Vol 1(2) March 1997
A Message from our Co-Chairs: Kathryn Hamm
Making our schools safe for all youth, regardless of sexual orientation, as you know, is a year-round effort. In preparation for this spring, however, your GLSTN Steering Committee has spend many hours, hard at work, establishing its goals and priorities for the spring of '97. As a result, the GLSTN/DC membership and our interested friends will have a wealth of opportunities open to them this spring.
In February, Randolph Carter of NAIS (the National Association of Independent Schools) assisted us in our growth with a presentation about the ways in which GLSTN can work toward establishing a diverse membership that included people of color, non-teachers, men, women, and persons of all sexual orientations. In March, our programming committee hosted its first Speaker's Bureau in order to offer concrete and specific strategies for educating schools about the effect of homophobia and heterosexism.
Don't miss our March GLSTN/DC meeting at the Maret School. Mark your calendars: we'll discuss Gay history and culture in the classroom in April; celebrate spring with a barbecue bash in May; and cap off the year with an energetic appearance on Pride Day!
We have many wonderful volunteers already donating their time and money to help make schools safer for Gay youth. We need many more. If you are interested in becoming more involved, please feel free to join us at a Steering Committee meeting. It's a wonderful opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at the full extent of what GLSTN/DC has to offer. Or, call a team captain and let them know how you would like to help. For more information, or to RSVP for a Steering Committee meeting (first Monday of each month), please call Martha at (301)365-6004 or Kathryn at (202)939-4070.
In the past month, my school has scheduled two faculty/staff trainings on homophobia and one Upper School student assembly on the same topic. Kevin Jennings, Executive Director of GLSTN, will lead the assembly and one workshop. Local activist and educator Carol Dopp will lead the other training.
The school is an all-girls independent school with 660 students in grades three through twelve. It is an affluent, well-intentioned, predominantly white community. Parents throughout the grades are reacting to the homophobia education: and a backlash of ignorance and fear is in full swing. Throughout it all, our School Head, administration, and Board of Trustees have remained staunch in their commitment to teaching respect for all, and to preparing our girls for life in a rapidly changing world.
My department head came to the February GLSTN/DC Chapter meeting. (Approximately forty people attended a discussion of diversity and multiculturalism led by Randolph Carter, Director of the NAIS Office of Diversity and Multicultural Services.) My boss smiled at me warmly whenever our eyes met, and I knew she was proud of me, both as her Associate Director and as the Co-Chair of GLSTN/DC. Her daughter is an out lesbian. I am out at school: to students, parents, colleagues, and anyone who cares to know. I sit on various committees as an out lesbian with a firm voice. My job is to raise money to help run the school. Fund-raising has never been better.
My boss has told me on no uncertain terms that I will never lose this job because I am a lesbian. With that kind of support from my school, I feel like I have been given a responsibility to help make other schools safe for all students, teachers, and families, regardless of sexual orientation. GLSTN/DC is the most personally rewarding volunteer work I have ever done.
Final note: The GLSTN National Office has asked me to place our whole-hearted support behind a Diversity Initiative. On Monday, March 4, the GLSTN/DC Steering Committee discussed this Initiative and how we can implement it locally.
March 4, mailing date*
March 20, GLSTN Chapter Meeting
April 1, flyer mailing*
April 8, Steering Committee ‡
April 17, GLSTN Chapter Meeting
April 29, flyer mailing*
May 5, Steering Committee ‡
May 15, GLSTN Chapter Meeting
*Volunteers needed! Please call our co-chairs to help with mailings!
‡ RSVP to GLSTN/DC co-chair
Friday-Sunday: March 21-23; Salt Lake City, Utah
Contact: GLSTN@glstn.org or
Deidre Cuffee-Gray (212)727-0135
The Seventh Annual GLSTN/Northeastern Conference
Saturday: April 5; Cambridge, Massachusetts
Contact: GLSTNBoston@aol.com or (617)661-2411
The Third Annual GLSTN/Midwest Conference:
"Beyond Tolerance: Strategies for Change"
Friday-Sunday: April 11-13; Cleveland, Ohio
Contact: GLSTNCleve@aol.com or Rich Horton (216)382-0507
The Third Annual GLSTN/West Coast Conference:
"Working Together for Understanding"
Saturday: April 26; Sylmar, California
Contact: Betty Ott (818)367-1971 X346 or GLSTN/LA (310)983-1441
GLSTN Chicago Annual Fundraiser:
"The Prom You Never Had"
Saturday: May 31from 8pm to 1am (Also the weekend of Jazz Fest in Chicago-free jazz @ Grant Park!)
Chicago Cultural Center, 78 East Washington (corner of Washington and Michigan)
Tickets: $35. To order, send check to: GLSTN Chicago, 5210 N Wayne Avenue, Chicago, IL 60640-2223
By Jill Karpf
IF YOU ARE A MARYLAND RESIDENT, please take a minute to call these MD State Representatives regarding the following bills (the phone numbers are local calls): Please thank Reps Sharon Grosfeldt (301-840-3028) and Dana Dembro (301-858-3052) for introducing HB609, which would recognize the marriage of two consenting adults, and HB431, which would prohibit discrimination against homosexuals in housing, employment, or public accommodations. Call your own Representatives and tell them that you support these bills. Also, tell your legislator to vote AGAINST HB398, the newest anti-Gay marriage bill.
