Greetings!
Since our last Edition of GSA Network News we welcome the GSA at San Clemente High Schoo GSA in Orange County!
We encourage all GSA activists in Northern California to apply for GSA Activist Camp. There are still a few spots open. You can still apply NOW!
We hope everyone is having a great summer!
In Solidarity,
GSA Network
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NETWORK NEWS HIGHLIGHT: CA Queer Youth Converge in LA for Activist Training at Summer Camp!
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Forty GSA Activists from all over the Central Valley and SoCal came together for 3 intensive days of community building, leadership development, and fun!
 photo by: Joshua Liu
Orosi, Westlake Village, Cathedral City, Lompoc, Fresno, Santa Ana, San
Diego, Indio, Bakersfield, Los Angeles, Temple City,Simi Valley,
Murrieta - These are just some of the communities represented at the
Southern California/Central Valley GSA Activist Camp held at the
University of Southern California from July 17th to July 19th.
Activist Camp was led by veteran GSA Network Youth Trainers including: Ariel Bustamante (Montebello), Bay Nguyen (Garden Grove), DJ (Merced), Leonor Bautista, (Huntington Park), Nik Castillo (San Bernardino), and Richard Aviles (South LA).
GSA Activist Camp participants learned how to:
- strengthen their GSAs through better organization and fundraising!
- understand the ways that homophobia and transphobia are connected to
racism, sexism and classism!
- use their legal rights to protect themselves and their peers from
bullying and discrimination!
- build coalitions with people and groups outside of the LGBT community!
- successfully lobby their school administrators and local school boards
to fight homophobia and transphobia!
 photo by: Luis Roman
Activist Camp participant Marissa Minnick (Torrey Pines High in San
Diego County) gained valuable skills at camp and is ready to put them to use back at her school. She says, "I'm going to start a GSA at my school! What I really want to do this year, though, is work with my school administrators on creating a more open environment for LGBTQ students in the classroom. Diversity training is going to be key for our club."
Darryl Trinidad (Orosi High in Tulare County) learned how fighting homophobia and transphobia is just part of the bigger struggle for justice for everyone. He says, "I learned that the powers of oppression are all tied in with the systems of power and that in order to achieve equality and end homophobia we have to achieve equity in every other factor of oppression."
Rebecca Silva (Laguna Hills High in Orange County) also learned how to successfully work with her administration to create a safe school for
LGBT youth. She says, "Camp gave me the tools and materials to better understand the cause we are fighting for. We used what we learned in an
"Action Simulation" and it showed us different techniques for doing things, such as talking with administration and peers that I personally would not have thought of otherwise."
 photo by: Rebecca Silva
Other participants gained a powerful feeling of empowerment. Trent Rodriguez (Murrieta Valley High in Riverside County) describes his experience at camp as "Renewing my courage. Before camp, as I was putting together a curriculum for my next school year, I found myself doubting how much could be accomplished. After camp however, it was as if a new person was in my place. There is no doubt anymore. There is no fear. This allows for me to be a better leader because if my peers see that I have no doubt or fear, then maybe that shall be enough for them to have hope in our abilities as students to make many necessary changes within the school and conservative area that we are confined in."
All 40 participants are now ready to make change and fight homophobia and transphobia at their schools and communities! GSA Network will continue to support them throughout the year.
We want to thank your college mentors, and everyone who donated time and sapce to make this event happen! We also want to thank all of our participants and wish them the best of luck in their campaigns in the up coming year!
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GSA NETWORK ANNOUNCEMENTS
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1. GSA Activist Camp NOR CAL!
Applications Still Being Accepted! APPLY NOW!
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Northern California
Camp: August 14-16, 2008 (Fri-Sun) at the
Headlands Institute in Marin
The GSA Activist Camp is a youth-planned
and youth-led, 3-day event that features intensive community building,
skill-building, political education, and leadership training for GSA
members and potential members. All LGBT and straight ally youth can
apply. Youth who will be in a high school or middle school GSA next
year will be given priority.
Youth of color, trans youth, and
low-income youth are especially encouraged to apply.
Cost: $20-$100 sliding scale - no
one turned away for lack of funds; scholarships available.
www.gsanetwork.org/camp Applications NOW Open! Apply Now!
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2. GSA Network Co-Sponsors the 5th Annual Rainbow Youth Festival! August 15th!
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When: Saturday August 15, 2009 2pm - 9pm
Where: LA Gay & Lesbian Center's Village
@ Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N. McCadden Place
Los Angeles, CA 90038
The Rainbow Youth Festival is an outreach and fun event and resource
fair providing a safe and healthy place for lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender,questioning (LGBTQ) youth and their friends, ages 15 to 24,
to learn about community resources and socialize.
