GSA Network News archives

GSA Network News Email Archive - February 2007

back to GSA Network News



Sign Up for GSA Network News! Email:

February 28, 2007

In this issue of GSA Network News, you'll find:

GSA Network Highlight
Students Will Advocate for Some of the Strongest Non-Discrimination Protections in the Country at Queer Youth Advocacy Day 2007
Go directly to GSA Network highlight

GSA Network Announcements
1. GSA Power T-shirt & More - Buy today!
2. Save the Date! GSA Network Leadership Training! (Richmond)
3. Save the Date! GSA Network Leadership Training! (South Los Angeles)
4. GSA Network is Hiring a National Program Manager
5. Free Resources for New or Re-Registered GSAs!
6. Learn Great Skills as a GSA Network Intern! (San Francisco)
7. GSA Network Youth Council Wants You! (Statewide)

Go directly to GSA Network announcements

Other Announcements
Southern California
8. The Vagina Monologues @ UCR! (Riverside)
Go directly to Southern California listings

Northern California
9. Women's Educational Media Training (Concord)
10. AQU25A Film-Making Series (San Francisco)
11. YouthAware Educational Theatre Presents the World Premiere OutSpoken Tour! (Bay Area)
Go directly to Northern California listings

Statewide
12. GSA Program Assistant/SFSU Graduate Student Is Seeking Your Input for a Study!
Go directly to Statewide listings

National
13. Experiences of Sexual Minorities Questionnaire
14. The Trevor Project
Go directly to National listings

Scholarships
15. Deadline is March 1! Point Foundation Accepting Applications
16. Deadline is March 2! Colin Higgins Youth Courage Awards!
17. San Jose/Peninsula PFLAG Scholarship Program
Go directly to Scholarships listings

Jobs
18. COLAGE Development Manager (San Francisco)
19. SOUL Summer School Program Associate (Oakland)
Go directly to Jobs listings

News
20. NEWS: States Seek Laws to Curb Online Bullying
21. NEWS: Utah Passes Bill To Curb Gay-Straight Student Clubs
22. NEWS: Mormon Family Sues Santa Rosa Schools Over Pro-Gay Policies
23. NEWS: Federal Judge Throws Out Lawsuit Over Gay Discussions in Classroom
24. NEWS: Protecting All Students
Go directly to News listings

+++++++++++++++ GSA NETWORK HIGHLIGHT+++++++++++++++

Students Will Advocate for Some of the Strongest Non-Discrimination Protections in the Country at Queer Youth Advocacy Day 2007

We're less than four weeks away from Queer Youth Advocacy Day 2007 (March 26)-California's biggest statewide education and advocacy day for youth activists fighting for safer school and the rights of LGBTQ and straight ally youth. Hundreds of youth are going to rock the Capitol!

This event is going to be a HUGE one where youth from all corners of the state will be learning about and advocating for important legislation that seeks to help wipe out the discrimination and harassment and help create safer, more supportive schools for LGBTQ and ally youth.

SB 777, authored by Senator Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) would update California's Education Code and ensure the strengthening and uniformity of all non-discrimination policies governing all publicly funded schools and education programs, including regular public schools, charter schools, alternative schools, and post-high school educational
institutions. In short, all students in publicly funded California schools and educational programs would be equally protected from harassment and discrimination. The legislation also makes very clear the legal responsibility of school districts to protect students. If passed, it would mean California students would have some of the best
non-discrimination protection in the entire country.

We will also be telling you in the next couple of weeks about another still-developing bill that would make clear some of the specific steps schools need to take to make sure students are safe. This bill is similar to AB 606 (The Safe Place to Learn Act) that GSA Network supported last year.

To find out more about Queer Youth Advocacy Day 2007, please visit http://www.gsanetwork.org/qyad. To participate, you must register at http://www.eqca.org/qyad/2007/.

Queer Youth Advocacy Day is a youth-led day of lobbying, advocacy training, and educational workshops at the Capitol in Sacramento on March 26, 2007. It's a super opportunity for hundreds of CA youth activists just like you to unite and educate lawmakers on the needs of LGBTQ youth and what is needed to end harassment and discrimination in school. This event is co-sponsored by GSA Network, Bienestar, and Equality California.

back to top

+++++++++++++ GSA NETWORK ANNOUNCEMENTS +++++++++++++

*********************************************
1. GSA Power T-shirt & More - Buy today!

Another GSA Network T-shirts hot off the press... Cafepress that is.

Do you just love our GSA Power postcard? Well, now it's a shirt. Buy it today and help support GSA Network!

Order one of our three New T-shirts and help support GSA Network
* GSA Power
* A is for Ally
* Activist
* Male, Female, Other / Neither / All of the above

Also in stock
* I heart GSA
* I HELLA Heart GSA
* and our classic GSA Organizing Shirt

These new designs can ONLY be purchased at our on-line store. For every item you buy GSA Network gets a small donation ($3-$5) to keep doing all the good work we do!!!

So, help support GSAs and look cool doing it.

To Buy Today: http://www.cafepress.com/gsanetwork

back to top

*********************************************
2. Save the Date! GSA Network Leadership Training! (Richmond)

You are invited to a GSA NETWORK LEADERSHIP TRAINING!

This FREE event will be held on Sunday, March 11th from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. It includes breakfast and lunch!

So what is a GSA Network Leadership training?
Youth from various GSAs come together for a FUN, interactive, peer-to-peer training that provides students with the skills to fight homophobia and transphobia in schools. Led by other GSA leaders from around Northern California, the training will show students how to start and run a kick-ass GSA.

Topics include
* How to run a GSA meeting
* Outreach, membership building, and diversity
* Understanding gender and sexual orientation
* Understanding laws that protect LGBTQ youth in schools
* How to take action against slurs, harassment, and discrimination in your school.

Young people become activists because they respect themselves and other people too much to let anyone be treated like a second-class citizen. They believe in the basic worth of all human beings, including themselves. That's why so many students, including straight allies, are coming together to fight sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination at their schools. The goals of a student activism group include winning concrete improvements in people's lives, making students aware of their own power, and altering the relations of power. GSAs in California are leading the fight for social change and justice.

This is a great opportunity to network with other GSAs in your area while learning some new skills to strengthen your club.
WHO: GSA members, potential members, and GSA advisors
WHEN: Sunday, March 11th. from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
WHERE: The RYSE Center: Youth Down for Change
205 41st. Street at Bissell, Richmond, CA 94805
COST: Free!

NOTE: Although The RYSE Center is scheduled to open its doors in Spring 2008, we are grateful to be able to utilize their facilities and celebrate the birth of this project.

GSA Network values the participation of adult allies in our fight against oppression and injustice in schools, and thus welcomes GSA Advisors and other adult allies to the leadership training. That being said, we ask that they help us to maintain the youth focus of this training.

For more information or to RSVP, please contact
* Marco Castro-Bojorquez, GSA Network Northern California Program Coordinator, at 415-552-4229 or mailto:marco@gsanetwork.org

back to top

*********************************************
3. Save the Date! GSA Network Leadership Training! (South Los Angeles)

You are invited to a GSA NETWORK LEADERSHIP TRAINING!

This FREE event will be held on March 17, 2007 from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. It includes breakfast and lunch!

So what is a GSA Network Leadership training?
Youth from various GSAs come together for a FUN, interactive, peer-to-peer training that provides students with the skills to fight homophobia and transphobia in schools. Led by other GSA leaders from California, the training will show students how to start and run a kick-ass GSA.

