Gender & Sexuality

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Continuing

Highlights This Month

New Report: Gay Parents and Families Excluded at Schools

"This report casts doubt on schools' inclusion of different kinds of families in our education system. LGBT parents are actively engaged in their children's education yet are often not accepted by school communities. Further, their children are often harassed in school simply because of the makeup of their families.

Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)

The first comprehensive report on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) families' experiences in education, released today by GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, in partnership with the Family Equality Council and COLAGE, has found that LGBT parents are more likely to be involved in their children's K-12 education than the general parent population. These parents are more involved in school activities and more likely to report consistent communication with school personnel. In addition, both LGBT parents and children of LGBT parents often report harassment because of their family structure.

Current estimates indicate there are more than seven million LGBT parents with school-age children in the United States. Involved, Invisible, Ignored: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Parents and Their Children in Our Nation's K-12 Schools examines and highlights the school experiences of LGBT-headed families using results from surveys of LGBT parents of children in K-12 schools and of secondary students who have LGBT parents.

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M. e. Cohen: Slow Pace

Sex diverts our attention

Spitzer's downfall this week (March 9-15) unfortunately obscured two far more important events.

• First, the White House refused to release an exhaustive Pentagon review of 600,000 Iraqi documents that found no evidence that Saddam Hussein had any links with al-Qaida.

• Second, in party-line vote, House Republicans voted to uphold President George Bush's veto of a Democratic-sponsored bill to ban the CIA from using torture to interrogate enemy detainees.

Eric Margolis, Toronto Sun

Submitted by Evergreene Digest Contributing Editor Ken Mitchell

There are few more riveting spectacles than the public exposure and humiliation of a major hypocrite. So it was with New York State's fallen governor, Eliot Spitzer.

As a former prosecutor Spitzer relentlessly crusaded against financial, political and moral malefactors, including those involved in prostitution cases. Some saw him as a future presidential candidate.

However ruthless, self-serving and hypocritical Spitzer was about prostitution, he was doing one good thing: Going after Wall Street's crooks and fraudsters largely responsible for the current financial crisis.

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Gay Family Group Founds Project Harmony, an Outreach Program for Families of Color

Family Equality Group (formerly Family Pride)

Project Harmony is a program that engages lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and queer (LGBTQ) families of color by working with national, state and local collaborators on issues of racial and economic justice. Ultimately, Project Harmony will give voice to the feedback and concerns of LGBTQ parents of color to be integrated into a national model of service that includes for all families everywhere.

The project stems from a deep organizational recognition that we have failed to represent a large portion of the LGBTQ family community – those families that include and/or are headed by people of color.  It also reflects the organization’s commitment to addressing multiple forms of oppression.  We are especially grateful to the Arcus Foundation for providing the initial funding to launch this initiative. 

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Deviance in the Time of Abstinence

It's time we stand up for sexual health education, services and civil rights so everyone can have pleasure with dignity -- or without, as we choose.

Lara Riscol, RH Reality Check

"... I wouldn't mind having a conversation that does not include the words dildo, fisting, squirting, orgasm, vibrator, latex, fucking, shibari, or three-way," writes Brian Alexander at the end of his latest book, America Unzipped: In Search of Sex and Satisfaction. From the aspiring "next teen anal queen" to the mewling man gone fetal on a domme's lap, a cast of colorful characters, conflicts and contradictions are revealed in the award-winning journalist's hilariously randy romp through mainstream America -- a journey that seriously questions our grasp on what is deviant versus what is normal.

A former altar boy from Ohio, the admittedly "vanilla" Alexander writes with self-deprecating wit and a willingness to engage in America's sometimes uncomfortable sexual conversation. His earnest questions, both personal and cultural, are what make his gonzo travelogue both so entertaining and so essential to current debates surrounding sexual health services, education and civil rights.

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O'Farrell: The Valley of the Shadow of Inequality

Jane Austen Must Die!

Look, we love us some 19th-Century heroines like the rest of y'all, but the overused archetype is doing more damage than good—let’s get some wicked-women lit already.

Jennifer Armstrong, Sirens Magazine

Want to sell your book or your screenplay? Of course you do! And lucky you—I’m going to tell you how, right now, free of charge: Put the words Jane Austen in the title.