Resource Tables Performances
DJ & Dance Fun Activities
Youth Talent Show Food Vendors
For more info, go to:
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OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
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GSA Network News is a publication of Gay-Straight Alliance Network. Events,
resources, and news items listed under "Other Announcements" are not
sponsored or written by GSA Network, and do not necessarily reflect the views
and opinions of GSA Network. |
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CA STATEWIDE
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3. Call for Submissions: GENDER OUTLAWS: THE NEXT GENERATION�
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http://www.jewishmosaic.org/page/load_page/166
Call For Submissions
GENDER OUTLAWS: THE NEXT GENERATION
Kate Bornstein & S. Bear Bergman, eds
Deadline:1 September 2009
In the fifteen years since the release of Gender Outlaw, transgender narratives have made their way into cultural locations from the margins to the mainstream and back again. Today's trannies and other sex/gender radicals are writing a radically new world into being.GENDER OUTLAWS: THE NEXT GENERATION (Seal Press) will collect and contextualize the work of this generation's most forward-thinking trans/genderqueer voices-new voices from the stage, on the streets, in the workplace, in the bedroom, and on the pages and websites of the world's most respected mainstream news sources. Edited by that ol' originalGender Outlaw herself, Kate Bornstein and writer, raconteur, and theater artist S. Bear Bergman, GENDER OUTLAWS: THE NEXT GENERATION will include essays, commentary, comic art and conversation from a diverse a group of trans-spectrum people who live and believe in barrier-breaking lives.
What we're looking for
GENDER OUTLAWS: THE NEXT GENERATION wants to collect work that represents a quantum leap forward in thinking and talking about gender and the gender binary, in the same way Gender Outlaw did almost twenty years ago. So blow us away. Bring the smart, bring the sexy, blind us with science, break the gender barrier, shine a bright light (or a disco ball) on the whole gender situation. Tell us about your future, what you imagine, how you want things to go and what you (and your friends) intend to do about it. Think big.
We'll look at whatever you have for us - essays, graphic art, interviews/conversations, haiku, rants - as long as you're thinking smart and fresh about sex and gender (and being an outlaw, of course). We will feel especially keen about your work if it adds to or advances the conversation about gender (as distinct from simply reflecting it, or lamenting it).
People of any identity are encouraged to submit work. This means you - yes, you!
We intend to privilege non-normatively gendered/sexed voices in the book but will include all the good stuff we can, regardless of current identifiers of the author.
The Details
Deadline: Sept 1 (early submissions are encouraged). Submissions should be unpublished; query if you have a reprint that you think we'll swoon for. While we hesitate to list a maximum, please query first for pieces over 4,000 words. If you have an idea and need help writing it out, contact us to discuss an interview-style piece or other accommodations.
Submit as a Word document or black/white JPEG (no files over 2MB). Please include a cover letter with a brief bio and full contact information (mailing address, phone number, pseudonym if appropriate) when you submit. Submissions without complete contact information will be deleted unread. Payment will be $50 and 2 copies of the book upon publication in Fall 2010. Contributors retain the rights to their pieces. Send your submission as an attachment to [email protected].
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4. OutHistory.org Extends Deadline for "Since Stonewall Contest"
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June 28th, 2009 Draft Deadline No Longer Required! All users now have until March 31st, 2010 to create and finalize exhibits for the contest.
OutHistory.org has extended the deadline for creating online exhibits on the local lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer histories of villages,
towns, counties, cities, or states in the U.S. since June 1969.
To enter the contest simply create and finalize an exhibit about a local
LGBTQ community by March 31, 2010. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, OutHistory.org will award five prizes from $1,000 to $5,000 for the best online exhibits. A panel of judges, convened by OutHistory.org will assess the exhibits and OutHistory.org will announce the top five exhibits on June 28, 2010. In fall of 2010, OutHistory.org will host an event showcasing the winning exhibits.
Jonathan Ned Katz, OutHistory.org's Director, expects this contest "to draw
attention to LGBTQ histories of places and communities outside of major
cities, as well as in major metropolitan areas." OutHistory.org users have
already created exhibits about the histories of LGBTQ life in places such as
Tippecanoe County, Indiana, Columbia, South Carolina and Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Lauren Gutterman, OutHistory.org Coordinator, hopes the site will "receive at least one submission from every state," but there is no limit on the number of entries per state, village, town, county, or city.
This contest is supported by the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the
City of New York Graduate Center and funded by a generous grant from the
Arcus Foundation.
For more information visit:
http://www.outhistory.org/wiki/Since_Stonewall_Contest or contact the
Project Coordinator at [email protected].
