From the Editor
Thanks to all our friends and supporters who attended our "coming out" Birthday Party last month at Butch and Nellies Coffee Shop. We had a nice turnout and a wonderful time greeting new and familiar faces. And thanks to all those who stopped by our table at the Rainbow Festival and said "hello." We really had a great time chatting with so many people, and it's nice to see all the diverse families being out and proud in our schools. We hope that more same-sex couples are willing to be themselves in dealing with our local schools.
The new school year is well underway (for some of us, we are almost finished with the first quarter!) and more area school districts are firming up plans to train staff on issues relating to the safety of and respect for all persons in their schools regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. In the Sacramento Unified School District, officials have trained their principals and the principals are in turn supposed to come up with a plan to inform their staff members about their legal obligations regarding LGBT issues in the schools. We are very encouraged about the seriousness with which the district appears to be taking all this, and we will continue to advise them on and monitor their progress.Our next meeting: Wed. October 12
Our next meeting will be Wednesday, October 12 at 6:30 pm. Our regular meeting time and place is the second Wednesday of the month at 6:30 pm at the Lambda Community Center, 1927 L Street in midtown Sacramento. We hope to see you there!
The next meeting of the Sacramento City Unified School District LGBT Task Force will be held on October 26 at 3:45 at New Technology High School, 1400 Dickson Street near the Sacramento Executive Airport. PFLAG Service of Remembrance October 2
On October 2, 2005, Sacramento PFLAG will sponsor the Seventh Annual Service of Remembrance. The Service takes place at a different welcoming church in the Midtown area each year. While it coincides with the anniversary of Matthew Shepard's murder, the Service recognizes all people who died violent deaths because of their sexual orientation. Many members of the gay community, local elected officials, and clergy participate in this Service each year.
The Service includes readings from a variety of religious faiths, performances by the Sacramento Men's Chorus and other groups, and a homily given by an invited member of the clergy. But most importantly, the names of more than 600 people who have died because of their orientation are displayed on placards around the sanctuary during the Service. It is a time to remember these individuals, honor their lives, and finally to look forward with hope.
Join Respect Sacramento as we honor those who have suffered at the hands of others due to their sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. Sacramento PFLAG's annual Service of Remembrance will be held this Sunday October 2 at 4 pm at St. Paul's Episcopal Church at 15th and J Streets in midtown Sacramento. For more information, contact Sacramento PFLAG at (916) 978-0410 or visit their website at http://pflagsacramento.org. True Colors Women's Chorus Concert October 8
Respect Sacramento is honored to be one of the organizations selected to benefit from the True Colors Women's Chorus benefit concert on Saturday October 8. The concert is titled "Celebrating our Lives: We are a Family." It is the 3rd annual fundraising event and concert for True Colors Women's Chorus. Join us at the B'Nai Israel Synagogue, 3600 Riverside Blvd. on October 8 at 7 pm. Tickets are listed at $12 general admission, $10 for seniors and students. A sliding scale may be available for those on a limited budget; contact the True Colors Women's Chorus at TrueColorsChorus@aol.com or visit their website at http://hometown.aol.com/sacwomenschorus. Lavender Library Fundraiser October 22
Lavender Festival: A Fundraiser to Benefit LLACE (The Lavender Library, Archives, and Cultural Exchange). This entertainment event in support of the Lavender Library, Archives and Cultural Exchange will be held 8 p.m. Saturday, October 22 at Club 21, 1119 21st Street. A donation is requested at the door. For more information, contact mdcolby@libpo.ucdavis.edu.
GSA Network News
1. Re-register your GSA today! Before you plan any events for your GSA, remember to register or re-register your group with the GSA Network. Do it NOW to make sure you receive our student activism manuals, FREE posters, other resources, and notifications of future GSA Network or LGBT-related events. (Mailings will go out only to California GSAs in middle and high schools.)
Register online at http://www.gsanetwork.org/register/index.html.
2. Apply for GSA Network Youth Council! It's Cool!
GSA Network is accepting applications for new Youth Council members.
Go to the website and apply www.gsanetwork.org/about/ycapp.html.
The Youth Council is responsible for making decisions about and guiding the program activities of the GSA Network. They set goals and establish priorities for the work of our organization. Youth Council members also represent the needs of GSAs and youth activists from the geographic region of California they represent.
