So much great stuff in the
Safe Schools Coalition newsletter today! I couldn't beat it, so I'm reprinting parts of it:
What's Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender (GLBT) Pride Month Commemorating?
This international celebration marks the anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion on the last Sunday in June. In the 1940's, 50's and 60's, police had extorted money from the owners of nightclubs that served gay folks. They could do this because, in many places, it was illegal to dance with someone of your own gender or to wear any clothing "of the other sex" and it was illegal for a club to serve an LGBT clientele. They often raided the clubs to demonstrate their muscle, arresting the patrons, publishing their names (which meant you could lose your career, your family, your home), and sometimes beating or raping them in custody.
This police brutality was finally met with angry opposition one night in June of 1969, when the police raided the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York. For the first time ever, instead of passively accepting the police brutality, the patrons, many of whom were young Puerto Rican and Black drag queens, fought back. They barricaded the doors and set off several days of rioting by their supporters and friends. Today, the holiday is celebrated as the anniversary of the modern movement for the human rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
What happens at GLBT Pride Month Celebrations?
Many cities and towns all over the world have parades or marches. Some Pride celebrations are more political and focus on human rights abuses, discrimination and the fight for justice and equality. Some are more playful, more like a Mardi Gras, a celebration of freedoms won so far. Some celebrations include huge picnics in a park with hundreds or thousands of other families who have gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender family members ... or who simply care about other families' rights. Some have children's areas with art tents, swimming areas and cotton candy. Folks listen to singers, dancers and speeches; we relax and enjoy the incredibly diverse sea of humanity, where people of every race and generation come together.
This year, there will be some events of mourning and anger: * There's been a roll-back of citizenship for lesbian and gay people in many U.S. states this last year or two. In a total now of seventeen states, the constitutions actually prohibit at least marriage equality if not other forms of equal treatment under law for lesbian and gay folks. In 49 states and Washington, DC, even in those places where there's not a constitutional prohibition, same-sex couples still can't get married. (Massachusetts is the only exception as of this writing; couples in Washington State are waiting to hear from their state Supreme Court.)
* In 42 states it is perfectly legal to discriminate against someone in employment and housing on the basis of their gender identity or expression. In 33 of those states you can also discriminate against a person because of their sexual orientation.
* In 2005, Exodus launched Groundswell, a traveling conference for youth and adults who work with youth. It promotes what they call "re-orientation therapy" and religious ministries that teach that heterosexuality is better and can be "chosen." It teaches young people how to get away with badgering LGBT peers to become "ex-gay" in the name of freedom of religion. This year Groundswell has been visited upon cities in at least 5 states: Washington, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and Massachusetts.
* Some children in Utah, Nebraska and Arkansas may have had to leave their foster families when their states passed laws prohibiting same-sex couples from serving as foster moms and dads. And the same is true for children awaiting adoption by same-sex couples, who now can't be adopted in Nebraska, Florida, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah (and in North Dakota, the law leaves it up to each adoption agency whether to discriminate on this basis). We understand that 16 states may be considering anti-gay adoption legislation later this year, including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia.
* Hate crime laws in 14 states do not include crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity. And in 4 states there's no hate crime punishment with categories at all: Arkansas, Indiana, South Carolina, Wyoming.
* There are still some places in the world where you can get the death penalty for being gay or where you can be imprisoned for 10 years or more:
http://www.ilga.org/statehomophobia/StateHomophobia3.jpg and
http://www.iglhrc.org/site/iglhrc/content.php?type=1&id=77In some places, though, there are things to celebrate at Pride. * In Washington State, after thirty years of trying, the community will celebrate having finally passed a law that prohibits discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
* In Massachusetts, lots of children will celebrate their parents being legally married ... they are still the only place in the United States where children with gay and lesbian parents enjoy the legal protections that marriage affords. Many children in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Canada will join in the celebration of their gay, lesbian, bi or trans parents' marrying this year. (Note: Some children with trans parents already had this right, depending upon whether the state recognizes their parents as heterosexual.)
* In 3 states (California, Connecticut and Vermont), if one of your parents is your biological parent, then the law says your other mom or dad can adopt you. Courts in another 22 states have allowed this family strengthening, called second-parent adoption, too, even though there's no actual law saying that they have to.
Other Dates of Note in June (besides the Stonewall Rebellion)
June 4, 1975 -
Angelina Jolie Voight is born in Los Angeles. Dropping her last name, Jolie would grow up to become a huge Hollywood star and an openly bisexual role model. She had a relationship with model/actress Jenny Shimizu in 1996, before her marriage to Billy Bob Thornton and she told Barbara Walters, in a 20/20 interview in 2002, "I consider myself a very sexual person who loves who she loves, whatever sex they may be."
June 9, 1892 -
Cole Porter is born in Peru, Indiana. A witty, smart composer and lyricist, Porter wrote songs that are widely loved to this day... "Birds do it. Bees do it. Even educated fleas do it. Let's do it, let's fall in love." GayToday says, "Cole Porter (1891-1964) belonged to a generation that did not openly discuss sexual variance. "Gentlemen" were allowed their flings -- and Porter's were notorious -- but they were supposed to be discreet about them." More:
http://gaytoday.badpuppy.com/garchive/reviews/020199re.htmJune 10, 2003 - The Ontario Court of Appeal confirms a lower court's ruling that denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples violates Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, part of the Canadian Constitution. This makes
Ontario the first place in North America to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Two other Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Quebec, will follow suit in July, 2003 and March, 2004. Similarly, Massachusetts will become the first U.S. State to marry lesbian and gay couples, when its Supreme Judicial Court rules on November 18, 2003 that, beginning May 17, 2004 Massachusetts must begin treating them equally.