Montgomery County Public Schools have been the focus of our recent attention. Most of you probably have already read in The Washington Post or The Washington Blade about the school system's decision to censor the Blair HS Communications Magnet's student-produced "Shades of Grey" cable debate program on same-sex marriage. Superintendent Dr Paul Vance's recent decision to uphold the ban was made over the protests of the Blair Principal, Mr Phillip Gainous, their PTA, the Communications Magnet staff, and the students. James Raskin, a law professor at American University, is providing pro bono support to the students, who hope they won't have to go to court over what they consider their First Amendment rights. The students have appealed to the Board of Education to have the Superintendent reconsider his decision. If the Superintendent refuses to do this, the Board of Education could choose to overrule the Superintendent. The decision should come in the next month.
MCPS GLSTN members feel that this censorship is yet another example of MCPS' discomfort and refusal to address the harassment of their Gay and Lesbian students and staff. While "sexual orientation" was included in the revised MCPS Human Relations policy in March, 1996, nothing to date has been done to inservice administrators, staff, or students about how to deal with these issues. Recently, a number of MCPS Gay and Lesbian students provided information to administrators about their personal experiences in the MCPS. Hopefully, this will be a first step in awareness of these needs and a move to action.
Montgomery County Public Schools
850 Hungerford Drive
Rockville, Maryland 20850
AND... send a copy of your letter to: GLSTN/DC, Box 363, Cabin John, Maryland 20818 or GLSTN/DC@aol.com.
Copies of your letters should also be sent to: Mr Reggie Felton, President of the Board of Education, and Dr Oliver Lancaster, Director of the Department of Human Relations, at the same Hungerford Drive address.
Press HERE to use our online membership form.
Books for your PERSONAL and PROFESSIONAL GROWTH
Bailey, Norma, and Tracy Phariss. "Breaking Through the Wall of Silence: Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Issues for Middle School Educators," Middle School Journal (January, 1996).
Chandler, Kurt. Passages of Pride: Lesbian and Gay Youth Come of Age (Random House Times Books: 1995).
Harbeck, Karen, ed. Coming Out in the Classroom (Binghampton, NY: Harrington Park Press: 1991).
Jennings, Kevin. One Teacher in Ten (Boston, Alyson Publishing, Inc.: 1994).
Kissen, Rita M. The Last Closet: The Real Lives of Lesbian and Gay Teachers (Portsmouth, NH, Heinemann Publishers: 1996).
McNaught, Brian. Gay Issues in the Workplace (Saint Martin's Press: 1993).
Gay and Lesbian Characters and Themes in Children's Books
Weeks, Sarah. Illustrated by Jeffrey Greene. Red Ribbon (HarperCollins: 1995; ISBN 0-06-025430-0). An illustrated version of Week's song, "Red Ribbon," in which a little girl named Jenny wears a red ribbon for her ailing neighbor. Includes a tape of the song and a ribbon. This is perhaps an overly simplified approach to the subject and the book is a difficult read-aloud; but it works nicely with the tape. Reading aloud, ages 4-8; beginning readers, ages 5-8.
Salat, Christina. Living in Secret (Bantam: 1993). Eleven-year-old Amelia runs away with her mother and her mother's lover when her father won't let them be together. A gripping story with unusually good and comfortable portrayals of Gay characters. Chapter book, ages 5-12.
Lamb, Wendy, ed. Ten Out of Ten (Laurel-Leaf: 1995). A superb collection of plays by writers aged 18 and under. Several include Gay characters, including the sad and funny "Remedial English," in which a brilliant student discovers that in order to stay in love with the gorgeous boy of his dreams, love will have to be very blind indeed. Ages 14 and up.
Did you know that a $35 fee entitles you to both National and Local memberships in GLSTN? BUT, if you join through GLSTN/DC, the Chapter receives 100% of the fee, compared to approximately $40% if you join through the National Office.
NAIS People of Color Conference GLSTN/DC Reception Follow-up: GLSTN Executive Director Kevin Jennings says of our December reception at the NAIS People of Color Conference, " This is a great example of how Chapters can help do outreach to help fulfill the goals of the Diversity Initiative. Chapters [nationwide] are encouraged to follow GLSTN/DC's lead and do this important outreach." *Special thanks to AIMS and several private donors for making the reception possible.
The Youth Pride Alliance is currently recruiting speakers for the upcoming Youth Pride Day which will be taking place in Washington, DC, on Saturday, April 19, 1997. They need a variety of speakers to share their experiences in the form of one to two minute testimonials. They are also looking for 4 or 5 speakers to speak for five to six minutes. If you or anyone you know is interested in speaking at Youth Pride Day, please contact Christopher J Dyer at (202)588-8008 or Youthpride@aol.com. Please let them know by March 1, 1997, if you are interested.
Fund-raising: Thank you, muchas gracias, shukran, merci, xie-xie to the generous souls who have written large checks recently. Hence this newsletter and the stamps affixed thereon. Be on the look-out for GLSTN/DC's first fund-raising appeal letter. I hope your checkbooks will be wide open. We need gifts of $100 and more above the membership fee of $35. *If you do not want us to ask you for money, please contact Martha Pritchard at (301)365-6004 or at m_pritchard@holton-arms.edu.
Advocacy note: The Association of Independent Maryland Schools (AIMS) Board of Trustees has formed a sub-committee on sexual orientation. Martha Pritchard of GLSTN/DC serves on this committee and welcomes the input of people in the Maryland independent school community.
If you have any questions, contact our WebSpinner at: TenorOne@cheerful.com.