GLSEN's 2nd Annual WNBA Event on Friday!
We hope you'll join GLSEN for our 2nd annual WNBA event, sponsored by Merck.  Come meet GLSEN students, learn more about our work and have a great time!
Friday, July 30th
4:00pm-5:00pm
Shoot hoops from the Madison Square Garden Court
5:00pm-6:30pm
Join us for a reception in the Green Room
7:00pm
Enjoy the game! The New York Liberty vs. the Los Angeles Sparks
Tickets to benefit GLSEN are $50.00 per person.
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The results of GLSEN's 2009 National School Climate Survey will be released later this summer. We'll bring them to you as soon as we can! |
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Dominque
Walker
Reflects on her visit with President Obama
Several student and community leaders represented GLSEN at the White House LGBT Pride reception in June. Here are reflections by Carl Walker-Hoover's sister:
"My mom and I were fortunate to have a private photo opportunity with the President prior to the reception. We were both very nervous as we stood there waiting to meet him. As the military personnel escorted us to have our picture taken, my mom told the President about my brother Carl, the anti-gay bullying he faced and how he took his life. We had a photo of Carl, which we showed to the President. I also told him about our work to raise awareness about the issue and our advocacy work with GLSEN to pass the Safe Schools Improvement Act. I was so surprised and honored when the President said that he had heard about my brother's story and offered his condolences. He also said that he wants to do what he can to help and is on board with the Safe Schools Improvement Act. The past year has been such a journey for me and my Mom. This was definitely a highlight in that journey - and I feel like the sky's the limit. Thank you so much to GLSEN for all of the support this past year and for this incredible opportunity." |
 GLSEN has launched a national search for our next Educator of the Year. We need your help by Friday, July 30th!
If you know an exceptional teacher or counselor who has worked to advance LGBT equality and impact visible change in their school community, please nominate them today for this exciting and important honor.The chosen educator will travel all expenses paid to Los Angeles, California to join GLSEN at the LA Respect Awards on October 8, 2010.
The gala will benefit GLSEN and celebrate the individual and corporate leaders who have helped propel our vision to make schools safe for all America's students.
Nominations are reviewed by a committee of GLSEN staff and Board members, and the winning candidate will be announced in early September. |
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Please Note: This electronic message from GLSEN Connecticut contains information and opinions deemed relevant to ending anti-LGBT bias in schools and other items which may be of interest to the LGBT community and its valued allies. Not all opinions expressed are those of GLSEN Connecticut. |
GLSEN Connecticut is a member of Community Works of Connecticut, a progressive workplace giving program.
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| Greetings!
We hope this letter finds you enjoying your summer, even if coping with the heat and humidity has been challenging!
As we continue to prepare for the new school year we would like to share both some current news and highlights of this past year from GLSEN National.
Together we have made great progress creating safer schools for all, and we look forward to continuing this dynamic partnership throughout the year ahead.
Peace,
Leif Mitchell and Liane Roseman
Co-Chairs, GLSEN Connecticut
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GLSEN Connecticut's 2nd Annual Volunteer of the Year Award
This year we were thrilled to give the Bill Hensley Volunteer Award to Arnold (Chad) Chadderdon. Chad, a retired English professor at Teikyo Post, has been a member of the GLSEN
L to R: Liane Roseman, Laura Gottfried (Senior Director of Programs, GLSEN), Chad Chadderdon, Martha Langmuir (Director of Community Initiatives, GLSEN), Leif Mitchell | Connecticut Board of Directors for over 10 years, serving many of those years as Secretary. He first got involved by e-mailing us saying that he'd like to get more information about our work. He came to a board meeting where we were stuffing envelopes for a direct mail piece (for those of you interested, don't worry we don't do this anymore because our national office takes care of this stuff!) and hasn't left since. Chad has been the friendly voice you hear when you call the GLSEN line and he has also corresponded with many of you who have donated to GLSEN Connecticut. Thank you, Chad, for all your heartfelt efforts and years of contributions to GLSEN Connecticut.
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Victory for Constance McMillen!
