You Can Change The World For The Better - Check out what 14 year old Amelia is doing!

So Amelia's 14, and out as a lesbian at her middle school. She not only founded her school's GSA, and is a student Ambassador for GLSEN, but she's started an organization, THE MAKE IT SAFE project, that sends GLBTQ Teen books to schools around the country (and eventually around the world!) She's taking donations and for every $100 she raises is sending out a group of about 10 GLBTQ books that she and her friends really loved.

How amazing is that?

Oh, here's a quote from Amelia in a Bay Windows article:

"When I figured out that a lot of schools didn’t have any resources about what it means to be LGBT or how to come out," explained Amelia, "I decided that I wanted to help send those books to schools."

"My goal is to provide awareness for people and also to provide the reading material that will make them safe," she added.

Which books did she choose?  Six fiction and four nonfiction books: 

Annie On My Mind, by Nancy Garden;  

Empress of the World, by Sara Ryan;  

Luna, by Julie Anne Peters;  

Boy Meets Boy, by David Levithan;  

Rubyfruit Jungle, by Rita Mae Brown;  

It Gets Better, ed. by Dan Savage and Terry Miller;  

GLBTQ: The Survival Guide for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Teens, by Kelly Huegel;  

Queer: The Ultimate LGBT Guide for Teens, by Kathy Belge; and  

Like Me, by Chely Wright.


And I love how it's not just about sending the books to the schools, but about making sure students have access to them.

Great job, Amelia! You're changing our world for the better!

And for everyone else reading... Inspiring, isn't it?

Namaste,
Lee

My thanks to Erica for letting me know about this, so I could share it with all of you.

A New Study Finds That LGBT Kids Face More Punishments... and why that makes queer kid lit even more important!

Reported in School Library Journal this week is a new study from Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics that finds:

"...gay and bisexual youth are being punished more than straight peers," says Kathryn E. W. Himmelstein, who coauthored the study. "And that's not because they're misbehaving more."

LGBT youth faced 1.25 to 3 times the chances of being punished, according to the study. "Thus, nonheterosexual youth who are harassed or engage in risky behaviors may find that instead of support, therapy, or services, their behaviors elicit punishment," write the authors.

And the article in SLJ, by Lauren Barack, said it so well:

The study is yet another example of why libraries are so crucial in the lives of LGBT kids who are looking for safe havens to find the materials and resources they need.

And a big part of queer and questioning kids finding the books and materials they need is having writers and illustrators include LGBTQ characters and themes in their work.

That's why I'm so proud to have these Find the LGBTQ in SCBWI discussions at the Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators national conferences, to encourage and support the creators of content for children to include LGBTQ characters and themes!

Think about it. If you're a writer or illustrator, can YOU include gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning or gender non-conforming characters or themes in YOUR work?

Let's make our world a better place for all kids - one LGBTQ-inclusive story at a time.

Namaste,
Lee

Thanks to Caroline for the heads-up on the SLJ article!

So the High School And Parents Staged a FAKE Prom to keep Constance McMillen and Her Girlfriend from the REAL Prom!

So on Prom night, Constance went with her girlfriend to the "official" prom that they'd been invited to after all the drama... and guess what? There were only 5 other students there.

Mysteriously, everyone else was at ANOTHER prom. A Private Prom, to which Constance had NOT been invited. A prom that was a secret until the next day, when the Facebook photos broke, and well... you can't expect a whole school of juniors and seniors to keep quiet about their Prom, can you?

This was after the court ruled that they didn't need to force the school to have an inclusive prom because hey, Constance had been invited to a prom.

Yeah, she'd been invited to a decoy prom.

This just stinks.

Beyond swearing, there are 3 things each one of us can do:

1. Express your outrage. My friend Stephen wrote a letter to the Superintendent of Constance's district, and it's powerful. Stephen was kind enough to let me share it here:

Dear Superintendent McNeece,

I was saddened to read today that Constance McMillen was duped into attending a ‘fake’ prom, and was not told about or invited to a private prom attended by her classmates; a decision supported by school officials and parents.

As an educator, I just don’t understand how school officials could allow this to happen. You and I became educators because we care about children and because we have taken on a selfless act of providing a service for the benefit of students. We do this because we truly care about the health and well-being of our students.

When I read stories about bullying, harassment and discrimination I never expect it to come from the adults in the environment. What’s worse, it’s coming from adults who are supposed to be the most qualified, educated, knowledgeable and ‘open minded’ about the students they serve. Is it really an issue to you that a student is gay or lesbian? Is it really an issue to you that a gay or lesbian student wants to bring a same sex date to a prom? Is it really an issue to you that your students don’t all represent your core values? Isn’t education supposed to be the ‘great equalizer’ in our society? Regardless of your protected class status, which includes one’s sexual orientation, we are often told that if you work hard in school you will be judged on your merits and not the color of your skin or religion. Shouldn’t we also include the person that you choose to love?

