news, resources & commentary for and about lgbt youth & their allies
We've got three updates this weekend about gay-straight alliances and safe-schools efforts in Texas and Florida, including information on how you can speak out for LGBT youth and their allies in the ongoing controversy in Lake County. … [Read more...]
A member of Florida's Lake County School Board questioned the sexual orientation of a fourteen-year-old student in his district in an email sent last Friday. A 2012 message from federal Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. The Lake County School Board should listen. The Board member's disturbing comment came in a written exchange with musician, blogger and LGBT-youth advocate Katy Bourne, who had sent an open letter to two members of the Lake County School Board criticizing their … [Read more...]
As some readers are likely aware, members of Congress have recently introduced important legislation affecting the LGBT community. I hope to blog more in-depth about the legislation in the near future. In the meantime, I've added a page about federal legislation to the Resources section of this website. This new page, which I'll continue to expand, now includes basic information about the Student Non-Discrimination Act, the Safe Schools Improvement Act, and the Employment Non-Discrimination … [Read more...]
Did Buddy Collins, recently appointed to the North Carolina Board of Education, vote as a local school board member in 2009 to defy state law simply because of his personal objections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality in schools? Several reports indicate that he did. Assuming Collins did in fact vote to defy state law based merely on personal hostility to LGBT students' rights, it suggests a troubling anti-equality radicalism that makes him even more unfit to serve on the … [Read more...]
Anti-LGBT activists in Iowa have resorted to name-calling and extremist rhetoric in their attempt to stir up controversy over an upcoming safe-schools conference, referring to LGBTQ conference organizers as “self-proclaimed sodomites” and accusing them of “coming after” children with “evil propaganda.” The fear-mongering campaign, which targets the Eighth Annual Iowa Governor's Conference on LGBTQ Youth and its supporters, not only spreads misinformation and hateful messages; it … [Read more...]
Two education-related bills championed by opponents of LGBT rights have died in the Tennessee legislature—for now anyway—and the consideration of a third bill has been deferred. One of the measures, often called the "Don't Say Gay" bill, would have prohibited "classroom instruction, course materials or other informational resources that are inconsistent with natural human reproduction" in K-8 schools. Though this language is vague (perhaps intentionally so), it has been widely understood … [Read more...]
Earlier posts have included links to some recent on-line petitions created to support LGBT youth and their allies; here, I've consolidated some of the petitions into a single post to make it easier for interested readers to take action. I've also added a couple new petitions. If you have suggestions for additional petitions, please leave a comment on this post or send a private note. … [Read more...]
Eight states have "no promo homo" laws, and Tennessee might soon join them as the ninth. What does this mean? While "no promo homo" laws and policies take many forms, they all generally restrict gay-inclusive instruction at school or require anti-gay instruction. … [Read more...]
The minister of education in Yukon, Canada, has told the Vanier Catholic Secondary School in a letter that it must abandon its policy against homosexuality. The controversial policy calls homosexuality a “grave disorder,” “morally evil,” and “intrinsically disordered.” The minister's letter states that the policy violates the province's Education Act; it may also violate both the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Yukon Human Rights Act. Legal and policy debates over … [Read more...]
The latest LGBT news about and affecting youth: • An eleven-year-old from California has written to Chief Justice Roberts about the marriage cases pending before the Supreme Court. He talks about his letter in the video below. Earlier this month, we learned that a different eleven-year-old had sent a letter to all of the Justices about the marriage cases. Justice Sonia Sotomayor responded. • A new bill in California would allow students to use restroom and locker facilities, and to … [Read more...]
At the time of this post, Thomas McCalmont's change.org petition to members of the school board in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, has received 6,074 on-line signatures. The petition asks the board members to support students' efforts to form a gay-straight alliance (GSA) at the local high school. As I've reported in other posts, the school board recently voted 5-4 to reject the students' application for the club. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and Equality Pennsylvania then sent … [Read more...]
Much of the debate over school anti-bullying policies revolves around whether or not the policies should list—that is, "enumerate"—specific categories or characteristics as prohibited grounds of bullying or discrimination. There's also a fair amount of confusion over what exactly we're debating, as recent conversations about "LGBT-inclusive" anti-bullying policies have reminded me. … [Read more...]
To close out the work week, we've got stories from California, New York, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Ukraine. • As Queerty reports, a college student who claims to have successfully undergone "reparative" therapy to overcome same-sex attractions is among the plaintiffs suing the state of California in a new lawsuit; the suit challenges California's recently enacted ban on such therapies for minors. The lead sponsor of the new law has called the suit "frivolous." For more … [Read more...]
Posted by MK on 9/20/12 - Today marks one year since the official repeal of "Don't Ask Don't Tell," the law that banned service by openly LGB people in the United States' armed forces. … [Read more...]
Posted by MK on 9/18/12 - The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has released a new document summarizing nations' obligations under international law with respect to sexual orientation and gender identity. The document, Born Free and Equal: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in International Human Rights Law, includes a section on education and youth; I've pasted that section below. (Advisory: the new document contains at least one graphic image of … [Read more...]
Posted by MK on 8/8/12 This week's selection of news stories for the LGBT Youth Allies' Global News Roundup is not particularly global (sorry), but there are still some good stories, and we'll do better branching outside of the U.S. in future Roundups--as we've done before. Stories this week come from, among other places, Alabama, California, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Uruguay. Here goes: A new ad campaign will aim to educate and persuade parents, among others, to … [Read more...]
Marriage Equality Momentum in the U.S. and Abroad
In light of some recent encouraging poll numbers on marriage equality, I’ve updated a March 27 post that summarizes data from a series of 2013 surveys on the issue. You can find that update here: 2013 Polls: At Least Two Thirds of Young Americans Support Marriage Equality. Of course, the recent good news on marriage hasn't come only from the polls. Just this month, three states—Delaware, Minnesota, and Rhode Island—have enacted marriage-equality laws. Twelve states in total, plus D.C., … [Read more...]