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5. STUDY: Asian American GLB Attitudes and Experiences Survey
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Asian American GLB Attitudes and Experiences Survey
Dear Participant:
We are a culturally diverse sexual minority research team conducting an empirical study examining attitudes, feelings, and experiences associated with being an Asian American who experiences attraction to members of the same sex. Historically, researchers have neglected the lives of Asian American gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons, and very little research has looked specifically at attitudes, feelings, and experiences that sexual minority persons have based on their race and sexual orientation. We sincerely invite you to participate in this survey to help us learn more about the Asian American sexual minority persons in our communities!
To be eligible for this study, you must be an Asian/Asian American who is at least 18 years old, has experienced same-sex attraction, and currently resides in the United States. The survey is anonymous, and takes about 30 minutes to complete. As an incentive to participate, all participants will be given the chance to enter a raffle awarding $100 Amazon.com gift certificate to one randomly selected person. For those interested in participating in this study, click on the following hypertext link (or cut and paste it into your browser)
http://d1599.psysurvey.com
This will take you to the consent form and questionnaire.
Please feel free to forward this e-mail announcement to eligible friends/colleagues and other gay/lesbian/bisexual or Asian American related listserves. Thanks in advance for your help with this project!
Sincerely,
Dawn and Mi Ra
Dawn M. Szymanski, Ph.D., University of Tennessee
Mi Ra Sung, M. A, University of Tennessee
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Dawn M. Szymanski, Ph. D ([email protected] or [email protected])
Mi Ra Sung, M. A. ( [email protected])
Department of Psychology, Austin Peay Bldg
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-0900
Office: 865-974-3302
Fax: 865-974-3330
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NOR CAL
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6. SAVE THE DATE: Queer Youth Dance 8/29/09! (S.F.)
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SAVE THE DATE: Queer Youth Dance 8/29/09 sponsored by Lyric!
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7. YouthAware Educational Theatre - 2009 Fall Outspoken Tour Now Booking
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For over two decades, New Conservatory Theatre Center's (NCTC's) YouthAware Educational Theatre program has been working to generate young peoples' understanding and respect for other people and to help them understand the impact of making healthy choices to transform a world full of negative influences into one full of potential and possibilities. These programs reach over 20,000 young people annually both in house at NCTC in San Francisco and on tour to schools and communities all over Northern and Central California.
YouthAware is now taking bookings for the fall 2009 Outspoken tour. With the prevalence of violence and bullying in schools, Outspokenasks "How do we coexist peacefully with our differences?" After a highly successful spring 2009 tour visiting over 20 schools and over 5,000 7th- 12th graders in Northern and Central California, Outspoken returns to tour Mondays through Thursdays from October 28th - December 10th2009.
Created by the YouthAware program and based directly on the voices of young people, Outspoken by Prince Gomolvilas is an innovative play that has been presented to Northern and Central California teens since 2004. Appropriate for grades 7-12, Outspoken examines the many reasons young people feel ostracized in school and in their communities; reasons that include differences in race, religion, sexual orientation, body type, and socioeconomic background. Outspoken asks teens think about stereotypes and diversity from many unique perspectives, and helps to open up a dialogue on labeling, tolerance, bullying and school safety within their own communities.
YouthAware touring programs may be presented up to two times a day at your school site in any theater, gymnasium, or other multi-purpose room. We travel with our own set and sound equipment and do not require any special lighting. We prefer to see between 100-500 students per performance. Each 60-70 minute program includes the play and a facilitated post-show discussion with the cast. Pre and post-show handouts are provided for teachers including discussion questions, community resources, etc.
Outspoken is approved and sponsored by SFUSD School Health programs for Grades 7-12. Performances are free of charge for SFUSD. A small donation is requested to cover touring costs for performances outside of San Francisco. YouthAware is part of a non-profit organization, and we do not like to turn away schools for lack of funds, so please contact us to discuss possible underwriting by our YouthAware funders. We have funding in place to bring performances FREE of charge to middle and high schools in the Central Valley in 2009.
Reservations and questions about YouthAware bookings should be directed to Sara Staley, YouthAware Program Director,[email protected] (415) 694-6149. Book now for the best selection of dates!
Visit the YouthAware homepage: http://www.nctcsf.org/YouthAware.html for more program info and to download scripts for preview.
For publicity-related inquires, interviews, and high-resolution photographs contact Anne McMurrey, Publicist, [email protected]
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8. Youth Calendar (S.F.)
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San Francisco's LYRIC Youth Center hosts events almost everyday for LGBTQQ youth.
LYRIC
LYRIC's
mission is to build community and inspire positive social change
through education enhancement, career trainings, health promotion, and
leadership development with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer,
and questioning youth, their families, and allies of all races,
classes, genders, and abilities.
