LGBT Education
Miss Do-Gooder Says No to Intolerance
Published August 05, 2009 @ 01:17PM PT
What do you get when you fuse fashion with philanthropy and a commitment to eliminating homophobia in the classroom? You get Miss Do-Gooders brand spanking new T-shirt, which not only declares zero tolerance for homophobia and intolerance, but backs up that pledge by making sure that every T-shirt purchased forwards some proceeds to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).
Miss Do-Gooder is a fun fashion venture from California that has already released T-shirts championing animal rights and the fight against illiteracy. Or, in other words, she's just a modern day superhero out to "kick the butt of one injustice at a time."
We heart our progressive T-shirts here at change.org. Especially when they send proceeds to organizations we love, like GLSEN. Here's what GLSEN's Executive Director, Eliza Byard, had to say about the new T-shirt campaign from Miss Do-Gooder:
With this wonderful new design, Miss Do-Gooder continues to represent a cool way that people can show their support for important causes, such as GLSEN's goal of ensuring that every child is safe in school.
Making schools safer. Rooting out homophobia. Stamping out intolerance. Now there's a fashion craze worth getting behind.
Is Tobacco the Number One Cause of Death Among Gays and Lesbians?
Published July 25, 2009 @ 04:35PM PT
Rumors have been there for a while now that smoking rates among LGBT people were phenomenally higher than smoking rates among straight people. There's now evidence to back this theory up.
A study coming out in the August 2009 issue of Tobacco Control shows that gay men and lesbians are radically more apt to light up a cigarette than heterosexual men and women. The folks behind the study are researchers with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and they have one conclusive sentence to sum up their work: "Smoking is a significant health inequality for sexual minorities."
Here are some bullet points about their study:
- Upwards of 37 percent of lesbian women in the United States smoke cigarettes, which compares to only 18 percent of straight women;
- For gay men it's upwards of 33 percent, whereas approximately only 24 percent of straight men light up; and
- Researchers used more than 20 years of studies and research on the issue of LGBT smoking to inform their findings
Higher smoking rates for gay men and lesbians could be having a disastrous impact on public health for LGBT Americans. Joseph Lee, one of the lead researchers of the report, had this to say:
Likely explanations include the success of tobacco industry’s targeted marketing to gays and lesbians, as well as time spent in smoky social venues and stress from discrimination.
These aren't new phenomena. Groups like the National LGBT Tobacco Control Network have formed to try and put a dent in the rates of smoking among LGBT populations, and to point out concerning marketing techniques to get queer people - especially younger LGBT people - to smoke. Groups like these are important to curbing high rates of smoking. Because as well all know, prolonged smoking causes a torrent of diseases, and that torrent of diseases often results in death.
That's not a fact lost on the researchers. Here's Lee again:
Tobacco is likely the number one cause of death among gays and lesbians.
The American Cancer Society estimates that at least 30,000 LGBT people die each year from smoking-related illnesses. And that's a conservative estimate.
Much more information on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study can be found online at Tobacco Journal's Web site. While the results can be a little upsetting to read, they're meant to help inform folks about the health consequences unique to LGBT folks from smoking. And while studies like this are grim, they do help in spreading a culture of public health in LGBT circles.
Queer Studies Has Arrived
Published June 03, 2009 @ 01:20PM PT
You don't mix oil and water, and you certainly don't mix your blogging duties with your day job. But I do want to share the news today that Harvard (a University that I have the privilege to work for, albeit completely separate from my blogging duties here) has endowed the U.S.'s first professorship dedicated to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender studies. As this Guardian article points out, "queer studies has arrived" at the American university.
The endowed professorship is a gift from the Harvard Gay and Lesbian Caucus, which launched a $1.5 million funding campaign through its membership to support the position.
Harvard President Drew Faust called it "an important milestone." And it is, which is why for this one post only, I don't mind mixing oil and water, so to speak. Harvard now joins a host of other universities, from Rutgets to Yale to CUNY to Berkeley, with an academic focus on LGBT issues.
Jill Biden on Ending Bigotry and Fear in our Education System
Published June 03, 2009 @ 08:20AM PT
Jill Biden, Second Lady (is that really what they call the Vice President's wife?), spoke at the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network's (GLSEN) 2009 Respect Awards last night. She's been a teacher for 28 years, and as she says, teaching will continue to be her life's work even now that she's one of the most powerful women in Washington.
Biden told the folks at GLSEN's gathering that adolescence can be challenging, even under the best of circumstances. Here's her words:
Change is not easy, especially when it comes to ending bigotry and fear, but I am confident that together we will succeed. That is why I am proud to tell you that the Obama/Biden administration shares your commitment that every student has a safe school. Each child, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, deserves an education.
