zone" for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. Berrill had posted it in 1995, and told students that anti-gay epithets would not be tolerated in her classroom. The Houdes allegedly wrote letters to the Board of Education and to local newspapers in the weeks that followed, accusing her of "homosexual recruiting" and advancing a "homosexual agenda." While financial compensation was not revealed (in accordance with a confidentiality agreement attached to the settlement), a "revocation" statement released by Berrill and signed by the Houdes, said: "We revoke in their entirety all statements by us that may be construed as a personal attack against Mrs. Berrill. We also revoke in their entirety all statements by us suggesting that Mrs. Berrill circumscribed the rights of our daughter or any other students to speak openly in her classroom about their political, religious or moral views." At a press conference held Oct. 13, Berrill said the case was motivated by larger issues than libel, calling the letters sent by the Houdes "an attempt to silence me and all teachers from speaking about homosexuality at Brookfield High School. I saw this case as a fight to insure the right and even the duty of teachers to protect their most vulnerable students." She concluded her remarks saying the case was also "a victory for parents. All parents want their children in safe schools, and when the word goes out that no kid can be victimized, our schools are safer places for every kid." While the Houdes claimed victory as well, citing the dismantling of the Safe Zones program at Brookfield, Berrill pointed to an anti-discrimination clause adopted by the school and the formation of a Gay-Straight Alliance for students as evidence of true progression at the school. A portion of the settlement money will benefit the Committee for the Defense of Classroom Tolerance (CDCT), an organization which helped to raise legal fees to support Berrill's suit against the Houdes. For more information, contact CDCT Chair Jean Rexford at (203) 752-2823 or Leif Mitchell of GLSEN-CT, a chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, at (203) 332-1480. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in all media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) glaad@glaad.org TO REPORT DEFAMATION IN THE MEDIA - Call GLAAD's Alertline at 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or go to the GLAAD Web Site at www.glaad.org and report through our Alertline Online. TO JOIN GLAAD AND RECEIVE GLAAD's QUARTERLY GLAADNOTES MAGAZINE, call 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or join on the Web today at www.glaad.org/glaad/join/join-about.html TO SUBSCRIBE TO GLAAD-Net, GLAAD's electronic mailing list, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Subscribe GLAAD-Net" (without the quotation marks). Make sure that you turn off all signatures and extraneous text. TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Unsubscribe GLAAD-Net" (without the quotation marks). Make sure that you turn off all signatures and extraneous text. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in all media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc. _________________________________________________________________________ This message has been distributed as a free, non-profit informational service, to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information 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. Forwarding of this material should not necessarily be construed as an endorsement of the content. Some messages may be from anti-gay organizations and are forwarded as opposition research. ================================================================================= OREGONIAN, October 18, 1999 1320 SW Broadway, Portland, OR, 97201 (Fax 503-294-4193 ) (E-MAIL: Letters@news.oregonian.com ) ( http://www.oregonlive.com/ ) Gay event at college worries legislators A mixer could be dangerous for young people, two Washington lawmakers say >From The Associated Press EVERETT, Wash. -- A gay-lesbian conference that includes a social mixer for attendees ages 14 to 20 could have dire consequences, two state legislators warned in letters to event host Everett Community College. [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] Deb Priceís column is published on Monday. Write letters to The News at 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, MI 48226. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The item above is being distributed as a free, non-profit informational service to a limited number of individuals who have expressed interest in this topic for educational and research purposes only. Please do not redistribute or post copyrighted material anyplace on the Internet accessible to the public without attribution and permission from the author. Please note that distribution of this item does not necessarily constitute endorsement of the content; in fact, often items are distributed as "opposition research." ================================================================================= [if you can't read PDF files, I suggest you contact GLSEN for a copy of the call for proposals. The conference is in Pasadena on March 25, 2000, and proposals are due January 20, 2000. if you can't access the web, let me know and I can email you the call as an attached PDF file] Reply-To: listserver@channelq.com Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 22:30:13 -0700 From: "Channel Q" qnews@channelq.com To: qnews@channelq.com Subject: GLSEN Conference Call for Proposals, Request for Panel Participants The Fourth GLSEN Conference will be held in Pasadena, California, in March 2000 and a call for proposals has gone out (URL below). They are also looking for people to participate in a panel discussing issues relating to transgendered youth -- if you are interested, please get in touch with Lorne Zilkie at yxs@aol.com (and if you know of someone who might be, please refer them, as well). Call for proposals, in PDF format: http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/Alerts/States/California/call.pdf This message has been distributed as a free, non-profit informational service, to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information 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. Forwarding of this material should not necessarily be construed as an endorsement of the content. Some messages may be from anti-gay organizations and are forwarded as opposition research. ------- ================================================================================== 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/