June 14, 427 BC - Philosopher
Plato is born in Athens. 365Gay.com says, "Platonic love today means love without sex. For Plato it meant sex with young men."
June 23, 1912 -
Alan Turing is born. Turing would grow up to become a World War II hero, a world renowned mathematician, the founder of computer science, and an unapologetic gay man. In 1952, Turing was convicted for having a consenting sexual relationship with another man. He was sentenced to one year of forced injections with estrogen. Two years later, on June 7, 1954 at the age of 41, Alan Turing took his own life.
http://www.turing.org.uk/June 27, 2006 -
National HIV Testing Day. More info (National Association of People with AIDS):
http://www.napwa.org/hivtestinfo/Quotes to inspire thought
"Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye. - Helen Keller
"To discriminate against our sisters and brothers who are lesbian or gay on grounds of their sexual orientation for me is as totally unacceptable and unjust as Apartheid ever was." - Archbishop Desmond Tutu
"Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery, Selma, in Albany, Ga. and St. Augustine, Fla., and many other campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement. Many of these courageous men and women were fighting for my freedom at a time when they could find few voices for their own, and I salute their contributions." - human rights advocate, Dr. Coretta Scott King (April 27, 1927 - Jan. 30, 2006)
"I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream to make room at the table of brotherhood and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people." - human rights advocate, Dr. Coretta Scott King (April 27, 1927 - Jan. 30, 2006)
"We don't believe they have the right to marry. In fact, we don't think they have the right to exist." - Douglas Sadler, member of the Ku Klux Klan, in protesting attempts to legalize same-sex marriage in Iowa
"The most successful marriages, gay or straight, even if they begin in romantic love, often become friendships. It's the ones that become the friendships that last." - Andrew Sullivan
"When an individual is protesting society's refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him." - openly gay, Quaker, African-American civil rights leader, Bayard Rustin
"What have you done today to make yourself Proud?" - Proud by Heather Small
"Resisting being called 'defective' and 'broken' is not intolerant; it is standing up for one's rights as a citizen and one's value as a human being. Asking to not be hit is not intolerant; asking not to be called 'fag' is not intolerant, asking for the same rights that hetero folks enjoy is not intolerant. I will never accept that being 'tolerant' means allowing myself to be regarded as inferior. I don't care if bigots get hurt feelings because I fend off the hand that hits me." - "gobear," posted on the Internet
"Never do anything you are ashamed of. If you're ashamed that means somewhere inside you think it's wrong; and if you think it's wrong, you shouldn't be doing it." - Harvey Fierstein
"I pay your taxes. I take care of your loved ones when they are sick. I am the best I can be. I am tired of being debated." - Kevin Hook, a registered nurse in Indianapolis, responding to a recent City Council vote that killed a bill that would have extended equal rights to gay people
"Freedom means freedom for everyone. ... People ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to." - Dick Cheney
"First, they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win." - Mahatma Gandhi
"Standing up for yourself can have consequences, but not standing up for yourself can, too." - Chris Crain, executive editor of the Washington Blade, in a blog entry about being attacked recently in Amsterdam
"Homo Nest Raided, Queen Bees Are Stinging Mad"
Read a July 6, 1969 mainstream press article
(NY Daily News) describing the Stonewall Rebellion of the previous weekend:
http://www.yak.net/ian/stonewall.htmlThe story of Sylvia Rivera
Ms. Rivera was one of the courageous transgender teens who fought back against police at the Stonewall Inn. Here are articles from the Village Voice and the Dallas Voice about her life:
http://srlp.org/index.php?sec=10&page=riverabio"A Cop in the Stonewall Inn"
Read an interview with an officer who was there that night:
href="http://www.nycop.com/Stories/Jul_99/A_Cop_in_the_Stonewall_Inn/body_a_cop_in_the_stonewall_inn.htmlLinks to Pride event sites around the World
Look at what's happening in various cities this year during GLBT Pride Month:
365gay.com: http://www.365gay.com/travel/Pride/PrideList.htmInterpride:
http://www.interpride.org/12/2006_Events.htmStoneWall Society:
http://www.stonewallsociety.com/intlpridedir.htmGay.com:
http://channels.gay.com/pride/calendar/A Hundred and Six LGBTIQ Heroes and Role Models
The Safe Schools Coalition offers this listing of individuals your history text left out ... or "forgot" to identify as a sexual minority ... from Jane Addams to José Zuniga (PDF file). Go to:
http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org/herorolemodelcards.pdfBefore Stonewall, After Stonewall, & Out of the Past [great videos for classes & GSAs]
Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community: 87 min. video. Emmy-award winning documentary of gay life in the U.S. before 1969 and
After Stonewall: From the Riots to the Millennium, the sequel to Before Stonewall: 88 min. video. Chronicles the gay and lesbian experience since the Stonewall riots. Both videos are available in many video stores, or call 1-800-229-8575 or go to
http://www.firstrunfeatures.com/ (type "Stonewall" in the search box)
Also,
Out of the Past: 60 min. video, 1998. The first documentary about lesbian and gay history ever produced for a high school audience. This film, winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival, recovers facets of our history that have been left out of the textbooks and follows one young woman making history today. Starting at $3.95!!! from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1578482003/gaylesbiandst-20/102-1519868-1278559