Topics include
* How to run a GSA meeting
* Outreach, membership building, and diversity
* Understanding gender and sexual orientation
* Understanding laws that protect LGBTQ youth in schools
* How to take action against slurs, harassment, and discrimination in your school.

Young people become activists because they respect themselves and other people too much to let anyone be treated like a second-class citizen. They believe in the basic worth of all human beings, including themselves. That's why so many students, including straight allies, are coming together to fight sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination at their schools. The goals of a student activism group include winning concrete improvements in people's lives, making students aware of their own power, and altering the relations of power. GSAs in California are leading the fight for social and justice.

This is a great opportunity to network with other GSAs in your area while learning some new skills to strengthen your club.
WHO: GSA members, potential members, and GSA advisors
WHEN: Saturday, March 17, 2007, 10am-4pm
WHERE: Dorsey High School
3537 Farmdale Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90016
323-298-8400
COST: Free!

GSA Network values the participation of adult allies in our fight against oppression and injustice in schools, and thus welcomes GSA Advisors and other adult allies to the leadership training. That being said, we ask that they help us to maintain the youth focus of this training.

For more information or to RSVP, please contact:
Carlos Cabrera, GSA Network Southern California Program Coordinator, at 213-534-7162 or mailto:carlos@gsanetwork.org

back to top

*********************************************
4. GSA Network is Hiring a National Program Manager

GSA Network is seeking a National Program Manager to oversee the development and management of its new national programs. Over the past two years, GSA Network has embarked on an exciting national expansion. In 2005, GSA Network founded the National Association of GSA Networks, which brings together youth and adult leaders from state and regional GSA networking groups in nearly 20 states to network and share best practices for GSA organizing.

Additionally, GSA Network has piloted a replication of its model for GSA organizing in New Mexico, helping the Santa Fe Mountain Center establish the New Mexico GSA Network. In 2006, GSA Network completed a national expansion strategic plan that formalizes its national training and replication activities. GSA Network's national program will further the organization's mission by expanding its unique youth-driven, state-based program model nationally - adding an important voice to the LGBT, safe schools, and social justice movements.

The National Program Manager is responsible for running GSA Network's national programs, including supporting the core current operations of the National Association of GSA Networks and the development and coordination of our National Training and Replication Program.

To view the entire job description and learn how to apply, visit: http://www.gsanetwork.org/about

back to top

*********************************************
5. Free Resources for New or Re-Registered GSAs!

Before you plan any events for your GSA, remember to register or re-register your group with GSA Network. Do it NOW to make sure you receive our student resource sheets, FREE posters, other resources, and notifications of future GSA Network or LGBT-related events. Please note that mailings will go out only to California GSAs in middle and high schools.

Register online at http://www.gsanetwork.org/register/index.html

For more info, email Tanya Mayo at mailto:tanya@gsanetwork.org or call 415-552-4229

back to top

*********************************************
6. Learn Great Skills as a GSA Network Intern! (San Francisco)

Intern call outs!

What's in it for you?
As an intern, you will gain hands-on experience working for California's most dynamic LGBTQ youth-led organization. You will gain invaluable insight about a mid-sized non-profit and GSA Network's particular organizational and organizing models. You will also learn a broad range of skills while providing program and/or administrative support.

Duties May Include
*Outreach and technical assistance to high school and middle school GSAs
*Curriculum, resource sheet, and program material development
*Media or press work
*Lobbying and policy
*Event planning
*Individual donor fundraising
*Organizational spin-off
*Database systems.

Interns also have the option of participating in staff meetings, thus ensuring that their voices will be heard and that their opinions are valued. Each intern will have a supervisor who will be responsible for providing support, an evaluation, and a letter of recommendation upon the conclusion of the internship.

back to top

*********************************************
7. GSA Network Youth Council Wants You! (Statewide)

GSA Network is accepting applications for new Youth Council members.
Go to the website and apply: http://www.gsanetwork.org/about/ycapp.html

The GSA Network Youth Council is a diverse group of youth leaders from GSAs all over California. As a member of the Youth Council, you will learn skills to become a stronger activist and work toward creating a safer climate at your school for LGBTQ youth and straight allies. You will get support around mounting a campaign, planning events, and starting a GSA club on your campus. In addition, Youth Council members are responsible for giving input to GSA Network and helping to guide our programs. Youth Council members will represent the needs of GSAs and youth activists from their geographic region, as well as plan events and lead peer-to-peer workshops, leadership trainings, advocacy trainings, and activist camps.

As a member of the Youth Council, you will have monthly opportunities to
* Network with youth from throughout your region
* Get peer and staff support and feedback on your ongoing campaign, action, or event
* Give input on GSA Network's programs, policies, and curriculum development.

In addition, you may have an opportunity to
* Help plan and run a youth-led conference
* Present workshops at local conferences
* Plan and participate in GSA Network social activities, like Pride
* Apply to become a paid peer-to-peer youth trainer
* Discuss emerging trends in the LGBTQ and greater social justice movements
* Provide occasional technical assistance to other GSAs.

Requirements
* Willingness to commit to serving on Youth Council for one year
* Commitment to creating change for LGBTQ youth and fighting homophobia and transphobia in schools
* Interest in developing GSA Network and suggesting ideas to strengthen it
* Must be a student in a public or private middle or high school in California.

Southern California
For more info, email mailto:carlos@gsanetwork.org or call 213-534-7162.

Central Valley
For more info, email mailto:robin@gsanetwork.org or call 559-268-2780.

Northern California
For more info, email mailto:marco@gsanetwork.org or call 415-552-4229.

back to top

++++++++++++++++ OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS ++++++++++++++++
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.

Southern California
*********************************************
8. The Vagina Monologues @ UCR! (Riverside)

Wednesday, February 28, 2007
8:00pm @ TBA

Sunday, March 4, 2007
5:00pm @ TBA

Wednesday, March 7, 2007
8:00pm @ TBA

Tickets prices TBA
Fine Arts Ticket Office, 951.862.4331 (Visa/MC)
Parking $5 in Lot 1

Beneficiaries onclude the Riverside Area Rape Crisis Center.
Presented by The Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance

Email mailto:vmonologues_ucr@yahoo.com for more info

V-Day UCR is supported by Women's Resource Center, Women's Studies, LGBT Resource CenterThe V-day UC Riverside Campaign has raised over $20,000 in five years for local organizations dedicated to ending violence against women!

What is V-day?
V-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day is a palpable energy, a fierce catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money, and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop worldwide violence against women and girls including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM), and sexual slavery. V-Day provides funding to create and nurture innovative programs to stop the violence.

Through V-Day campaigns, local volunteers and college students produce annual benefit performances of "The Vagina Monologues" to raise awareness and funds for anti-violence groups within their own communities. V-Day itself stages large-scale benefits and promotes innovative gatherings and programs (The Afghan Women's Summit, The Stop Rape Contest, Indian Country Project, and more) to change social attitudes towards violence against women. In 2002, more than 800 V-Day benefit events were presented by local volunteer activists around the world, educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls.

The V-Day movement is growing at a rapid pace throughout the world. V-Day, a non-profit corporation, distributes funds to grassroots, national, and international organizations and programs that work to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day was named one of Worth Magazine's "100 Best Charities" in 2001. In its first five years, the V-Day movement has raised over $14 million, with over $7 million raised in 2002 alone.

