Would middle school GSAs help curb anti-gay bullying?

As we work to secure LGBT student orgs on the college level, the discussion is being had in the middle school arena. In Boston, MA three youth panelists testified to the importance of GSAs and other LGBT youth support groups during their high school years. The Edge reports:

During an April 14 legislative briefing by the Massachusetts Commission on GLBT Youth, commissioners, lawmakers and young people debated whether middle schools would be the next frontier for the gay/straight alliance (GSA) movement. Three youth panelists testified to the importance of GSAs and other LGBT youth support groups during their high school years, but commission vice-chair Eleni Carr pointed out that research suggests students are now coming out at much younger ages. The briefing took place in the House Member’s Lounge inside the State House.

"Today the average age is actually 13.4, which is middle school. ... I’m wondering if there are any thoughts here on the panel or in the room of the appropriateness and possibilities that might exist in gay/straight alliances in middle schools," said Carr.

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Anonymous E-mail Accuses Diversity Program of Promoting ‘Gay Agenda’

Julie Bolcer at the Advocate is reporting that a mass email has been sent to thousands of parents of a California high school complaining that the school's diversity program is advancing the "gay agenda". It seems like the email didn't illict the response the author had hoped for:

An anonymous e-mail potentially sent to thousands of parents accused the Castro Valley High School in California of promoting a "gay agenda" in its diversity program last week.

The high school near San Francisco is the alma mater of lesbian MSNBC host, Rachel Maddow.

The two-day “Days of Diversity” program, now in its ninth year at the school, teaches students about the history of their community and country, including inter-religious relations and civil rights, according to Principal Pete Alvarez.

Whoever sent the e-mail thinks otherwise, however.

“I find out that the influence of the gay agenda at CVHS is much worse than I had been led to believe,” said the message. “I already knew that most of my child’s teachers were gay.”

Officials are unclear how the sender received the e-mail addresses of parents, many of whom expressed their disgust with the anti-gay sentiments.

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Gay teens face hard times in Tri-Cities

By Sara Schilling, Herald staff writer

Gay and lesbian teens in the Tri-Cities say they've been targeted in the community and at school because of their sexual orientation.

They've been whispered about, laughed at and called names such as "faggot" when they're on the street and in school hallways, they say.

"I've had people try to fight me because I'm gay. I've had people try to fight me because I hang out with people who are gay and stand up for them," said Alex, 17, who goes to high school in the Tri-Cities.

The Herald agreed not to fully identify students to protect them from harassment.

Their experiences are backed up by a national survey released this month. It found that 86 percent of students who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered -- abbreviated as LGBT -- had been verbally harassed at school in the past year.

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86% of LGBT teens face harassment in US schools

By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk

The most comprehensive study ever undertaken into the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students in the United States has found they face widespread abuse.

GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, released the 2007 National School Climate Survey yesterday.

6,209 middle and high school students took part.

GLSEN said nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT students (86.2%) experienced harassment at school in the past year, three-fifths (60.8%) felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation and a third (32.7%) skipped a day of school in the past month because of feeling unsafe.

“The 2007 National School Climate Survey reveals that, on a whole, the situation is still dire for many LGBT youth when it comes to school safety,” GLSEN Executive Director Kevin Jennings said.

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High School Principal is Taking His Ball and Going Home

In a Recent update...

The Lexington-Richland School District 5 - located in South Carolina - announced that they will not ban all school clubs unrelated to sports. The district considered banning student clubs in an effort to thwart Irmo High School students from creating a Gay-Straight Alliance on their campus. The school board drew a few provisions by which school clubs in district 5 must abide. 1) parents/guardians have the power to remove their children from any school club and 2) students are prohibited from talking about sexually explicit material in deference to the district's abstinence policy.

The decision was a clear upset for Irmo High School principal Eddie Walker who threatened to leave the school if the gays got their way. Walker says that an official GSA would conflict with his beliefs and religious convictions. I think Walker should stay at his post, attend a few GSA meetings, maybe subscribe to HRC's "Out in Scripture" publication and learn something new. I only speak from an assumption that people who have made a profession in academia actually care about expanding their viewpoints. I guess quitting is easier for some.

Read the AP article

Vote Delayed on Gay-friendly Student Club

The Associated Press

IRMO, S.C. - A South Carolina school district has delayed until later in the month a vote on whether to ban all student clubs that don't relate to academics or sports as a way to close a gay student organization.
Vice Chairman Robert Gantt said Monday the Lexington-Richland School District 5 board was delaying its vote on whether to ban the clubs to get more public input.
Irmo High School principal Eddie Walker said last month he would step down at the end of the next school year because the Gay-Straight Alliance conflicts with his beliefs and religious convictions.
Officials had said the district couldn't stop the alliance from forming because federal law prohibits discriminating against a club based on its purpose.
The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network says there are about 4,000 gay-straight alliances at schools nationwide, including 16 in South Carolina.