The requirements for joining the Youth Council include:
1. Involved in a GSA or LGBTQ-youth related group in your school.
2. Willing to commit to serve on the Youth Council for one year.
3. Interested in developing and suggesting ideas to strengthen GSAs and the GSA Network.
4. Committed to creating change for LGBTQ youth and fighting homophobia in schools.
For more info contact GSA Network's Northern California rep Lai-San at Lai-San@gsanetwork.org or call 415-552-4229. LGBT movie fest begins October 5
The Sacramento International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (SIGLFF), featuring an opening night gala, two fabulous short film programs, and three feature presentations, begins Wednesday, October 5 and runs through Sunday, October 9 at the Crest Theater in downtown Sacramento. Tickets are One night: $9, All Nights: $35, Opening Night Gala plus Wednesday Night : $35 Gala plus All Nights: $60. For more information visit the festival website at http://www.siglff.org. | | | | | | | | | | Minnesota GSA sues school
Oct 2, MINNEAPOLIS (Minneapolis Star Tribune) Two seniors at Maple Grove High have just taken a rare step. They sued their school and the Osseo school district over claims that officials discriminated against a student group called Straights and Gays for Equality (SAGE).
Their suit, apparently the first of its kind in Minnesota, raises a simmering issue to a new level: Should the state's high schools welcome, tolerate or discourage such organizations? And how should schools react to slurs that some students or parents direct at unpopular groups?
The suit was filed Sept. 20 in U.S. District Court on behalf of two unidentified senior girls, a parent of each student and SAGE.
It alleges that the school has violated state and federal laws by not allowing SAGE the same access as other groups to meeting rooms, bulletin boards, the public address system and tables to distribute notices.
The school district says that Maple Grove does have different guidelines for different groups, but that they are not based on popularity, acceptability or moral judgments. Instead, officials said, they differ according to whether a group's purpose is related to the school's curriculum. Curricular groups can get preference using school space and communication systems.
The high school's treatment of SAGE "has absolutely nothing to do with the students in the group," said Kate Maguire, an Osseo assistant superintendent.
But Thomas Kayser, the students' lawyer, said the school's guidelines are illegal and prevent SAGE from meeting at the school outside class hours. More....
| | | | | Oregon church protests high school staging of Laramie Project
Oct. 1, BEAVERTON OR (AP) High school students turned out by the hundreds to oppose a few members of a Kansas church who staged a protest over a play that chronicles the 1998 murder of a gay college student in Wyoming.
Seven members of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., staged a 45-minute protest Friday behind barricades outside Southridge High School. They carried signs reading, "America Is Doomed," and "God Hates You."
Members of the church, listed as an anti-gay hate group by some civil rights organizations, traveled to Beaverton to draw attention to "The Laramie Project," a play about the murder of Matthew Shepard.
Southridge students leaving school for the day staged a counterprotest, including student James Blome, who held a sign that said, "Worst Cult Ever."
Brooke Gondara, who has two children in Beaverton schools, said she took the afternoon off work to hold a sign reading, "God loves gays."
Southridge Principal Amy Gordon blocked the play last month citing profanity and sexual content.
'Christian' school expels child of lesbian couple
Sept. 22, ONTARIO, CALIF. (The LA Times) A Christian school in Ontario expelled a student Thursday because her parents are lesbians, according to a letter from the school's superintendent.
Freshman Shay Clark, 14, was told to leave Ontario Christian High School after administrators learned of her parents' relationship this week. "Your family does not meet the policies of admission," Supt. Leonard Stob wrote to Tina Clark, Shay's biological mother. The policy, he added, states that at least one parent cannot engage in practices "immoral or inconsistent with a positive Christian life style [sic] such as cohabitating without marriage or in a homosexual relationship."
The letter included two checks refunding $3,415, Shay's tuition for half the school year and an art fee. Attempts to reach Stob were unsuccessful.
Clark and her partner, Mitzi Gray, have been together for 22 years, and have three daughters; the others are ages 9 and 19. Clark and Gray said school officials learned of their relationship after Shay and another cheerleader were reprimanded for talking to the crowd during a football game Sept. 16.
After Clark was told that her daughter could no longer attend the school, the mother was ordered to remove Shay from cheerleading practice, collect her daughter's belongings and leave the property. Shay and her parents say they will not appeal the school's ruling. Shay will attend public school next week. | | |
