Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 16:27:24 -0700 From: Jean Richter Subject: 4/19/2000 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. NY: Student sues school over anti-gay harassment 2. Australia: Article on the abuse gay teens suffer in school 3. CO: Bad column on gay teen suicide statistics needs responses ============================================================================= From: SARATOGANY@aol.com Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 07:08:31 EDT Subject: Averill Park (NY): School District Being Sued, $5M asked in student bias claim Albany's Times Union www.timesunion.com April 8, 2000 $5M asked in student bias claim Troy -- Youth was attacked in school after others mistakenly said he was gay, filing says A former Averill Park High School student and his mother are seeking $5 million for damages the youth allegedly suffered when he was beaten, taunted and otherwise harassed last year because his classmates mistakenly thought he was gay. [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] (Averill Park is about 10 miles east of Troy, NY and in the Capital Region) ===================================================================== This message has been distributed as a free informational service for the expressed interest of non-profit research and educational purposes only. "The Actual or Perceived GLBT Student Protection Project" A project of: Coalition for Safer Schools of NYS John Myers Director of Operations and Programs PO Box 2345 Malta, NY 12020 (518) 587-0176 Email: saratogany@aol.com =============================================================================== The Australian, April 10, 2000 GPO Box 4162 Sydney NSW 2001 Australia (E-Mail: ausletr@newscorp.com.au ) (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/ ) Worst days of their lives School is usually a nightmare for gay and lesbian pupils, writes Greg Callaghan. 'FAGGOT! Pooftah! Fairy!' They kept yelling it at me, as I left the school yard. When some stones flew in my direction ­ one hit my head ­ I started to run. Earlier that week I had received an anonymous death threat by E-mail on the school's computer system, which said someone would bring a gun to class and shoot me. I guess my enemies were extra mad because I took a copy of it to the head-mistress." Three years after his ordeal at Claremont College ­ a state school in the outer suburbs of Hobart ­ Chris Jones, 21, still smarts from the pain and humiliation. For Jones the harassment began after he confessed to his gay sexual persuasion. "I'd been living with it in my head for years; it reached the point where I needed to tell a couple of close friends." But the consequences of his admission were dire: "Most of my friends deserted me once word got out: they found that if they continued to socialise with me, they got abused as well." [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] ================================================================================ From: SARATOGANY@aol.com Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 20:52:39 EDT Subject: DENVER POST: Gay suicide studies flawed (+ CSS-NYS-Note) CSS-NYS Note: The columnist who wrote the below column seems to shrug off the fact that the Massachusetts survey (administered by the MA - Department of Education) was funded by the Center for Disease Control-Prevention, CDC-P (US Government), with oversight. He also fails to note the CDC-P survey results in Vermont (administered by the VT Health Department), were similar. These surveys are known as Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, YRBS. Both these surveys produce numbers of "attempted suicides". Thousands of students are surveyed in each state every two (2) years. NY State's YRBS encompasses 100 randomally selected school districts throughout the state. NYS does NOT include a question regarding "sexual orientation" or "sexual behavior". Therefore, there is not a data breakout for gay and non-gay, as is the case in Massachusetts and Vermont. Anyone who analyses the data, especially the similarities, must wonder why NY State and all other States do not intergrate a "sexual orientation" question into the survey, as allowed? Answer: FINDINGS NOT WANTED Therein lies the problem, while children are suffering mental and physical terror, regardless of their sexual orientation. DENVER POST, April 9, 2000 650 15th Street, Denver, CO, 80202 (Fax 303-820-1369 ) (E-MAIL: Letters@denverpost.com ) ( http://www.denverpost.com ) Gay suicide studies flawed By Al Knight, Denver Post Columnist The next time that somebody claims gay and lesbian teenagers are committing suicide at (pick a number) three, five or seven times the rate of heterosexual youth, don't believe it. Those claims, which have been widely used to help establish a number of schoolsponsored support groups for gay and lesbian teenagers, are long overdue for a closer examination. [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] Al Knight is a Denver Post columnist and editorial writer. ================================================================================= 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/