The 'V' in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina.
(Excerpted from the http://www.vday.org website. To find out more information on the world-wide movement to stop violence against women and girls, please visit http://csw.ucr.edu/v-day)

back to top

Northern California
*********************************************
9. Women's Educational Media Training (Concord)

Ally Action and Respect for all Project are collaborating to create a peer-led version of Women's Educational Media's Film "Let's Get Real".

Let's Get Real (2003) takes an honest and unflinching look at the epidemic of name-calling and bullying among middle school youth today. Told entirely from a youth perspective, Let's Get Real features not only kids who are targeted, but also the youth who do the bullying and the allies who intervene when they witness harassment.

Ally Action is looking for peer educators to help lead in-class workshops on BULLYING!
• Are you between the ages of 14 and 22?
• Are you interested in making Contra Costa schools safe for all students?
• Would you like to earn some extra cash while making a difference?

JOIN US!
NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY

Training will take place on
SATURDAY, MARCH 3
10:30 AM – 3:30 PM

Where:
the Ally Action office
1924 Grant Street, Concord, CA 94520

If you're interested, then please contact Jillian Ross (Ally Action– Program Coordinator) at mailto:jillian@allyaction.org or 925.685.5480

back to top

*********************************************
10. AQU25A Film-Making Series (San Francisco)

Want to be the next Ang Lee? Got an Academy Award winner brewing in your brain just waiting to be filmed? Ever wanted to learn how to write scripts, shoot video and edit your own film?

You can! Be a part of our FREE film-making series!

The series will be adminstered by TILT (Teaching Intermedia Literacy Tools) and begins on March 14th

Sessions are from 3:30-5:30 and will be held at the Richmond Village Beacon Center (Washington High campus)

For questions contact Lance at mailto:Ldwyer@apiwellness.org or check out TILT at http://www.tiltmedia.org

back to top

*********************************************
11. YouthAware Educational Theatre Presents the World Premiere OutSpoken Tour! (Bay Area)

Now Booking – OutSpoken by Prince Gomolvilas – A Diversity Education Play for Teens

Touring Northern California Schools and Communities from April 10th – 26th 2007

From the same company that produces The Other Side of the Closet tour in the fall, our newest YouthAware Educational Theatre touring program, OutSpoken by Prince Gomolvilas, will be Northern California from April 20th – 26th 2007.

OutSpoken is a play for teens grades 7-12 that educates about diversity and differences, and looks at the many reasons young people feel ostracized or labeled in school, at home and in their community including race, sexual orientation, body type, etc. OutSpoken takes a unique look at these issues from different perspectives, and helps teens think about labeling and diversity within their own community.

Through OutSpoken, we hope young people will find new ways to move past their differences to a real place of understanding and acceptance. Each performance is about 65-75 minutes in length including a facilitated discussion with the actor-educators following the play. OutSpoken may be performed in any theater, gym, or other multipurpose space. We travel with out own set and sound equipment and do not require any special lighting.

OutSpoken would be a great program to accompany or compliment any Day of Silence events at your school, and/or for your GSA club to sponsor. It is produced by the YouthAware Educational Theatre Program with the New Conservatory Theatre Center based in San Francisco.

For more information, or to book a performance, contact Sara Staley at (415) 694-6149 or email mailto:sara@nctcsf.org.

back to top

Statewide
*********************************************
12. GSA Program Assistant/SFSU Graduate Student Is Seeking Your Input for a Study!

Hi to all you fabulous GSA members!

I am currently a Masters student in Women Studies at San Francisco State University. I’m working on a research project that is titled “That Doesn’t Happen Here”: Addressing Racism in California Gay-Straight Alliances. I’d like to survey youth who are still in high school and who are still involved with their GSAs about how they incorporate and discuss issues of race and/or racism.

If you feel that you have something important to say about this topic and would like to be interviewed please feel free to email me at mailto:khosmon@gmail.com.

People who, like you, are under 18, must have parental permission to participate in research. At the same time, for example, you may not yet be “out” to your parents or your parents may not know or approve of your involvement with the Gay-Straight Alliance, and for this reason, you do not want to give them a consent form to sign. If that is the case, please ask me for a waiver of parental permission, which will allow you to participate in my research while still maintaining your privacy. If you’re interested, I will get that to you through snail mail (or if you have access to a fax machine, I could fax it to you). Upon its return, I will then email you the link to Survey Monkey, a secured website.

My larger goal is to have your input in creating new curriculum addressing issues of race and/or racism so that GSAs have a handy tool for multi-issue organizing!

And don’t worry about having to meet me somewhere in San Francisco. I’m going to do all interviews by internet, so no one has to make any ridiculous treks across California and neither do I!

Participation in this research is voluntary. You may stop your participation at any time and/or leave any question blank. Your completion and electronic submission of this survey is a sign of your consent to participate in this research. If you have any questions, please contact me, Kiely, at mailto:khosmon@gmail.com or my advisor Dr. Julia Hua at mailto:jyhua@sfsu.edu.

Thank you in advance, and I look forward to hearing from you!
Kiely Hosmon

GSA Network Program Assistant
SFSU Grad Student

back to top

National
*********************************************
13. Experiences of Sexual Minorities Questionnaire

Dear Participants,
My name is Melanie Morrison and I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Saskatchewan. I am also the Co-Chair of the Canadian Psychological Association's Section on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGII; http://www.cpa.ca/sections/sexualorientationandgenderidentityissues/.

I, along with my research assistant, Rebecca Quaale, are currently conducting a study looking at sexual minorities' exposure to prejudice and discrimination and how this can affect health and well-being. As you may be aware, there is a dearth of research actually documenting the experiences of sexual minority persons and how this influences
their health in a Canadian context.

We would like to invite ANY individual who identifies as gay or lesbian to participate in our study by going to: http://www.socialjusticeresearch.com. As well, please feel free to circulate the link to ANY friends, family members, and/or colleagues you think might be interested in participating. THE SURVEY LINK CAN ALSO BE SENT TO WOMEN AND MEN WHO DO NOT LIVE IN CANADA.

Please note that participants are not required to put any identifying information such as their name, address, or e-mail on the questionnaire. This way, participants can feel comfortable answering questions honestly and feel confident that, because we cannot identify any one person, all of the information they provide will be anonymous. The survey has been approved by the Ethics Review Board (beh 05-02) of the University of Saskatchewan and is funded by the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation.

This study is intended to document the types of experiences lesbian women and gay men may be having in this country, and your participation is extremely important and valued. Further, this understanding is critical given the current social, legal, and political climate in Canada and other countries abroad.

We would be happy to answer your questions and respond to any comments you might have about the study, and our contact information is located below. We greatly appreciate your consideration and support, and hope to hear from you soon.

Melanie A. Morrison, PhD &
Co-Chair of the Canadian Psychological Association's Section on Sexual
Orientation and Gender Identity Issues (SOGII)
Department of Psychology, 9 Campus Drive, Arts Building
University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Sk. S7N 5A5
Phone: (306) 966-2564; Email: mailto:melanie.morrison@usask.ca

In the event that I am unavailable, please contact:

Rebecca Quaale, BA (Hons.), Research Assistant
Phone (306) 966-1773; email: mailto:req596@mail.usask.ca

back to top
*********************************************
14. The Trevor Project

The Trevor Project is a non-profit organization that operates the only nationwide, around-the-clock suicide prevention helpline for gay and questioning youth. The Trevor Helpline, 866.4.U.TREVOR, is a free and confidential service that offers hope through its trained counselors. In addition to the helpline, the organization's website provides information on identifying and assisting potentially suicidal youth and "Dear Trevor", a confidential resource where youth can ask questions about sexual orientation and identity issues.