As our friends at the ACLU have reported, Itawamba County School District officials agreed to have a judgment entered against them in the case of Constance McMillen, a recent high school graduate who sued her school for canceling the prom rather than let her attend with her girlfriend. The agreement ends a precedent-setting lawsuit brought by the ACLU on behalf McMillen, a Fulton, MS resident who  suffered humiliation and harassment after parents, students and school officials executed a cruel plan to put on a "decoy" prom for her while the rest of her classmates were at a private prom 30 miles away. School officials agreed to adopt a comprehensive non-discrimination and non-harassment policy that covers sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. This is the first such policy in any public school in Mississippi. The school also agreed to pay McMillen $35,000 in damages and pay for McMillen's attorneys' fees. "Constance went through a great deal of harassment and humiliation simply for standing up for her rights, and she should be proud of what she has accomplished," said Christine P. Sun, senior counsel with the ACLU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project. "Thanks to her bravery, we now not only have a federal court precedent that can be used to protect the rights of students all over the country to bring the date they want to their proms, but we also have the first school anti-discrimination policy of its kind in Mississippi." |
Happy New Year from
GLSEN's Executive Director
 What's that you ask? Happy New Year? It may seem odd to get a New Year's message from me in mid-summer. But just like the school year ends around this time, so does GLSEN's fiscal year, which concluded June 30, 2010.As we reflect on the past year of making schools safer and more welcoming for all students, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for being there every step of the way. Your support during fiscal year 2010 enabled us to have one of the most monumental years in our 20 year history.Before we begin our next chapter, let's take a look at a few of the things we accomplished together.State Legislation
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Illinois and New York became the 9th and 10th states, respectively, to enact enumerated anti-bullying laws that explicitly protect students from bullying on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. The passage of the NY bill, the Dignity for All Students Act, was the culmination of 10 years of GLSEN's hard work and leadership. In Illinois, we were proud to partner with the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance to ensure the law's passage.
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More than 17 million public school students, nearly 5 million more than this time a year ago, are now covered by statewide enumerated anti-bullying laws that specifically protect students on the basis of sexual orientation of gender identity/expression.
Federal Legislation
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- Thanks in part to your advocacy, SSIA now has 115 bipartisan cosponsors in the House and is expected to be introduced in the Senate this month.
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Rep. Jared Polis introduced the Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA) in the House (currently with 118 bipartisan cosponsors), and Senator Al Franken introduced SNDA in the Senate (currently with 23 cosponsors).
Public Education
- ThinkB4YouSpeak, our Ad Council campaign, shifted much of its focus to interactive media this past year. A report on the first phase showed that 41% of teens had seen or heard at least one Public Service Announcement. The research also showed a significant increase in teens saying they don't use the term "that's so gay" and that it's wrong to do so. Said Ad Council President and CEO Peggy Conlon: "We don't often see shifts of this magnitude in just over a year."
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The PSAs appeared on the season premiere and finale of "Ugly Betty." GLSEN was also mentioned during the special coming out episode of "Ugly Betty."
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GLSEN research, Think Before You Speak and several GLSEN programs were mentioned during a New York Times Magazine cover story on students coming out in middle school.
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A GLSEN report found that the secondary school training component of the New York City Department of Education's Respect for All initiative increased staff competency at addressing bullying on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression, and creating safer schools for LGBT students. It was the first evaluation of an LGBT educator training program.
Student Leadership and Strategic Partnerships
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Five GLSEN student leaders, including 2009 Student Advocate of the Year Austin Laufersweiler and 2010 Student Advocate of the Year Danielle Smith, attended the White House's LGBT Pride Reception and advocated for SSIA and continued federal progress. Dominique Walker had a special moment with President Obama, during which they shared Carl's story.
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Students from more than 7,500 middle and high schools participated in the 2010 Day of Silence.
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GLSEN will take a seat on the steering committee of the National Collaboration for Youth, along with the National PTA and the Girl Scouts of the USA.
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We incorporated GLSEN chapters into our Jump-Start Student Leadership Team, training 14 adult and 17 student coordinators to launch the new community-led program. A total of 65 student leaders participated in the pilot program, leading a range of local activities to support GLSEN's mission, from conducting trainings to hosting student events and GSA summits.
I hope you agree that GLSEN was effective - and that our work was a smart and worthwhile investment. In fact, from my perspective - and from feedback from the dozens of organization who partner with GLSEN in the LGBT and education world - GLSEN is the undisputed leader when it comes to addressing LGBT issues in our nation's schools.
We have been creating safer schools for 20 years, and we will continue to do so until all students are valued and respected and have equal access to a quality education.
As we embark on the next leg of this journey together, thank you from the bottom of my heart, both as GLSEN's executive director and as a mother of two young children who soon will benefit from GLSEN's work. Thank you for continuing with us. And thank you for investing in a better tomorrow.
Warmest regards,
Eliza Byard, PhD
Executive Director
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