Calendar of Events
http://lyric.org/calendar.html
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Central Valley
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9. Fresno GLBT History Project
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"The Project"
My name is Chris Jarvis and I'm beginning a project which requires the participation of the Central Valley's LGBT community. "The Project", as I'm currently calling it, involves documenting the history of the LGBT community in Fresno and the Central Valley. I feel we may lose our history if it's not recorded. While the scope of the project will be determined by the information I find, I hope to at least focus on the Central Valley from the 1950's to the present...
Click here to read the rest of this article
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10. Community Links Youth Meetings Every Friday (Fresno)
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So Cal
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11. Inland Empire: Rainbow Pride Youth Alliance
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Rainbow Pride Youth Alliance. We are open all summer!
If you are in IE & are Queer + Queer positive youth ages 13-20 yrs, drop in! Activities, trips, friends and fun. Fridays 7-10pm. Find us at 860 E. Gilbert Complex (at Paseo) in San Bernardino, 92404.
For more info, contact [email protected] or 909.725-0417.
"So Many Good Ways to Be Bad" RPYA theatre performance coming soon....stay tuned for details. |
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12. Inland Empire: Drag Queen Bingo, 22 August, 7-9:30pm @ the Lark (San Bernardino)
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Drag Queen Bingo, 22 August, 7-9:30pm @ the Lark, San Bernardino.
Fun and fundraising to benefit Rainbow Pride Youth Alliance, a center for LGBTQI and ally youth in the Inland Empire. Bingo gamemistresses the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Prizes and surprises! This is a 21 and over event! Tickets $10 (includes 2 bingo sheets).
For more info, contact Alfie or Robert at [email protected]
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13. LGBT Youth Calendars (L.A. and San Diego)
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Check out these new calendars for LGBT Youth!
Los Angeles Youth
http://lalgbtcalendar.pbwiki.com/
http://www.virsil.com/
San Diego Youth
www.ourlgbtevents.org/
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JOBS AND SCHOLARSHIPS
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14. CAPPAC 2009 Scholarship Application (Greater Sacto)
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CAPPAC is a non-partisan political action committee formed to promote the civil rights and ensure the equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people through the political process. CAPPAC focuses on California's capital region and on races and initiatives of statewide importance to the LGBT community.
CAPPAC invites submissions for our annual scholarship award. CAPPAC will give 2 $500.00 scholarships to students selected by the CAPPAC Board. Applications must be received by JULY 31, 2009.
Eligible applicants must meet all of the following criteria:
� Currently enrolled in, or planning to enroll in a post-secondary education program, including any college or accredited trade program.
� High school graduate by July, 2009.
� Graduate from either (1) a high school located in the Sacramento Region (Sacramento, Yolo, Placer, Sutter, Yuba, and El Dorado), or (2) plans to pursue their post-high school education in one of these counties.
� All scholarship money will be used toward post-high school education.
� Active in school or the community in the effort to defeat Proposition 8 prior to the November 4, 2008 election.
The purpose of the CAPPAC scholarship is to recognize outstanding people from the Sacramento Region for their involvement in the LGBT community, with a special emphasis on involvement in the effort to defeat Proposition 8. CAPPAC's scholarship is intended to foster local youth leadership to help fulfill its mission to assure LGBT equality, and encourage post-secondary education for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and allies.
Payment of the scholarship award will follow receipt of satisfactory college/school enrollment verification. The deadline for winners to submit their proof of enrollment is December 31, 2009.
For the full applicaiton or questions please contact: [email protected]. Please send completed applications to: CAPPAC, Attn: 2009 Scholarship Award, 1008 10th Street, Suite 255, Sacramento, CA 95814.
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NEWS
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15. NEWS: Gay or straight in Ventura County -- Beyond the labels
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Gay or straight in Ventura County -- Beyond the labels
While many are certain of their sexuality, others grapple with their identity and find comfort in questioning
By Susannah Kopecky
Ventura County Reporter
07/16/2009
According to Dan Nelson, a Ventura High School teacher and Gay-Straight Alliance adviser, somewhere between 10 and 12 percent of the county's high school-age population is openly gay, closeted or questioning its orientation.
"The percent [of youth in Ventura County who are LGBTQ] I go with is 10 percent for homosexual, and of course a percent within that for questioning," Nelson said. "Each kid has her or his own story, and background. It's a rare parent that cheers when their child comes out to them, but many parents are more aware of the possibility, and therefore handle the situation better. Some parents are very supportive, asking for help, meeting with the school to make sure the student isn't bullied, going to support groups, etc. Of course, a few parents are still in denial, or worse."
To read the full story, visit the Ventura County Reporter here
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