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November 10, 2004

GLSEN Executive Director Kevin Jennings' Open Letter to the GLSEN Community the Morning After Election Day |
Nov 03, 2004

Dear Colleagues in the fight for social justice:
As I am sure many of you are, I am feeling more than a little down today.

I watched the election returns with growing dismay as candidates who stood for greater inclusion of LGBT people went down to defeat and discriminatory ballot measures won, often by outrageous margins.

I would be less than honest if I did not admit to feeling a bit deflated today. As an educator and activist who has devoted nearly 20 years of my life to ensuring safe schools for all students, particularly those who are or are perceived to be LGBT, I am concerned for not only what this may mean for these students but what this could mean for our education system over the next four years.

According to the 2003 National School Climate Survey, 1 out of 3 LGBT students report skipping school at least once in the last month because they were afraid to go.

These are difficult times for our youth. But now is not the time to lose hope. Those in whose footsteps we follow faced far darker days in their struggles for justice – struggles in which they inevitably prevailed. Think of African-Americans who in the 1880s saw their civil and voting rights stripped away as they were disenfranchised after the false morning of Reconstruction. Think of the Progressives and LGBT people of the 1950s who lived in constant fear of the hysterical witch-hunts of the McCarthy era. And many of us know first-hand the devastating effect of our government’s callous response to the deaths of thousands of Americans, predominantly gay men, to AIDS in the 1980s. Whatever we are feeling today, our forbearers felt it ten fold in the dark days of their struggles.

I remain hopeful because, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Indeed the events of the 2004 elections seem to have lengthened the arc of our struggle, but inevitably, justice will prevail.

At GLSEN we continue to press toward our vision of a future in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.

And we are encouraged by the firm belief that Americans understand that violence, bullying and harassment of any kind is wrong. The same faith that made me believe the Red Sox could win the World Series, an event over eight decades in the making keeps me strong.

I am sure our victory will come a little faster than that. Now, we simply get back to the important work we still have to do.
Sincerely,
Kevin Jennings
GLSEN's Executive Director

Online Legal Resource You Should Know About |
At the end of October, GLSEN worked with several national education organizations, including the National School Board Association, National Education Association, the National Association of Secondary School Principals and nearly a dozen others to produce a legal resource entitled, "Dealing with Legal Matters Surrounding Students' Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity". This resource was shipped out to every GLSEN chapter this month, as well as to every high school principal in the country through the publication Principal Leadership. In addition, school attorneys and administrators nationwide are also receiving this resource, now available online.

We hope you can utilize this resource in your local safe schools efforts.

PFLAG Invitation - Nov 15, 2004 |
Hi everyone,

The election results earlier this week have thrown many in our PFLAG family and community into a state of despair, anger and fear, among many other negative feelings. Instead of ignoring these feelings, we (PFLAG Phoenix) want to acknowledge them and give people an opportunity to voice their feelings at our November 15th support meeting in Paradise Valley. We have invited Dr. Dina Evan, a Phoenix psychotherapist specializing in individual and couples therapy, to help us facilitate a group discussion about the feelings we all are experiencing from the election, and to help us find ways to heal and move beyond these feelings in the days, weeks and months to come.

The discussion with Dr. Evan will now be the primary focus of our group presentation at our November 15th support meeting. However, we also will spend a few minutes at the end of that discussion sharing some of the exciting things we learned at last month's PFLAG National Conference. After the group presentation, we will break out into our sharing groups, and Dr. Evan has agreed to participate in one general sharing group that will continue the discussion about the election and its aftermath within our community. Our other general sharing group will focus on any other topics anyone would like to share and discuss, and that group will purposely avoid any further discussion of the election and politics.

So, we hope you will join us for what I'm sure will be an 'interesting' (to say the least!) discussion, and that you will participate in whichever support group best meets your needs afterwards.

The November 15th meeting will be held at Palo Cristi Presbyterian Church, located on the southwest corner of 36th Street and Lincoln Drive in Paradise Valley. Doors open at 7:00pm, and the meeting starts promptly at 7:15pm.

Thanks,
Mike @ PFLAG Phoenix

1N10 Invitation to Community Thanksgiving Dinner - Nov 24, 2004 |
We'd love to have the students, teachers and leaders involved in GLSEN join us.

We will serve dinner at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, Nov 24th. This event will be held at Casa de Cristo Church located at 1029 E Turney, Phoenix. (Turney is approx 1/2 mile south of Camelback, the church is between 7th & 12th Streets).

So that we are adequately prepared, we ask for confirmations by Saturday Nov 20th. Contact me via e-mail or at (602)400-5383.

FUSION Continues Working with Young Men |
Hello Everyone,
I would like to take this opportunity to share with you a message of great sadness and joy. As many of you are probably aware APAZ has just recently closed its doors after 21 years of distinguished service. It is unfortunate that APAZ could not survive these troubled times, however our community will not slow down its efforts to halt the transmission of HIV/AIDS and FUSION will continue to work with young men who have sex with men under the support of BODY POSITIVE. As of Monday, November 18, 2004 Body Positive graciously accepted an offer by the State Department of Health HIV/AIDS Division to become FUSION's monitoring agency. Both Ron and I are pleased to be under their care and support and feel confident that FUSION and its participants will truly benefit.

FUSION has not stopped serving its community and we ask you more now than ever to help us meet our program objectives. Please give us a call, an email or just drop by to pay us a visit. Our doors are always open to you and we hope that you will continue to support FUSION. We are located one block north of Indian School and one block west of 23rd Ave:
4148 North 23rd Drive
Phoenix, AZ 85015
(602) 274-5209

We would like to hear your voice and input on how you want FUSION to best serve its community. Remember it's your house and your rules so let us know that you want!
Respectfully,
Chris Stevens
Ron Neal
FUSION Coordinators

Get Involved - GSA Research Project |
ATTENTION: GSA advisors and GSA student leaders

Take Part in an Important Sociological Study on High School Gay-Straight Alliances

I am a sociologist working on a book, tentatively titled Allied Forces: The Social and Political Impact of Gay-Straight Alliances, which documents the development and rise of gay-straight alliances in high schools across the country. It is important that the book to include the greatest diversity of experiences from as many schools in as many regions of the country as possible.

If you are interested in sharing the story of the beginnings of your school¹s gay-straight alliance with me please click here and complete an open-ended survey about your experiences. Neither your name nor email address will be recorded by this survey, so absolute anonymity will be assured.

The book (to be published by Routledge in 2005) will help provide well-deserved recognition to the struggles of GLBT students and the work being done by students and faculty to ameliorate the situation. I look forward hearing about the great work you are doing in your schools.

Melinda S. Miceli, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Sociology
University of Hartford

GenderPAC Conference - May 20-22 |
Fifth National Conference on Gender: Three days of gender politics, strategy & policy workshops, lobbying and entertainment.

Keynote Speakers: Eve Sedgwick & Anne Fausto Sterling
Visit the GPAC Website for call for participation and registration.

The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition (GenderPAC) works to end discrimination and violence caused by gender stereotypes.

GLSEN Phoenix Fully Re-Accredited for 2004-05 |
Dear GLSEN Phoenix,

It is with great pleasure that I inform you that your chapter has received full accreditation status for the 2004-2005 year. In the coming weeks you will receive a hard copy letter reflecting your status, as well as feedback on the progress of your chapter's work.

As always, thank you for the safer schools work you do.

Sincerely,

Myles Gideon
Local Chapter Development Specialist

GLSEN
1012 14th St. NW, Suite 1105
Washington, DC 20005
Ph: (202) 347-7780 ext.201
Cell: (646) 279-2931
Fax: (202) 347-7781