The Trevor Project also provides lifesaving guidance and vital resources to educators and parents. The organization was founded by three filmmakers whose film, Trevor, about a teenager who attempts suicide after realizing that he might be gay, received the 1994 Academy Award® for Best Short Film (Live Action).

For more information about The Trevor Project, please visit http://www.thetrevorproject.org. The Trevor Project is a 501 (c)(3) organization.

back to top

Scholarships
*********************************************
15. Deadline is March 1! Point Foundation Accepting Applications

The Point Foundation, the nation's largest nonprofit foundation supporting academic achievement in higher education among LGBT youth, recently announced major changes, including relocating its base of operations to Los Angeles and naming Jorge Valencia as its new executive director.

"Despite gains in civil rights and progress in our culture, a great number of LGBT youth in this country face enormous challenges simply because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Due to this fact, and to Point Foundation's increased outreach, we expect a significant increase in applications this year," Valencia told IN. "It's quite inspiring to meet so many outstanding LGBT students who represent this community's future leaders. To be a part of this process is both a great honor and a great responsibility."

All LGBT students who will be enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs for the 2007-08 school year are encouraged to apply for the prestigious, multi-year scholarships. Applications are currently being accepted through March 1.

MtvU, MTV's 24-hour college network, will partner with Point

back to top

*********************************************
16. Deadline is March 2! Colin Higgins Youth Courage Awards!

Wanted: Brave LGBTQ Youth!

Reward: Ten Thousand Dollars Each!

The Colin Higgins Foundation is requesting nominations for its annual Youth Courage Awards. Each year the Colin Higgins Foundation salutes LGBTQ individuals who demonstrate courage in the face of adversity and discrimination based on gender and/or sexual orientation.

Many LGBTQ Youth grow up in family, school and community environments that threaten their well being. They find themselves ostracized, marginalized, in psychological or even physical danger. Colin Higgins Foundation Youth Courage Award winners rise above such circumstances to inspire others by taking action, rallying support, and working to transform the systems and institutions that impact their lives.

This year the Foundation will be awarding $10,000 grants to:
* Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Two-Spirit, Queer and Questioning youth (through age 24) who have bravely stood up to hostility and intolerance based on their gender and/or sexual orientation and triumphed over bigotry through working for LGBTQ rights and social justice.

The deadline for all nominations is 5pm (Pacific Standard Time) Friday, March 2, 2007.

Late nominations will not be accepted.

The Foundation encourages all nominations to be made via the online submission tool, which can be found at: http://www.colinhiggins.org/courageawards/nomin_mat.cfm or http://www.colinhiggins.org.

back to top

*********************************************
17.San Jose/Peninsula PFLAG Scholarship Program

Our PFLAG chapter is offering five $2,000.00 scholarships (four to graduating seniors and one to a community college student who will be transferring) to students currently enrolled in schools in Santa Clara County or San Mateo County who will be attending an accredited college, university or business/technical school during 2007.

These scholarships will be given to individuals (LGBTQ and allies) whose educational history, personal plans and activities demonstrate support for justice and equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons. These awards are provided with the understanding that the funds will be used to offset the cost of tuition, books or required fees.

Application deadline: Postmarked by Friday, March 31, 2007

Winners must attend a PFLAG Awards reception on Wednesday evening, May 9, 2007 from 7-9- PM at the First Congregational Church, 1980 Hamilton Ave. San Jose, CA 95125.

For detailed instructions and the application, please see our web site at http://www.pflagsanjose.org

For questions, please contact Maribeth Ament 408-554-6852 or mailto:pflag.scholarship@yahoo.com

back to top

Jobs:
*********************************************
18. COLAGE Development Manager (San Francisco)

Position Objective & Overview
COLAGE seeks a Development Manager to develop, coordinate & implement major components of the organization's annual fund development plan and development department systems. The Development Manager helps ensure the growth and financial health of COLAGE by gathering and increasing resources, promoting visibility and securing long term support through a variety of fund development strategies, including but not limited to: grassroots fundraising, individual and family donor cultivation, events coordination, promotional communications, and corporate sponsorships/business partnerships. The Development Manager also strengthens the development infrastructure and helps build the capacity and sustainability of the organization through successful and innovative planning, administrative, financial, and data management activities and improvements.

About COLAGE
Founded in 1990, COLAGE engages, connects, and empowers people to make the world a better place for children of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) parents and families. We break the social isolation and discrimination faced by children of LGBT parents and families and secure respect, dignity and rights for ourselves, our families and all marginalized children, youth and families. Through an integrated array of peer networks and community building, youth empowerment and leadership development, political advocacy and public education, COLAGE prepares and mobilizes children, youth and adults with LGBT parents to take action for systematic change and social justice.

Principal Responsibilities

1. Fund Development & Donor Cultivation
2. Tools/Systems Maintenance & Data Processing
3. Communications & Merchandise Management

For a more detailed list of responsibilities, please contact COLAGE.

Qualifications/Ideal Candidate
· At least 3 years relevant work experience that indicates a knowledge of and track record of success in fund development, including: demonstrated success with grassroots fundraising, individual donor development, event coordination, outreach/organizational promotion, corporate relations, merchandising, data processing and formal fund development training in the non-profit sector or significant related for-profit sector marketing, public relations and communications experience.
· Computer fluency, comfort and familiarity using common software programs such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and FileMaker Pro. Proven ability to conduct data processing and management, mail merges, spreadsheets, desktop publishing. Internet savvy. Intermediate web skills a plus.
· Outstanding typing/data entry skills and excellent attention to detail and accuracy a must.
· Ability to communicate professionally and effectively with a wide range of donors and adapt to a variety of settings and audiences. Ability to maintain confidentiality and privacy of donor information.
· Superior oral and written communication and listening skills; must be a creative thinker and persuasive speaker and writer. Enthusiastic about inviting people to participate in and support our work.
· Excellent organizational skills including proven ability to manage multiple priorities and projects concurrently; effectively and reliably meet deadlines; work independently; establish new systems; and create a streamlined, productive development program.
· Strong interpersonal skills, enthusiastic team player with a demonstrated ability to work and cultivate relationships with people from a variety of different racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, educational, religious, sexual, gender, and generational backgrounds.
· Demonstrated commitment to youth empowerment, social justice, anti-oppression work, and LGBTQ rights.
· Fluency in language(s) in addition to English considered a plus (please note in cover letter or on resume).

Work Schedule, Compensation, and Benefits
Salary: FTE salary is $35,000 - 40,000 DOE. Hours: full-time (40 hrs/week); occasional travel, eves and weekends required. Status: Exempt. Supervisor: Executive Director. Supervises: Volunteers, Intern(s) as assigned. Benefits: Health insurance for medical, dental, vision, acupuncture/chiropractic care; vacation, sick, and holiday time; annual educational/training stipend; outstanding opportunity to help grow a leading youth, LGBT, family organization working for social justice. Location: San Francisco, CA.

COLAGE is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. People of color and people with LGBT parents are strongly encouraged to apply.