Now that's some good substance. She also added, "How can we expect kids to learn when they are taunted by their classmates? We know the horrible price of not confronting a hostile school climate, where bullying and harrassment can be daily occurrences." Biden then went on to remember two suicdes that happened earlier this year by 11-year-olds in Massachusetts and Georgia, who killed themselves after persistent taunting and bullying at school because classmates thought they were gay.
Watch the full clip of Biden's speech at the event below. She knocks it out of the park.
Happy Birthday, Harvey Milk
Published May 22, 2009 @ 06:06AM PT
Yesterday we marked the 30th anniversary of the White Night Rights, the demonstrations that took place after Harvey Milk's assassin, Dan White, was given a slap on the wrist for murdering Milk and SF Mayor George Moscone.
Coincidentally, the day after the riots - May 22 - is Harvey Milk's birthday. He would have been 79 today.
As Milk's legacy has been given more and more attention this past year, efforts have redoubled in California to officially establish May 22 as "Harvey Milk Day." The California State Senate recently passed legislation to commemorate Milk on this day, and if the bill sails through the House and gets the approval of Governor Schwarzenegger (who stupidly vetoed the bill last year), come May 22, 2010, we'll be officially celebrating today as "Harvey Milk Day."
The California LGBT caucus will be remembering Milk today, and a number of vigils around California will celebrate his life and legacy too. If you don't live in California, or you can't make it to a vigil and you find yourself with an extra 88 minutes free, why not catapult over to hulu.com, and watch for free "The Life and Times of Harvey Milk," the Oscar-winning documentary about Milk's political life. You won't regret watching it. It's also the film from which Dustin Lance Black and Gus Van Sant borrowed some footage from this past year's "Milk" movie.
And lastly, to close with some famous words from Harvey himself:
"It takes no compromising to give people their rights. It takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no survey to remove repressions."
I think that rhetoric and that political legacy is exactly what Milk would want commemorated on this day.
Jill Biden to Address LGBT Education Network
Published May 21, 2009 @ 08:52AM PT
Dr. Jill Biden will address an annual awards ceremony held by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) on June 1. Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden, has a lengthy history of championing education, and is herself a former teacher in public schools. It's expected that Biden will talk about the need to make all schools safe spaces for LGBT children and youth.
GLSEN commended Biden on her long history of advocating for young people, particularly for students most vulnerable to bullying and harassment.
Of course, then there's the wingnut side of things. Peter LaBarbera and his Americans for Truth factory are blasting Jill Biden for appearing before GLSEN. They literally think that her appearance will support the indoctrination of youth into homosexuality.
Thankfully, we have a White House (including Mrs. Biden) that affords people like LaBarbera absolutely no credibility. Groups like Americans for Truth are to the fringe side of social conservatism. Blasting Jill Biden for being an advocate for safe schools and anti-bullying is tasteless, and just plain mean. And it's not in the best interests for young people and students.
The Awards presentation that she'll present at is known as the Respect Awards, and it's an annual celebration for GLSEN to honor the individuals and corporations who have helped ensure safe schools for all of America's students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
The Curious Case of School Districts Blocking Gay Rights Websites
Published May 19, 2009 @ 01:21PM PT
Earlier this year we wrote about the Nashvillle, Tennessee school district, and how they were blocking access to certain Web sites within their public schools. Those certain Web sites weren't adult-oriented, pornographic or scandalous; rather, they were the Web sites for LGBT rights organizations like the Human Rights Campaign, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), Marriage Equality USA and others. A school district blocking access to organizations working for equality and civil rights? That can't be a good thing.
The ACLU agrees. Today they announced a lawsuit against the Knox County Schools and Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools for blocking students from accessing the Websites of organizations working for the rights of LGBT people. Public schools, after all, shouldn't be in the business of discriminating against LGBT people, or censoring information promoting equal rights from their students.
Here's some goods from the lawsuit:
Not only does defendants’ blocking policy discriminate on the basis of content in violation of the First Amendment, the policy further constitutes unlawful viewpoint discrimination. Under the defendants’ policy, students may access websites that promote anti-gay views and that advocate that persons should change their sexual orientation through so-called “reparative therapy,” but not the web sites of organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign, which is one of the largest civil rights organizations in the United States working to achieve equality under the law for LGBT persons.
One of the worst parts about this injustice is that students can access Websites for radical and extreme anti-LGBT groups, like Peter LaBarbera's "Americans for Truth About Homosexuality," or the "National Organization for Marriage." But they can't access sites like the Human Rights Campaign or GLAAD, which offer information on anti-bullying campaigns, coming out, creating safe spaces, hate crimes, and the like.
In short, the twisted Tennessee policy prevents students from accessing information that can be beneficial to their safety. And it exposes students to right-wing hatred while denying access to sites that promote equality. Tennessee students deserve better.
