Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 18:00:59 -0700 From: Jean Richter Subject: 6/15/2000 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. IL: News article on suburban gay prom 2. MA: Contact info regarding yesterday's article on antibias policy; More info on GLSEN conference controversy posted to web site 3. OH: Lawsuit filed over anti-gay harassment of student 4. CA: More queer youth events in the San Francisco bay area ================================================================================= 1. IL: News article on suburban gay prom From: SARATOGANY@aol.com Date: Wed, 17 May 2000 07:10:04 EDT Subject: IL: The Freedom To Be Themselves - Prom gay students and their friends Msg fwd by: 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" =================================================================== Chicago Tribune, May 16, 2000 435 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60611 (Fax 312-222-2598 ) (E-MAIL: ctc-tribletter@tribune.com ) ( http://www.chicagotribune.com ) The Freedom To Be Themselves Gay students and their friends get to dance the night away without worry at the 1st suburban prom just for them. By Tracy Dell'Angela, Tribune Staff Writer Julie Lopez didn't want to miss her school prom, but there was too much pretending involved. Buying a gown, getting a date, dancing with guys - it was what people expected, but it wasn't what she wanted. [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] ==================================================================== 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 New York State John Myers Director of Operations and Programs PO Box 2345 Malta, NY 12020 (518) 587-0176 Email: saratogany@aol.com (To subscribe or unsubscribe (CSS-NYS Email List) send request to saratogany@aol.com) Primer Websites www.glsen.org www.lambdalegal.org www.safeschools-wa.org ======================================================================= 2. MA: Contact info regarding yesterday's story on antibias policy Write to the Massachusetts State Board of Education c/o Massachusetts State Department of Education 350 Main St., Malden MA 02148-5023 fax= 617-388-3394. Information on individual Board members is at http://www.doe.mass.edu/boe/edboard.html ==================================================================================== I've posted some more info on the GLSEN conference controversy (including two news articles and a pointer to an excellent objective article on the workshop) to our web site at URL: http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/Alerts/States/Massachusetts/controversy.html It's a bit long to post here, but if you can't access the web and would like to see it, please email me. ==================================================================================== 3. OH: Lawsuit filed over anti-gay harassment of student Media Advisory For Immediate Release May 17, 2000 _____________________________ Ohio ACLU To Sue School District Over Harassment Younger Brother of Gay Man Assaulted, Abused By Classmates While Officials Idle _____________________________ For More Information Contact: Jillian Davis, Volunteer Attorney, ACLU of Ohio, 216-781-5245 Christine Link, Executive Director, ACLU of Ohio, 216-781-1078 Raymond Vasvari, Legal Director, ACLU of Ohio, 216-781-6277 ____________________________ The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio Foundation will file suit tomorrow morning in United States District Court in Toledo on behalf of a middle school student targeted for harassment and assault because he spoke out on behalf of an older brother who is gay. The suit, one of the first of its kind nationwide, focuses on the right of students to be free from sexual harassment at the hands of their peers, a right recognized last term by the United States Supreme Court. Attorneys for the family of Matthew Schroder, the student in question, allege in papers to be filed tomorrow that Matthew was targeted by classmates for repeated assaults and relentless harassment over a two year period when he refused to stop speaking out for gay rights, and publicly identified with an older brother, Christopher, who is gay. The Maumee, Ohio school district is located in south suburban Toledo. The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, will be lead by ACLU Volunteer Attorney Jillian Davis of Cleveland. According to suit papers, Maumee schools officials repeatedly failed to protect Matthew from his classmates, despite frequent calls for intervention from his family. The result was a school environment laced with epithets, violence and threats of violence. ACLU lawyers allege that school officials acted with deliberate indifference to Matthew and his well being, in violation of federal law. Matthew, who has been an outspoken advocate of gay rights, was repeatedly attacked by other students, who taunted him as a "queer" a "fag" and a "bitch." Administrators claimed they could not protect Matthew from his peers, urged him to remain quiet on gay issues "for his own good," and even suggested that he join the football team to prove to them and his peers that he "was not a little fag." When he defended himself, Matthew was repeatedly given sterner discipline than his assailant, and eventually excluded from school. "The conduct of school officials in this case was every bit as disgraceful as that of the student assailants" said Christine Link, Executive Director of the Ohio ACLU. "By tolerating this sort of misconduct for so long, school officials effectively endorsed the anti-gay tirade of Matthew's classmates." Federal law prohibits peer-on-peer harassment based on sex in schools which receive federal funds, under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1970, according to Ohio ACLU Legal Director Raymond Vasvari. "Today we seek to extend Title IX to protect all students against the sort of intolerable harassment suffered by Matthew Schroder," Vasvari said. "Matthew has suffered because of what he said, what he believed and because he would not disown the brother that he loves. In America, no one should have to suffer violence because his brother is gay." --endit-- ==================================================================================== 4. CA: More queer youth events in the San Francisco bay area X-Sender: cmlaub@pop.slip.net Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 17:10:22 -0700 From: Carolyn Laub Subject: Poetry for PRIDE Check out these cool Queer Pride events that are an alternative to some of the more commercialized gay pride events. Both feature our new Community Organizer, Mario Balcita! - Carolyn >Queer Latino Arts Festival >Poetry and Prose Reading >by Cathy Arellano, Mario Balcita, Yosenio Lewis >Elba Sanchez, krysia lycette villon and Max Wolf Valerio >Show: Friday, June 23rd 7:00-9:00pm >Location: Galeria de la Raza, 2857 24th Street @ Bryant >$5 > >Queeriosity Killed the Cat! >Sponsored by Youth Speaks and LYRIC >Featuring Tiger, Casey, Rachel Bolden-Kramer, Lauryn DeArman, Mario Balcita and other YOUTH poets from the Bay Area! >Show: Sunday, June 25 @ 8pm >DANCE PARTY to follow the performancs >Location: ODC Dance Theater on 17th Street and South Van Ness >$5 - $10 dollars > **************************************** Bay Area Gay-Straight Alliance Network 965 Mission Street, Suite 218 San Francisco, CA 94103 ph: (415) 442-4726 fax: (415) 442-4727 carolyn@gsanetwork.org http://www.gsanetwork.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/