In the past few years, in particular, we’ve been assaulted by the beloved 19th century British authoress’ name with startling regularity at the multiplex and the bookstore: “The Jane Austen Book Club,” a good, if chicklitty, novel, followed by a film version; “Becoming Jane,” a pretty much made-up, highly idealized look at the romantic life of the writer that was a book and then a movie; the novel “Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict”; pretty much annual movie adaptations and re-adaptations of her works (including an admittedly stunning “Pride & Prejudice” starring Keira Knightley two years back). Oh, and don’t think we’re done yet: There are “Clueless” and “Bridget Jones’ Diary,” two modern masterpieces modeled on Austen works, all the way down to lazy how-to books that slap her name onto the cover to legitimize their existence—“The Jane Austen Handbook,” “Jane Austen’s Guide to Dating,” “Jane Austen’s Guide to Good Manners.”

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"Becoming Jane"

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"Torture Porn" Makers Shrug Off Label

New Report: Gay Parents and Families Excluded at Schools (continued)

"Family and education are two of the most important aspects of children's lives," said GLSEN Executive Director Kevin Jennings. "This report casts doubt on schools' inclusion of different kinds of families in our education system. LGBT parents are actively engaged in their children's education yet are often not accepted by school communities. Further, their children are often harassed in school simply because of the makeup of their families. All families in a school community should be valued and respected as equals."

Key Findings, Parents:

• LGBT parents are more likely to be involved in their children's education than the general parent population. Compared to data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), LGBT parents are more likely to attend a parent-teacher conference in the past year (94% to 77%) and more likely to volunteer (67% to 42%).
• More than half (53%) of parents described various forms of exclusion from their school communities: being excluded or prevented from fully participating in school activities and events, being excluded by school policies and procedures, and being ignored and feeling invisible.
• LGBT parents reported mistreatment from other parents in the school community and even from their children's peers at school - 26% of LGBT parents in the survey reported mistreatment from other parents and 21% reported hearing negative comments about being LGBT from students.
• Parents whose child's school had a comprehensive safe school policy that protected students from bullying and harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender expression/identity reported the lowest level of mistreatment and that there were no differences between the no-policy and generic-policy groups.

"I want my sons' school environment to give them the opportunity to learn without harassment, and I want to be a welcomed and integral part of their educational experience as they grow," said Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Council. "This report shows when schools have anti-bullying policies that are inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity, the rates of harassment are lowered dramatically. These policies and comprehensive diversity curricula are tools that can curb mistreatment and bolster participation from all families. Knowing what works is a start, but schools have a long way to go and much left to do in putting them to the best and fullest use for our kids."

Key Findings, Students:

• Nearly a quarter (23%) of students felt unsafe around other students at school due to others' negative attitudes toward people with LGBT parents.
• 42% of students said they had been verbally harassed at school in the past year because their parents were LGBT. Over a third (37%) of students reported that they had been verbally harassed because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation and nearly a third had experienced verbal harassment because of the way in which they expressed their gender (32%).
• Nearly a quarter (22%) of students said that a teacher, principal or other school staff person had discouraged them from talking about their family at school, and more than a third (36%) had felt that school personnel did not acknowledge their LGBT family (e.g., not permitting one parent to sign a student's form because s/he was not the legal parent/guardian). Furthermore, 28% said they heard teachers or other school staff make negative comments about LGBT families.

"Students with lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender parents face isolation, invisibility and alienation due to harassment, name-calling and bullying in their schools," said COLAGE Executive Director Beth Teper, who has a lesbian mother. "On behalf of the millions of people who have one or more LGBT parents, COLAGE urges students, schools and communities to learn about this important issue as the first step in building safe school environments for all. We also applaud youth with LGBT parents who act as educators and leaders every day when they navigate often unwelcoming schools."

About GLSEN
GLSEN, or the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, is the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students. Established nationally in 1995, GLSEN envisions a world in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. For more information on our educator resources, research, public policy agenda, student organizing programs or development initiatives, visit www.glsen.org.

About the Family Equality Council (FEC)
Family Equality Council is proud to be the national non-profit organization dedicated to securing family equality. We recognize and believe that the laws, provisions and ordinances that hurt LGBTQ-headed families also hurt so many others-single parents, blended families, families of color, etc. To that end, Family Equality Council is standing strong to defeat anti-family legislation and promote pro-family legislation. For more information, please visit www.familyequality.org.

About COLAGE
COLAGE is a national movement of children, youth, and adults with one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or queer (LGBTQ) parents. We build community and work toward social justice through youth empowerment, leadership development, education, and advocacy. www.colage.org.