| November E-Newsletter |
| Volume III / Issue 11 / November 11, 2007 www.respectsacramento.org |
| 2. Next meeting November 14 at The Lavender Library Our regular monthly meetings have returned to the Lavender Library Archives and Cultural Exchange at 1414 21st Street. Our meetings will continue to be held on the second Wednesday of the month at 6:30 pm. Hope you can make it! |
| 6. GSA Network News Register for YES 2007! GSA Network Presents the 2007 Youth Empowerment Summit! Saturday, December 8 - San Francisco, CA YES is a FREE conference for LGBTQQI youth activists and their allies who are dedicated to defeating homophobia and transphobia, and creating safe and supporting schools for everyone. The target audience is high school and middle school students, teachers, GSA advisors and the community. The YES conference is a chance for LGBTQQI and straight ally youth to network and enjoy free workshops on activism and topics related to queer life. Registration is now on-line at http://gsanetwork.org/yes For presenter and community table faire info, please send your organization's information to Marco Castro-Bojorquez at marco@gsanetwork.org or call 415-552-4229. Who: LGBTQQI youth activists and their allies Where: Everett Middle School, 450 Church Street, San Francisco,CA When: Saturday, December 8, 2007 - 9:00 am-5:00 pm Cost: FREE, including breakfast and lunch! What else: The after-YES dance will take place from 5:00-8:00pm at the Everett cafeteria!! Re-register your GSA today - Get New Resources & Keep Informed!! 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 resource sheets, campaign 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.php If you have any questions or concerns contact: info@gsanetwork.org or 415-552-4229 |
| 5. Community Announcements Womyn on Wednesdays Womyn on Wednesdays (WOW), a conversation and social group for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women, meets every Wednesday at the center formerly known as the Lambda Center from 7pm - 9pm. Open to all women. duncanswank@yahoo.com. Sacramento Stonewall Democrats Meets every 2nd Monday, 6 pm, Lambda Theater, 17th and Broadway. edbennett1@gmail.com Sac NOW The Sacramento Chapter of the National Organization for Women (Sac NOW) meets every 3rd Thursday of the month to plan feminist actions at 7:00 pm at the Hart Senior Center, 915 27th St, 27th & J. New members and interested community members are always welcome! NOW's goal is to take action to bring about equality for all women. Members of all genders, orientations, cultures, abilities and ages are welcome! Contact SacramentoNOW@gmail.com for more information or to join our listserve. Same-sex Ballroom 1st & 3rd Sundays of Every Month Dance Workshop & Guided Practice with Chad & Marie Sunday, December 2nd - Swing Sunday, December 16th - CANCELLED (90 minute group class; 30 minute guided practice) The Ballroom of Sacramento, 6009 Folsom Blvd. $15 per person No partner necessary For more information: Marie at (916) 320-4382 Gay Identity Constructions Across Four U.S. Cultural Groups This anonymous Internet questionnaire is designed to assess various influences on identity development among biological males of different ages (18 years and older) and living in the United States who are sexual minorities. This research is being carried out by doctoral student Benjamin Donner, M.A., through the Clinical Psychology Department at the University of Massachusetts Boston, for the purpose of his dissertation study. The project has been approved and will be supervised by academic advisor Joan Liem, Ph.D. Participants must be biological males, attracted to males, residents of the United States, and age 18 or older. The primary goal of this project is to increase awareness surrounding the experiences of male sexual minorities from varying racial/ethnic groups. To participate or for more information go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=rjif1K1SdRN_2bBC3hVcT6Pg_3d_3d |
| That's enough for now. Did I leave anything out? Please drop me a line. Do you have an announcement or item that you'd like to include in our newsletter? Would you like to write an opinion piece about something in the LGBT education area? Tell us about what's going on in your GSA! Send complaints, comments, or submissions to admin@respectsacramento.org and I will be happy to place it in our newsletter, which is composed at the end of the current month and sent out in the first week of the subsequent month. Make this your newsletter by contributing to it! See you at our next meeting on November 14 at the Lavender Library, 1414 21st Street at 6:30 pm. Jerry O'Connor Respect Sacramento Board Member Respect Sacramento PO Box 191678 Sacramento CA 95819 (916) 733-2135 info@respectsacramento.org www.respectsacramento.org |
