“California this year became the first state with a law spelling out the transgender student rights in public schools, including the ability to use restrooms and to play on sports teams that match their expressed genders. Another 13 states prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity in schools. Dozens of districts, from Salt Lake City and Kansas City to Knoxville, Tennessee, and Decatur, Georgia, have adopted similar protections.” Read More in The Huffington Post … [Read more...]
Harvey Milk Day 2014, May 22
Who Was Harvey Milk? “Harvey Milk was an activist, organizer, and the first openly gay man elected to public office in the country as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in the late 1970s. Harvey Milk came out and started organizing against discrimination of gay and lesbian business owners in the Castro District of San Francisco, and against the Briggs Initiative (this was an initiative on the California state ballot in 1978 that would have banned gays and lesbians from working in California schools). Milk was responsible for … [Read more...]
LGBT News: Proud Mother Talks About Important and Unique Role GSA’s Played in Her Sons Life
“This is the story of my experience as a mother of a gay son and how I struggled to support him during his middle and high school years. It is the third video in my Proud Mom series. I created these videos, with my son's support, to promote acceptance and support of LGBTQ youth in families, communities and schools.” Watch the video on Vimeo … [Read more...]
LGBT News: Photographer Attempts To Capture LGBT America In 10,000 Portraits
“Creator iO Tillett Wright, along with her project team, hopes to “humanize a vast community” simply by documenting their diverse faces.” Read More about this project on BuzzFeed … [Read more...]
National LGBT News: US Dept. of Education. Announces Title IX Protects Transgender Students
“The guidance, from the Department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR), states: "Title IX's sex discrimination prohibition extends to claims of discrimination based on gender identity or failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity or femininity and OCR accepts such complaints for investigation." Read more at The National Center for Transgender Equality … [Read more...]
Local LGBT News: Youths Break Silencing Effect of Bullying
“Breaking the Silence,” a rally held last Friday at the downtown Santa Cruz Town Clock, expanded awareness of the national Day of Silence, an annual event formed in 1996 by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) during which students across the country vow to stay quiet for a whole day to symbolize the silencing effects of harassment and bullying on LGBTQ students. Read more in City on the Hill Press … [Read more...]
LGBT News: Boy Scouts of America Shuts Down Seattle Troop Over Gay Scoutmaster
“The BSA has revoked the charters of the Rainier Beach United Methodist Church and its two scouting units, Troop 98 and Pack 98, for standing by Geoffrey McGrath after the BSA ousted him as a scoutmaster in March, according to Scouts for Equality, a group that lobbies against discrimination in the scouting movement.” Read more in Time Magazine … [Read more...]
LGBT News: Gaming in Color Documentary Focuses on Queer Gamers
“The feature focuses on gaming in American society as a whole, the few LGBT characters in narratives currently seen in video games, and the growth of the queer geek community over the past few years.” Read More in The Advocate … [Read more...]
LGBT Youth Voices: 14 year old Christine Breaks Her Silence
Christine has partnered with The Poet Warrior Project to share this beautiful and powerful spoken word piece about breaking the silence. View her video on YouTube … [Read more...]
[Reminder] 17th Annual Queer Youth Leadership Awards!
The Queer Youth Leadership Awards recognizes queer youth across Santa Cruz County for being leaders within their community. Being a leader encompasses many attributes and spans across all disciplines and activities. We are looking for youth who inspire, be they into anything including sports, academics, activism, art and performance. When: Saturday May 10th, 2014 Where: New Brighton Middle School, 250 Washburn Ave, Capitola 5:30 pm: Resource Fair 6:00 pm: Buffet Dinner 7:00 pm: Awards Ceremony Reserve your QSA/GSA table! … [Read more...]