To Apply
APPLICATIONS ARE DUE by 5pm, Friday MARCH 9, 2007
PLEASE SEND YOUR APPLICATION BY POSTAL MAIL... NOT EMAIL
Include your resume, a cover letter reflecting answers to the guiding questions below, and names of 3 references (w/contact info) that can speak to your abilities.

Note: Interviews begin 3/1/07; early submission is encouraged. Only those applicants selected for an interview will receive a response. Candidates invited to second interview will be asked to submit a writing sample, such as an appeal, published article, brochure and/or event invitation.

Guiding Questions for Cover Letter:
* What brought you to social justice work?
* What interests you about working with COLAGE in this position?
* What do you see as some creative forms of resource development beyond foundation fundraising?

Mail to:
Development Manager Hiring Committee
COLAGE
1550 Bryant Street, Ste. 830
San Francisco, CA 94103

back to top

*********************************************
19. SOUL Summer School Program Associate (Oakland)

SOUL, School Of Unity & Liberation – Job Available
Summer School Program Associate (April – August 2007)

Start Date: April 2007 - Position open until filled.

Our Mission:
Since 1996, The School Of Unity & Liberation, SOUL, is a training center to develop a new multi-racial generation of young organizers – especially women, people of color, queer folks and working-class people – who will have the skills and vision they need to struggle for the liberation of all oppressed people. SOUL strives to support the growing social justice movement – designing political education, organizing skills training and technical assistance programs to meet the distinct needs of our generation.

Responsibilities for SOUL's Summer School Program Associate include:
• Aide in pre-planning, program execution and evaluation of the 12th annual SOUL Summer School (SSS).
• Coordinate and facilitate summer interns’ local housing and travel.
• Run the logistical operations of the SSS, from securing food donations to planning and executing interns’ site mixer.
• Assist in facilitation and overall coordination of weekend training, May 5th, 2007.
• Be available to co-train several organizing skills trainings and political education trainings, as needed.
• Serve as grassroots fundraising liaison between Co-Director and summer interns.
• Coordinate limited video documentation of SSS 2007.
• Build & maintain strong relationships with SSS interns.
• Develop and begin to implement Alumni tracking, starting with contacting and mapping past SSS alumni.
• Shadow supervision check-ins between interns and SSS co-coordinator, TBD.
• General staff tasks as needed (i.e. administrative tasks, program evaluation and planning, fundraising).

Qualifications for the Summer School Program Associate position:
• Must understand the importance of, and be committed to, educating youth—especially young people of color and low-income youth—between the ages of 17 and 25.
• Have experience in facilitating and training.
• Hold a high level of discipline, accountability and follow through.
• Have an interest and openness to combining radical politics and organizing.
• Be open to engaging in facilitative leadership.
• Must have a radical political analysis and hold a strong desire to help build a broader social justice movement.
• Direct organizing experience in community, labor, youth, or student organizing preferred.
• Bilingual English and Spanish,Tagalog, or Cantonese a plus.

Employment Status and Compensation:
The position is full time on SOUL’s regular staff salary ($32,000/year) April - August 2007, with the possibility of being hired on as permanent staff member post-summer. Some nights and weekends required.
Full Medical and Dental benefits are provided, paid vacation, paid sick-time, and self-care stipend.

How to Apply:
E-mail or mail a cover letter, resume and two references to:
SOUL / SSPA Search: 287 17th Street, Suite #225, Oakland, CA 94612, or mailto:soul@schoolofunityandliberation.org

Applications Due: March 12th, 2007

People of color, women, immigrants, LGBTQ, and working class candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. Applicants from outside the region are welcomed to apply.

back to top

NEWS
********************************************
20. NEWS: States Seek Laws to Curb Online Bullying

By JUSTIN M. NORTON

PROVIDENCE, R.I. Feb 21, 2007 (AP)— Ryan Patrick Halligan was bullied for months online. Classmates sent the 13-year-old Essex Junction, Vt., boy instant messages calling him gay. He was threatened, taunted and insulted incessantly by so-called cyberbullies.

In 2003, Ryan killed himself.

" He just went into a deep spiral in eighth grade. He couldn't shake this rumor," said Ryan's father, John Halligan, who became a key proponent of a state law that forced Vermont schools to put anti-bullying rules in place. He's now pushing for a broader law to punish cyberbullying often done at home after school and wants every other state to enact laws expressly prohibiting it.

States from Oregon to Rhode Island are considering crackdowns to curb or outlaw the behavior in which kids taunt or insult peers on social Web sites like MySpace or via instant messages. Still, there is some disagreement over how effective crackdowns will be and how to do it.

" The kids are forcing our hands to do something legislatively," said Rhode Island state Sen. John Tassoni, who introduced a bill to study cyberbullying and hopes to pass a cyberbullying law by late 2007.

But others argue that legislation would be ineffective. George McDonough, an education coordinator with Rhode Island's Department of Education, concedes that the Internet has become an "instant slam book" but questions whether laws can stem bad behavior.

To read the full story, visit:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2891468

back to top

*********************************************
21. NEWS: Utah Passes Bill To Curb Gay-Straight Student Clubs

365Gay.com
Newscenter Staff
February 21, 2007

(Salt Lake City, Utah) Legislation that would allow Utah schools to ban LGBT student clubs is on its way to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. for his signature.

The House passed a Senate version of the bill on Wednesday despite gutting a similar measure only weeks earlier.

The bill would allow schools to ban clubs they believe would threaten the "moral well-being" of students or faculty.

It would require parents to sign a consent form before their children can join clubs and it would force clubs to provide school principals with information that would be presented to the club a week in advance so parents can review it.

The legislation also requires the state to cover the costs of lawsuits involving the restrictions of school clubs. That provision is seen as a move to use the power of the state to prevent lawsuits if Gay-Straight Alliances were banned at schools.

The Senate already passed the bill. It sailed through the House on Wednesday, even though that body earlier had rejected most of the provisions.

The bill was sponsored by Republican Sen. Chris Buttars and Rep. GOP Rep. Aaron Tilton.

To read the full story, visit:
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/02/022107utah.htm

back to top

*********************************************
22. NEWS: Mormon Family Sues Santa Rosa Schools Over Pro-Gay Policies

Lois Pearlman
Bay Area Reporter
02/22/2007

A Santa Rosa couple, members of the ultra conservative Eagle Forum, is suing the Santa Rosa schools claiming their daughter suffered discrimination and harassment when she was a student at one of the district's high schools.

The couple, Kathy and Elden Rice, said that their daughter, Rebekah Rice, faced teasing and threats from students and unfair disciplinary action by a teacher because of her religion and her parent's opposition to school policies. The family belongs to the Church of Latter Day Saints in Santa Rosa.

The incidents cited in the lawsuit include a written referral for saying "that's so gay," an alleged threat by an openly lesbian student, a classroom presentation that included the R-rated film, Saving Private Ryan, and a mistaken search of Rebekah's backpack.

The non-jury trial began last week in Sonoma County Judge Elaine Rushing's courtroom. In the lawsuit, which names teacher Claudine Gans-Rugebregt, Principal Mark Klick, and Assistant Principal Frances Kass Mason, the Rices said school officials retaliated against Rebekah Rice because of her parents' involvement in protests against a Day of Dialogue held at Maria Carrillo High School in 2000.

On Tuesday, February 19, Orlean Koehle, president of the California Eagle Forum and a Santa Rosa substitute teacher, said "Elden [Rice] took the lead and essentially led the charge" when a small group of religiously conservative parents protested the event, especially the inclusion of a presentation on homosexuality.