| 1. From the Editor T-shirt activists might want to check out the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) web page on guidelines for "speaking out with your t-shirt." They provide useful tips on what's legal, what's borderline, and what could get you in trouble using t-shirt messages on school campuses. Visit their page here. Two of the bills the governor signed last month include the Student Civil Rights Act and the Safe Place to Learn Act. The Student Civil Rights Act (SB 777), authored by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, protects students from harassment and bullying in public schools by making sure teachers and school administrators fully understand their responsibilities to protect youth. The Safe Place to Learn Act (AB 394), authored by Assemblymember Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, further strengthens youth protections by ensuring that the state's nondiscrimination policies are rigorously enforced. As usual, the Religious Reich is pushing for the courts to prevent the enforcement of these laws, and they are working toward gathering signatures to place them on a future ballot as a referendum. Anti-gay forces want to ensure that harassment and discrimination against sexual minority youth can continue unabated without the interference of pesky laws that try to keep students safe. They do all this, of course, in the name of their religion. Sac City Schools LGBT Task Force Meeting: November 19 The Sacramento City Unified School District's LGBT Task Force meets for the first time this school year on Monday, November 19, from 4:30 to 6 pm at the Hiram Johnson High School auditorium. Hiram Johnson High School is located at the intersection of 65th Street and 14th Avenue. |
| In this edition 1. From the Editor: T-shirt activism; Safe schools for LGBT youth under attack; Sac City Schools LGBT Task Force Meeting Nov. 19 2. Next meeting November 14 at The Lavender Library 3. Townhall Meeting: Hate crimes and schools, November 15 4. Respect board member leads the fight for safe schools 5. Community Announcements 6. GSA Network News |
| 4. Respect board member leads the fight for safe schools Civil rights groups call for end to school harassment Nov. 1, SACRAMENTO (Bay Area Reporter) By Heather Cassell. Following Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's signature on two bills last month to strengthen student safety in schools, civil rights organizations are seeking ways to enforce the new laws in California's school districts. On October 24 the Asian Law Caucus was joined by several other LGBT and civil rights groups at a news conference to get the word out about new laws and ways students and parents can protect themselves from harassment.... The new laws were enacted to protect students such as Lance Chih, who graduated from Folsom High School in 2006 after years of severe harassment. Chih, who attended last week's news conference, said he was 16 years old when he filed complaints against the school for three separate incidents of anti-gay harassment: one where a bottle was thrown at him in the restroom while another student threatened him with death; three weeks after that incident he was physically assaulted; and finally, two male students sexually harassed him for two hours in front of a teacher, who only once told the boys to stop. "I was already involved in some of the local organizations, so I knew what my rights were and the protections," said Chih, 20, about filing complaints with the school. Chih told the Bay Area Reporter that the school didn't necessarily know what to do with the complaints, but he was told they would be handled. According to Chih, there hasn't been an outcome to his complaints and administrators didn't take the situation seriously until the ACLU contacted the school. Folsom High School has an anti-harassment and hazing policy in its 2007-2008 student handbook. Chih said the school didn't follow the policy and officials didn't follow through on their promise to institute anti-harassment trainings for faculty and staff. Chih is currently beginning litigation against the school. Patrick Godwin, superintendent of the Folsom Cordova Unified School District, told the B.A.R. that the district does enforce its anti-harassment and hazing policy and holds at least one training a year for teachers and students. Godwin wouldn't comment further about Chih's situation due to pending litigation, other than to say, "The district will vigorously defend itself against the many inaccurate and untrue allegations contained in Mr. Chih's lawsuit." Jill Telfer, Chih's attorney, did not respond to a request seeking comment by press time. Chih's family wanted to take immediate action, and he said, "I wanted to deal with it because if this is what's going to be going on for the rest of my life my dad is not always going to be there for me." Chih said he found support from his school counselor, who is gay, and his swim teammates outside of school. He is now attending Folsom Lake Community College. He hopes to transfer to California State University, Sacramento to obtain a degree in political science, then attend law school. Unlike some students, Chih was fortunate to have a supportive family. According to a study conducted by the California Safe Schools Coalition, many students and parents are unaware of non-discrimination policies, with 23 percent of students and 29 percent of parents not informed of the policies. MORE... |
