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Watercooler:
Lady Gaga Celibate?
* Lady Gaga has announced her celibacy to the
world, and has encouraged her fans to also refrain from sex. Gaga hopes
to “celebrate” her celibacy with the world. This is both surprising and
an alliteration
* Scissor Sisters have announced a release date
of June 29th for their new album “Night Work.” Check out
their just released song “Invisible Light.” I like it, how about you?
* Ben Brantley is taking the typical mom move of
being both disappointed and not at all surprised over the Pulitzer’s surprise decision this week to award Next To Normal with the
award rather than any of the drama jury’s picks.
* Sarah Jessica Parker does a great interview
with Vogue (we get it, you’re from Ohio) and appears on their
cover this month. Check out the fabulous behind-the-scenes video from
the shoot. I love this cover!
* Italy’s highest court has rejected the requests of same-sex
couple to legalize gay marriage in the country. But I saw Nine twice!
*
Barney Frank was accosted by two conservative
fellow passengers while flying from L.A. to Boston. Those teabaggers
sure love their puns. One female passenger yelled at Frank that the
recent Health Care bill was an “Obamanation.” Zing!
* Arizona has approved an incredible strict new
immigration law along their border.
* Have you read Kitty Kelley’s new
biography of Oprah yet? Of her sexuality, Kelley’s gone on
the record of saying she believes she’s “a-sexual” rather than involved
with Gayle. She’s also reporting that Oprah is getting her banned from
many media outlets.
Where’s the gay anti-bullying reform in our schools?
It doesn’t always pay
off to have a seat at the table.
Case in point: The Obama
administration’s proposal to reform the nation’s educational system
includes no specific call for anti-bullying programs in schools, and no
mention of protections for students from harassment or discrimination
based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
This
is despite the fact that an openly gay man with considerable experience
in combating such bullying heads the Department of Education (DOE)
Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools.
And it comes despite having a
push by the authors of two bills that would give schools strong
incentives to enact LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying measures for similar
language in any educational reform bill.
Several bullying-related
suicides in the past year have brought the issue of school bullying into
a prominent media spotlight. Victims in the first three months of 2010
include 15-year-old Phoebe Prince of Massachusetts, 12-year-old Kimberly
Linczeski of Michigan, and 13-year-old Jon Carmichael of Texas.
And
nearly two-thirds of middle and high school students report being
harassed or assaulted during the past year, according to the most recent
report (2005) commissioned by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education
Network (GLSEN).
LGBT students are particularly vulnerable. A 2007
survey by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education found that high school students who identified as LGBT were
almost five times more likely to attempt suicide than others. And in two
high-profile cases just last year, two children committed suicide after
being subjected to bullying based on the perception of other students
that they were gay. Both children were 11 years old: Carl Joseph
Walker-Hoover of Massachusetts and Jaheem Herrera of Georgia.
According
to GLSEN, the vast majority of LGBT students surveyed (86 percent) said
they experience harassment at school because of their sexual
orientation, and most (61 percent) said they feel unsafe because of
their sexual orientation.
Transgender students face even higher
levels of harassment, a 2009 GLSEN study found.
President Obama
last month released a 41-page “Blueprint for Reform” of the nation’s
educational system –a reform he hopes can begin when Congress
reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, better known as
“No Child Left Behind.”
The “Blueprint” includes one mention of
bullying –in the context of discussing a proposed new “Successful, Safe,
and Healthy Students” program to replace the existing “Safe and Drug
Free Schools” program. Under the existing program, about $191 million is
divided up among the states; but under the new program, schools,
districts, and their community-based “partners” can compete for grants
to address issues specific to making schools safe and healthy for
students. It will require schools to assess needs for safe school
program funding through surveys of students, parents, and teachers,
among others.
Both the current and proposed incarnations of the
safe schools program come under the purview of DOE’s Assistant Deputy
Secretary Kevin Jennings. Jennings, head of DOE’s Office of Safe and
Drug-Free Schools, is a former teacher who co-founded GLSEN to help
promote safe and healthy environments in schools for LGBT youth. His
appointment in July of last year was both hailed by the LGBT community
and criticized by right-wing opponents who claimed he would promote a
“homosexual agenda.”
A spokesperson for Jennings said he has a
“hectic schedule” and “will not be able to accommodate” a request for an
interview “at this time.” The office did not respond to subsequent
requests for responses to questions by e-mail.
Spokespeople for
GLSEN and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) say they have been among more
than 100 groups of all types that have attended open forums sponsored by
Jennings’ Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools to discuss the proposed
new program. They say they have also offered advice to the office about
the program.
Ellen Kahn, director of the HRC Family Project, says
the plans for a survey to assess school needs concerning successful,
safe, and healthy students will include the physical environment of the
school, respect for diversity, wellness, harassment, and more. At one
place on the survey, Kahn says, students will be able to indicate
whether they are experiencing bullying or harassment based on any of
several factors, including sexual orientation and gender.
“There’s
a real interest in including all kinds of voices and getting input from
experts and a real respect for people who are in the field,” said Kahn.
Two
pending House bills, however, want more.
The Safe Schools
Improvement Act (SSIA) introduced by Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) last
May, seeks to require schools that receive any federal funds to
implement and report on anti-bullying programs. The bill, HR 2262, would
define bullying as hostile conduct that is directed at a student based
on his or her actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity,
among other attributes.
The Sánchez bill has 101 cosponsors
(including four Republicans) and is structured as a set of revisions to
the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act. The Act is a part of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), better known as “No
Child Left Behind.” No Child Left Behind was the major educational
policy implemented by Congress at the behest of President George W. Bush
and it is the policy that President Obama’s “Blueprint” seeks to
reform.
The second bill currently pending in Congress is the
Student Nondiscrimination Act (SNDA), introduced by openly gay Rep.
Jared Polis (D-Colo.). HR 4530 seeks to prohibit discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in any program or
activity receiving federal funds. It includes “harassment” in its
definition of discrimination and has 82 co-sponsors (including one
Republican). A spokesperson for Rep. Polis said the Congressman hopes
the bill will also become part of ESEA, but will push for it as a
standalone bill if necessary.
Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) will be
introducing a Senate companion bill to SNDA in the coming weeks, his
office said.
The provisions of these bills are not mentioned in
President Obama’s “Blueprint,” and there is no indication yet as to
whether the provisions will be included in the larger educational reform
bill that Congress will eventually consider.