Filed in December 2003, the lawsuit seeks an order for the school district to comply with education code regulations it allegedly violated, notification to every parent that the school failed to inform them about the showing of the R-rated film, unspecified monetary damages, and removal of the referral from Rebekah Rice's school record.

Koehle, who had to be admonished several times for speaking out of turn, admitted that the Rices's lawsuit was "partially to counter the pro-gay agenda in public schools."

To read the full article, visit:
http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=1581

back to top

*********************************************
23. NEWS: Federal Judge Throws Out Lawsuit Over Gay Discussions in Classroom

Anthony Cuesta
02.23.07

A federal judge on Friday tossed out a lawsuit presented by parents who were enraged by discussions on homosexuality in their children’s classroom.

The Associated Press reports that U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf said federal courts have decided in other cases that parents' rights to exercise their religious beliefs are not violated when their children are exposed to contrary ideas in school.

“ In essence under the Constitution public schools are entitled to teach anything that is reasonably related to the goals of preparing students to become engaged and productive citizens in our democracy,” Wolf said in his ruling, reports the AP.

In a 38-page decision, Wolf said the two couples--David and Tonia Parker, and Robert and Robin Wirthlin--have the option of sending their children to private schools or home-schooling them, the Boston Globe reports. He also said, according to the Globe, that the couples can ask the school district to excuse their children when classroom discussions touch on issues of homosexuality.

To read the full article, visit:
http://www.gaywired.com/article.cfm?section=66&id=13277

back to top

*********************************************
24. NEWS: Protecting All Students

NY Times
Editorial
February 24, 2007

Like all too many school districts, Toms River, N.J., has done a poor job of protecting gay students from bullying. According to the New Jersey Supreme Court, the district punished students for being one minute late for class, but made harassing another child for being gay punishable only after a third offense.

In a landmark ruling this week, the court unanimously held that public school districts like Toms River’s are liable for damages if they fail to take reasonable steps to stop prolonged anti-gay harassment of a student by another student. It correctly found that students had a right to be protected against this sort of abuse.

The decision changes the legal landscape in New Jersey, and we hope it will be the start of a new national approach to the problem.

A study by the National Mental Health Association a few years ago found that more than three-quarters of teenagers reported that students who were gay or thought to be gay were teased and bullied in their schools and communities.

To read the full article, visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/24/opinion/24sat4.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

back to top

February 21, 2007

In this issue of GSA Network News, you'll find:

GSA Network Highlight
HOMOMatrimony, Bake Sales, and other FUNdraising Tips
Go directly to GSA Network highlight

GSA Network Announcements
1. Three MORE GSA Network T-shirts Hot off the Press!!
2. Save the Date! GSA Network Leadership Training! (Richmond)
3. GSA Network is Hiring a National Program Manager
4. Queer Youth Advocacy Day 2007 Update: Transportation & Registration
5. Free Resources for New or Re-Registered GSAs!
6. Learn Great Skills as a GSA Network Intern! (San Francisco)
7. GSA Network Youth Council Wants You! (Statewide)
Go directly to GSA Network announcements

Other Announcements
Southern California
8. Free Movie Screening at Crossroads School! (Santa Monica)
Go directly to Southern California listings

Central Valley
9. Reel Pride Night OUT-Film Screening! (Fresno)
Go directly to Central Valley listings

Northern California
10. LYRIC: This Week and Next Week in After School Program (San Francisco)
11. April 2007 Community Programs at Jewish Family and Children's Services (San Rafael)
12. Become a Part of the Digital Story Telling Video (San Francisco)
Go directly to Northern California listings

Statewide
13. GSA Program Assistant/SFSU Graduate Student Is Seeking Your Input for a Study!
Go directly to Statewide listings

National
14. Cast your Vote for We Belong - Fighting Homophobia in Small Town America
Go directly to National listings

Scholarships
15. PFLAG San Diego Scholarships Available!
Go directly to Scholarships listings

News
16. NEWS: Gay Marriage Supporters Rally
17. NEWS: Schwarzenegger Says He Will Veto Gay Marriage Bill Again
18. NEWS: Utah Senate OKs Club Measure
19. NEWS: Lesbian Couple Arrested for Peaceful Protest at Focus on the Family
Go directly to News listings

+++++++++++++++ GSA NETWORK HIGHLIGHT+++++++++++++++

HOMOMatrimony, Bake Sales, and other FUNdraising Tips

We often hear from GSA's that raising funds can be difficult, and that students are always looking for creative ways to make a buck to help support the great work they are doing on campus and in the community to stop harassment, discrimination and homophobia. We have heard of quite a few great ideas over the years and want to share them with you.

In the planning stage you might want to consider doing some investigation into how funds can be given to your club and where these funds are housed. Become familiar with your school's system for financing student organizations. How do clubs set up bank accounts? Where will donations go? Who will donation checks be made out to? Who has the power to sign checks? Talk to other student leaders at your school, your advisor, and an administrator to get ideas and advice.

When you understand how the system works at your school you will be better equipped to start the fundraising process. Some of the most club engaging ideas include having a bake sale or car wash - instead of selling just cookies, sell cookies with rainbow chocolate chips or M & M’s. You might also consider finding out which club member or advisor has access to a wholesale card (i.e. Costco) and have them pick up a couple of boxes of Starburst. With the Starburst you can sell them at a cost that will net your club some extra money while also having fun with the signage – offer flyers about your club meeting and have posters that say, “Taste the Rainbow – Starburst for $1” or the new Twizzler Rainbow Twist can be found on http://www.theworldofcandy.com or http://www.amazon.com for 50% off it’s regular price. Sell each rainbow pack for a $2 and you’ll have $12 after each package is sold.

We have also had GSAs tell us of success from selling Mochas during the morning arrival time, smoothies during recess and PB & J sandwiches during lunch.

Some other ideas include: Sponsor a play, concert, or other cultural event to benefit your GSA. You might also consider donating part of the proceeds to a community organization or charity. A few years ago, Drake High School in Marin teamed up with their school's Drama Department to put on a play that dealt with issues of homophobia and stereotyping in a school setting. The play ran for four nights to sold out audiences, and raised lots of money for the Drake GSA and the GSA Network.

Just recently, at the Expression NOT Suppression conference the Central Valley Youth Council came up with the idea to have a HOMOMatrimony booth to provide ANYONE the chance to marry. For $2 each marrying couple received a HOMOMatrimony certificate and photo. They created a booth with a valentine’s backdrop, bought some veils and top hats at the Dollar Store and at the end of the evening had raised over $100 for their efforts.

If you have the ability to get out in your community – work to investigate local community organizations and businesses to help you raise money by donating a portion of their profits (from a given block of time) to your GSA. Lynbrook High School in San Jose did this at Ben & Jerry's one evening. For every customer that mentioned the Lynbrook GSA that night, the club got a percentage of the money. If you'd like to set up a fundraiser at a Ben & Jerry's near you, contact the company at 310.546.1717. Another company that offers a fundraising night to local clubs and organizations is Sweet Tomatoes – contact them about their community events by visiting http://www.sweettomatoes.com/communityspirit/

If your club has other good tips or ideas for raising money, let us know! And Happy FUNdraising!

back to top

+++++++++++++ GSA NETWORK ANNOUNCEMENTS +++++++++++++

*********************************************
1. Three MORE GSA Network T-shirts Hot off the Press!!

Three MORE GSA Network T-shirts hot off the press... Cafepress that is.