| 3. Townhall Meeting: Hate crimes and schools, November 15 Curtis Hall at the Sierra 2 Center, 2791 24th Street, Sacramento, 6-8 pm Members, family and friends of the LGBTQ community are invited to attend a presentation on Hate Crimes. Topics to be covered will be: What is a Hate Crime under California Law?; What are your rights?; How to report a Hate Crime or harassment; Hate Crimes and harassment in schools; What to do to protect yourself and others; and related topics. We will also update the community on what is happening locally to create an awareness of the issues in Sacramento. We will have a panel of experts to for questions about local issues on the LGBTQ community. For more information contact Paul Curtis, PaCurtis@aol.com or Tina Reynolds, tina@uptownstudios.net or call 916-446-1082 |
| At left, Respect Sacramento board member Lance Chih speaks at a news conference sponsored by safe schools proponents that include the Asian Law Caucus, the ACLU of Northern California, and Equality California. At right, Lance is flanked by Tamara Lange of the ACLU and Kendra Harris of Equality California. |
Bias-related harassment plagues public schools
Nov. 1 SACRAMENTO (San Francisco Bay Times) Civil rights organizations representing broad sectors of
communities joined together on Oct. 23 to call attention to incidents of bias-related harassment plaguing
California’s public schools. This is despite state laws that went into effect seven years ago to protect
students. In 2000, the California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act, AB 537 (Kuehl-D), was
implemented to prohibit discriminatory harassment and violence in schools. Civil rights organizations
described recent incidents of harassment and violence in schools and advocated for prompt, effective
implementation of new local and state initiatives to address this problem.
Lance Chih, a recent graduate of Folsom High School, recounted his experiences as the victim of hate
crimes at his school. He stated, “Three years ago, I experienced a series of hate crimes for being gay -
starting with a death threat, moving on to a physical attack, and ending with sexual harassment in front
of a teacher by two male students.”
Unfortunately, Chih’s experiences are not rare or isolated. “Far too many students continue to face
harassment, ridicule and the threat of violence every day in many California public schools – not just
because they may identify as lesbian or gay, but also because of their ethnicity, religion, disability or
gender,” said Kendra Harris, legislative advocate at Equality California. According to the 2004-2006
“California Healthy Kids Survey,” which is supported by the California Department of Education (CDE),
37% of middle and high school students reported being the victim of harassment, and three-quarters of
these experiences were bias-related. MORE...
Nov. 1 SACRAMENTO (San Francisco Bay Times) Civil rights organizations representing broad sectors of
communities joined together on Oct. 23 to call attention to incidents of bias-related harassment plaguing
California’s public schools. This is despite state laws that went into effect seven years ago to protect
students. In 2000, the California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act, AB 537 (Kuehl-D), was
implemented to prohibit discriminatory harassment and violence in schools. Civil rights organizations
described recent incidents of harassment and violence in schools and advocated for prompt, effective
implementation of new local and state initiatives to address this problem.
Lance Chih, a recent graduate of Folsom High School, recounted his experiences as the victim of hate
crimes at his school. He stated, “Three years ago, I experienced a series of hate crimes for being gay -
starting with a death threat, moving on to a physical attack, and ending with sexual harassment in front
of a teacher by two male students.”
Unfortunately, Chih’s experiences are not rare or isolated. “Far too many students continue to face
harassment, ridicule and the threat of violence every day in many California public schools – not just
because they may identify as lesbian or gay, but also because of their ethnicity, religion, disability or
gender,” said Kendra Harris, legislative advocate at Equality California. According to the 2004-2006
“California Healthy Kids Survey,” which is supported by the California Department of Education (CDE),
37% of middle and high school students reported being the victim of harassment, and three-quarters of
these experiences were bias-related. MORE...