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Harvey Milk Day is next Wednesday, March 22! Celebrate by telling us: What do you give ‘em hope for? http://bit.ly/101W13V
It’s National Youth HIV + AIDS Awareness Day!
Tell us: why does your GSA fight AIDS?
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The NYPD has declared a portion of Flatbush a “Frozen Zone”, meaning media are not allowed in and people can be subjected to arrest for not following police orders. It basically means the area is under temporary martial law. The last times the NYPD declared a Frozen Zone was on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and during the beginning of OWS.
Please call 311 to demand that everyone in connection to tonight’s Kimani vigil/march be released from the 71st precinct in Brooklyn. There’s one Malcolm X Grassroots Movement member arrested & two Justice Committee (JC) members arrested. A ton of community members who were at the vigil/march were also arrested. If you have friends/family in NYC please tell them to call 311. If you live in NYC please call 311. Let’s get them free! Please share!NYPD decided not to release community members and Cop Watchers arrested at the vigil for Kimani “Kiki” Gray. Please call 7182502001 to demand NO charges be brought against all arrested
RIGHT NOW, the Westboro Baptist Church is outside Santa Monica High School, telling LGBTQ students that they’re sinful, tainted, damned.
The GSA is responding peacefully: with a wall of humanity, and a fundraiser to support GSAs nationwide in WBC’s name.
Join them and show WBC we will not give in to hatred!
GSA Network staff and local GSA activists met Rep. Mark Takano, the first GSA advisor and LGBT person of color elected to Congress!
Campus Pride: GSA Day 2013: Tweet Chat at 3 pm PST on February 6 -
Campus Pride partners with GLSEN, GSA Network, and the Iowa Pride Network to celebrate the wonderful work of GSAs nationwide on GSA Day, February 6, 2013; #gsaday Tweet Chat to occur at 3 pm PST
Gay-straight alliances and LGBTQ campus organizations do invaluable work at schools, colleges…
Don’t miss it! Join us at 3pm tomorrow for the #gsaday chat!
It Doesn’t Inevitably Get Better: Implement the FAIR Education Act -
LGBTQ students and students with disabilities face some of the highest rates of bullying. They’re also disproportionately suspended and expelled from school, along with students of color, showing that punitive discipline is not the solution to bullying and often hurts the youth it seeks to protect. Excluded from history, tormented by classmates and disproportionately kicked out of school, LGBT students and people with disabilities are often taught at school to feel worthless.
With the enactment of California’s FAIR Education Act, students can learn that these marginalized groups have actually made incredible contributions to this country’s history. They can learn that an openly gay man, Bayard Rustin, played a key role in the African-American Civil Rights movement—but that because of his identity, he was kept out of the spotlight and out of the history books. Students can learn that Americans with disabilities courageously fought for rights and protections under U.S. law, marking an important chapter in legislative history.
The FAIR Education Act gives California a tremendous advantage in the struggle to curb bullying. We just need to use it.
David Phan & the intersection of racism, homophobia, & school responses to bullying -
Racialicious takes a powerful look at David Phan’s suicide:
“As reported in The Salt Lake Tribune, on the day David committed suicide, Bennion alerted his mother, Phuong Tran, to let her know that her son had been suspended. When Tran rushed to the school, she was told by the principal that the reason for David’s suspension was because they found a condom in his backpack. When asked why a condom should justify suspension, she was told that they would discuss it further the following Tuesday.
Apparently, Bennion exists in a universe where the search of an Asian-Pacific Islander American (APIA) student’s body and personal property is warranted, and where a condom on campus is seen as a sign of criminal behavior rather than mature responsibility (not to mention that many public schools freely give out condoms to students to encourage safe-sex practices). Whereas David’s Vietnamese family unconditionally embraced him when he came out as gay, Bennion and Granite turned its back on David as he endured anti-gay bullying–and used the condom to punitively construct David’s sexuality as a threat to the school.”