I’m trying really hard to understand your decision making and why you as the Superintendent, the person who ranks the highest in your educational community; why you would allow this to happen. Where is your heart? Where is the little voice inside of you that tells you right from wrong? Where is that deepest part of you called a soul that has the capacity to show compassion for another human being, because that is what this is really about; not who Constance brings to a prom but your ability to look beyond your own personal biases and prejudices and say to yourself, ‘this young person is just as deserving and entitled as all other students and deserves the same rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of her own happiness.'

Had you allowed her to attend the prom with her female date and in a tuxedo, the duration of that event would have lasted about 3 hours, yet you chose to deny this student a basic human right, and now this drama has dragged out for several weeks and it makes you, the Superintendent, look bigoted, silly and completely foolish.

So the question is this: Are you an educator who cares about students…ALL your students, or are you there to pander to the biases and prejudices of your community?

In my opinion, you should step down from your job. You are not deserving of calling yourself an educator or a leader. An educator embraces and cares for all students and a leader, a TRUE leader, does what is right by students and teaches a bigoted community of parents that schools in their community are open to all students, regardless of their protected class status, and embraces all ideas, regardless of how controversial they may appear to be. All you have done is toed the line and reinforced a status quo in your community that is both negative and cruel.

In the end, you have deeply hurt a student that did not deserve this manner of cruelty. Forever, she will remember her last year of high school as a horrible reminder of the bigotry that exists at her school and in her community. And you, what did you learn from all this?

Sincerely,

Stephen B. Jimenez

You can send your letters here:


School Board Members

Eddie Hood, a082315@allstate.com

Jack Nichols, jnichols@itawamba.k12.ms.us

Harold Martin, hmartin@itawamba.k12.ms.us

Clara Brown, cbrown@network-one.come

Tony Wallace, twallace@nexband.com


Superintendent

Mr. McNeece, tmcneece@itawamba.k12.ms.us


Principal

Trae Wiygul, twiygul@itawamba.k12.ms.us


2. Express your support and encouragement for Constance. Maybe even send her a card. What would you say to her? Here's the address:

Chris Hampton, Public Education Associate
c/o Constance McMillen
ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and AIDS Project
125 Broad St., 18th Floor, New York, NY 10004

3. Write your Congressperson and let them know how important it is for our government to protect GLBTQ students like Candace by passing The Student Non-Discrimination Act.

Here's the text of the HRC letter (and you can click on this link to get to the HRC site where you can sign a petition and send the letter electronically):

I'm writing to let you know that I strongly support the Student Non-Discrimination Act (H.R. 4530) that has been introduced in the House and is expected to be introduced in the Senate soon.

Public school students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) are subject to pervasive discrimination, including harassment, bullying, intimidation and violence.

These students, like all other students, deserve an educational environment free of discrimination and harassment.

But while federal statutory protections expressly address discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex and disability, LGBT students are not expressly protected by federal civil rights laws.

That is unacceptable.

This law would prohibit any school program or activity receiving federal financial assistance from discriminating against any public school student on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.

Discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity contributes to high rates of absenteeism, dropout, adverse health consequences, and academic underachievement among LGBT youth. When left unchecked, such discrimination can lead, and has led to, life-threatening violence and suicide.

Thank you for your time and attention to this important issue.

Thanks to Daniel for the original link, to Stephen for letting me share his brilliant and passionate letter, and to all of you for caring so much!

Namaste,
Lee


ps: the original disco ball photo was from here and I added the "fake prom" text to it.

Money Talks... Spend it Wisely. Or, put another way, Let's Reward Gay-Friendly Companies!

The Human Rights Campaign has put out their annual BUYING FOR EQUALITY 2010 guide.

It's like a report card for companies, letting us consumers know who's a "friend" to the Gay (GLBTQ) community, and who is not.

Businesses are rated on a scale from 0 to
100, based on whether or not they have
policies that support LGBT people. These
include anti-discrimination protections,
domestic partner benefits, diversity train-
ing, transgender-inclusive benefits and
external practices.

It's a guide to let us know which companies we want to encourage to continue to stand by us, and which don't really deserve our money.

Like when you get gas for your car, it's good to know that BP (Arco, Castrol), Chevron (Caltex, Texaco) and Shell Oil all scored 100%.

And that Exxon Mobil scored 0. Yup, Zero. Why would you fill up there? Why would you let your family members or friends fill up there?

Costco scored 100%.

Walmart 40%. Where are you going to get that stuff for the party?

Mattel 95%.

Hasbro 50%. (Hey! Barbie turns out to be more politically correct than G.I. Joe!)

This is not about boycotting companies - it's about supporting companies that are Gay-friendly.

And when the Gay-friendly companies start to do better than their Gay-unfriendly competitors because so many of us are choosing to spend our money with the Gay-friendly companies, the tide toward justice will become seismic. Because then, in addition to the issue of fairness for Gays (which doesn't hold that much sway in many low scoring bottom-line obsessed boardrooms) there will be a financial incentive for companies to do the right thing by the Gay community. And that's a goal to work towards!

So get the guide. And spend your money wisely.

It's a way each of us can make a difference!

Namaste,
Lee