Order one of our three New T-shirts and help support GSA Network
*A is for Ally
*Activist
*Male, Female, Other / Neither / All of the above

Also in stock
*I heart GSA
*I HELLA Heart GSA
*and our classic GSA Organizing Shirt

These new designs can ONLY be purchased at our on-line store and for every item you buy GSA Network gets a small donation ($3-$5) to keep doing all the good work we do!!!

So help support GSAs and look cool doing it.

To Buy Today: http://www.cafepress.com/gsanetwork

back to top

back to top

*********************************************
4. Queer Youth Advocacy Day 2007 Update: Transportation & Registration

1. Registration starts next week! In order to attend QYAD, you must register online first. Registration will be open at http://www.eqca.org this week, and we will send out a notice to everyone when it opens. Keep an eye out!

2. Transportation assistance. Several GSAs have already told us that they're planning to attend this year's event and need help with travel to Sacramento. Charter buses will again be available to pick up and drop off students in several cities, including Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles. Planned bus routes routes are being confirmed and were posted on http://www.gsanetwork.org/qyad TODAY. We are asking for suggested donations of $5-$20 for seats, but no one will be turned away due to lack of funds.

There are limited funds available for students who need travel help and live too far away from the bus pick-up sites. To find out how you can get help, please contact Lai-San Seto, Advocacy Coordinator, at 415-552-4229 or mailto:lai-san@gsanetwork.org.

To get help in getting yourself to Sacramento, you must indicate this on your form when you register.

3. Show your $$$ support for QYAD today! Your local group or non-profit organization can help to ensure that QYAD is open and accessible to youth from all socioeconomic backgrounds by becoming a QYAD community partner and helping to subsidize transportation and free meals for youth participants. To find out how to do this, please contact Lai-San Seto, Advocacy Coordinator, at 415-552-4229 or mailto:lai-san@gsanetwork.org. Forms for community partners will also soon be available at http://www.gsanetwork.org/qyad.

Southern California
For more info, email mailto:carlos@gsanetwork.org or call 213-534-7162.

Central Valley
For more info, email mailto:robin@gsanetwork.org or call 559-268-2780.

Northern California
For more info, email mailto:marco@gsanetwork.org or call 415-552-4229.

back to top

++++++++++++++++ OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS ++++++++++++++++
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.

Southern California
*********************************************
8. Free Movie Screening at Crossroads School! (Santa Monica)

As part of the queer film series at Crossroads, sponsored by FLAG (our gay/straight alliance), we will be having our next movie screening of the year on Thursday, Feb. 22nd , from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. We invite you to join us for a great event!

We'll be screening the wonderful, Canadian “Oscar”- winning movie, Lilies. (See description below).

All students and faculty from Gay/Straight alliances and their friends are welcome. It's a great way to meet new friends, or see old ones. We had our biggest crowd yet at the last film, and are expecting lots of folks at this one as well.

The movie is FREE and free pizza and drinks will be provided! But please reply and let us know if you might come, so we have an idea of how much food to have ready.
**When you reply, make sure to include your name and the school (if any) you are from, as well as how many people you are bringing—this helps a great deal.

Directions are below. Please email us at mailto:flag2@xrds.org

If you have any more questions, please feel free to e-mail and ask. Hope to see you there.

Lilies
DIR: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0258531/ John Greyson, Canada, 1996

LILIES is an emotionally intense, sexy, suspense-filled tale of teenage love, betrayal and revenge in which one man's past comes back to haunt him.

The setting is a men's prison in 1952, where Bishop Bilodeau arrives to hear the confession of Simon, sentenced forty years earlier for the alleged murder of his teenage love Vallier. But Simon has more than confessing on his mind. The confessional door is locked from the outside, and Bishop Bilodeau is suddenly a hostage, forced to confront a past he'd much rather forget.

This great movie was nominated for 14 Genie (the Canadian “Oscar”) awards, and won 4 of them, including for Best Picture. It also won audience and best picture awards at LGBT film festivals around the country.

Directions:

Crossroads is at 1714 21st St. in Santa Monica, at the corner of 21st St. and Olympic Blvd.

The screening room we're meeting in is on the 2nd floor of the Arts Building.

Here's what you do--when you turn onto 21st from Olympic, take an immediate right onto a driveway-looking street and find a place to park. You'll see our "quad" which looks like a parking lot or an alley, and which we call (of course) the alley.

Walk to the end of the alley to the tall building on the left, enter and climb the stairs to the 2nd floor. You should see people..

Hope the directions aren't too confusing. It's not really that hard once you see it, and you can always ask people.

back to top

Central Valley
*********************************************
9. Reel Pride Night OUT-Film Screening! (Fresno)

Whole New Thing
Friday February 16, 2007
8pm - Tower Theatre

Go here to purchase tickets online: http://reelpride.com/2006/f_q_wholenewthing.php .

When a precocious, homeschooled 13 year-old boy is sent to the local, rural school for the first time, it's going to be a whole new thing. For everyone.

A beguiling and provocative comedy/drama about the discovery of sex and the longing for intimacy, Whole New Thing vividly brings to life the rites of passage of youth and middle age. Smart, funny, poignant, and captivatingly intense, brilliantly acted and visually lush, Whole New Thing is at once richly entertaining and thought-provoking.

EMERSON THORSEN, 13, lives with his parents KAYA and ROG in their eco-home in the wilds of Nova Scotia. He's just had his first wet dream, and completed writing and illustrating his first book, all 1000 pages of it. Meanwhile, the homeschooled youth can barely add 2 + 2. His mother enrolls him in the local school. There, Emerson's English teacher is DON GRANT. At 42, the solitary Don has settled into a life of perpetual adolescence, paying regular visits to a park washroom for anonymous sex. In the classroom, Emerson stirs things up.

Surprisingly, Don sees a bit of himself reflected in Emerson. Emerson, initially scornful of his teacher, quickly develops his first crush - on Don. The precociously confident boy, raised in a household of casual nudity and sexual openness, throws himself into this awakening of his heart with dangerous abandon.

Anchoring the film are two astounding performances. As Don Grant, Daniel MacIvor delivers the performance of his considerable career. With the mixture of gravity and levity akin to prime Jack Lemmon, MacIvor plays a flawed and unhappy man, in a portrayal so rich with honesty, humor and heart audiences cannot help falling in love with him.

As the 13 year-old protagonist Emerson, Aaron Webber makes an electrifying screen debut, fearlessly bringing to life a remarkably complex character for his age. Revealing Emerson as alternately annoying, appealing, haughty, warm and finally utterly winning, Webber makes an indelible impression.

DIRECTED BY Amnon Buchbinder
Genre: Comedy/Drama
92 minutes (Canada 2005)

For more information on Reel Pride, please visit: http://www.reelpride.com

back to top

Northern California
*********************************************
10. LYRIC: This Week and Next Week in After School Program (San Francisco)

Wednesday, February 21st
Youth Speaks
From the day to day drama of our school and family lives, to the larger issues of social and economic injustice, we all struggle. In this poetry and Spoken Word workshop, we will use our words as weapons and tools for change. Come prepared to begin fighting back!

Thursday, February 22nd
Introduction to Organizing
This workshop breaks down organizing as a specifically important way to fight for justice. Participants will examine victories won through organizing as well as how organizing can build long-term change in our communities.

Friday, February 23rd
Closed
Sorry for the inconvenience. We hope to see you on Monday!

LYRIC: Next Week in ASP

Monday, February 26th
Mural Project
The LYRIC ASP community is creating a mural on the first floor. Whether you draw, paint or just have ideas, come and help us create a fabulous work of art! Become a muralist and make your mark at LYRIC.

Tuesday, February 27th
Art Speak
Are you creative? Do you wish to be more expressive? Are you interested in doing art projects that can benefit your mind and soul? Come check out this great workshop series to find out how to use art as a tool of communication.

Wednesday, February 28th
Youth Speaks
From the day to day drama of our school and family lives, to the larger issues of social and economic injustice, we all struggle. In this poetry and Spoken Word workshop, we will use our words as weapons and tools for change. Come prepared to begin fighting back!

Thursday, March 1st
“Save Me a Spot In College” Scholarship Presentation
“Save Me a Spot in College” provides students an opportunity to be a voice for greater college access and is sponsored by the Campaign for College Opportunity (CCO), in partnership with the California Department of Education.

Friday, March 2nd
Mean Girls
For more information, please visit: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377092/
Raised in African bush country by her zoologist parents, Cady Heron thinks she knows about survival of the fittest. But the law of the jungle takes on a whole new meaning when the home-schooled 15-year-old enters public high school for the first time and encounters psychological warfare and unwritten social rules that teenage girls face today.

back to top

*********************************************
11. April 2007 Community Programs at Jewish Family and Children's Services (San Rafael)

April 2007 Community Programs at JFCS in Marin
Unless otherwise noted, these programs will be held at Jewish Family and Children’s Services at 600 Fifth Avenue in San Rafael.

Free Program for Holocaust Survivors

Café By The Bay
Café By The Bay is a monthly event for Holocaust Survivors in Marin. Our next gathering will be on Wednesday, April 11, 2:00 to 4:00 pm. For more information, contact Lorraine Harris at 415/419-3635 or LorraineH@jfcs.org. FREE

Free Program for Parents and Young Children

The Month of the Young Child
April is the Month of the Young Child in Marin. Parents Place joins the Marin Board of Supervisors, the Marin Department of Education, and other organizations to celebrate young children and the important people in their lives. As part of the celebration, Parents Place’s Bonnie Romanow will be offering 2 free groups:

-Puppet Play – Free puppet show for young children, with simple tips to help you do more of the same at home. Tuesday, April 17, 3:30 to 4:30 pm.

- Magical World of Play and Learning – Play is essential for learning! You will learn tips to enhance your child’s experience, ways to simplify play materials, and how to have more fun. Tuesday, April 24, 6:30 to 8:00 pm.

Volunteers Needed!

A great volunteer opportunity!

JFCS’ Senior Companionship Program matches up volunteers with seniors. As a companion you'll build a relationship with a senior, make weekly visits, and have the good feeling of enriching a life. In addition, you'll get education and training from JFCS professionals in doing this important work. For more information, contact Betty Hirschfeld at 415/419-3661 or BettyH@jfcs.org.

Another Community Event of Interest:

Yom HaShoah Commemoration

Join members of the Jewish community from all over Marin County to remember the Shoah and to honor local survivors. This year our service and commemoration will include speakers from three generations. Sunday, April 15, 6:00 pm, at Congregation Rodef Sholom – 170 N. San Pedro Road, San Rafael. Sponsored by the Partners for Jewish Life in Marin.

For more information, please contact:
Bonni Schiff
600 Fifth Avenue, San Rafael
415/419-3632
mailto:BonniS@jfcs.org

back to top

*********************************************
12. Become a Part of the Digital Story Telling Video (San Francisco)

Your MUSIC, PHOTOGRAPHS, VIDEO FOOTAGE, & VOICE become one to create a Digital Story Telling Video!

-Come Learn How To Share Stories About Your Life!
-Make New Friends and Eat Good Snacks!
-Ride the Bus for Free with a Monthly Muni Pass Provided to You!
-Get a $250 Stipend at the Completion of the program!

Saturdays from 1:30pm-4:30pm
San Francisco
Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender
Community Center
1800 Market St @ Octavia

You Must Be:
LGBTQQ Youth age 17 & under
Committed for 3-Months

Ask Nicole for an APPLICATION & Return it by MARCH 2nd!!!!

**STARTING**
MARCH 10th, 2007
Meets every Saturday from March 10th-May 26th 2007.

Any Question or Application Information Please Contact Nicole Ramirez at 415.865.5530 or mailto:NicoleR@sfcenter.org

back to top

Statewide
*********************************************
13. GSA Program Assistant/SFSU Graduate Student Is Seeking Your Input for a Study!

Hi to all you fabulous GSA members!

I am currently a Masters student in Women Studies at San Francisco State University. I’m working on a research project that is titled “That Doesn’t Happen Here”: Addressing Racism in California Gay-Straight Alliances. I’d like to survey youth who are still in high school and who are still involved with their GSAs about how they incorporate and discuss issues of race and/or racism.

If you feel that you have something important to say about this topic and would like to be interviewed please feel free to email me at mailto:khosmon@gmail.com.

People who, like you, are under 18, must have parental permission to participate in research. At the same time, for example, you may not yet be “out” to your parents or your parents may not know or approve of your involvement with the Gay-Straight Alliance, and for this reason, you do not want to give them a consent form to sign. If that is the case, please ask me for a waiver of parental permission, which will allow you to participate in my research while still maintaining your privacy. If you’re interested, I will get that to you through snail mail (or if you have access to a fax machine, I could fax it to you). Upon its return, I will then email you the link to Survey Monkey, a secured website.

My larger goal is to have your input in creating new curriculum addressing issues of race and/or racism so that GSAs have a handy tool for multi-issue organizing!

And don’t worry about having to meet me somewhere in San Francisco. I’m going to do all interviews by internet, so no one has to make any ridiculous treks across California and neither do I!

Participation in this research is voluntary. You may stop your participation at any time and/or leave any question blank. Your completion and electronic submission of this survey is a sign of your consent to participate in this research. If you have any questions, please contact me, Kiely, at mailto:khosmon@gmail.com or my advisor Dr. Julia Hua at mailto:jyhua@sfsu.edu.

Thank you in advance, and I look forward to hearing from you!
Kiely Hosmon

GSA Network Program Assistant
SFSU Grad Student

back to top

National
*********************************************
14. Cast your Vote for We Belong - Fighting Homophobia in Small Town America

We Belong is a short documentary video about two small town gay teens who had the courage to stand up to bigotry and discrimination in their schools, and the determination to tell their stories to the world.

When a gay teen in a small Pennsylvania town stood up to his abusers in the school locker room, he was arrested for disorderly conduct. When he was subsequently prevented from making a video about homophobia in his school as part of a class project, a local filmmaker documented his story in a short video called We Belong (featuring the music of transgender singer/songwriter Namoli Brennet).

We Belong is now one of six finalists in a national Seeds of Tolerance video competition. As a result, the newspaper in the small Pennsylvania town published a story on the video and the issue of harassment and discrimination in the local schools. The town and surrounding area are now in an uproar over the controversy, and C.J., the gay teen in the video, and his family have been threatened with death, among other horrible acts.

If We Belong does well in the Seeds of Tolerance competition, it could help a message of tolerance reach an AUDIENCE of MILLIONS on Current TV, and help other GLBTQ youth tell their stories and eliminate homophobic violence and discrimination in their schools and communities.

To see more information about and to CAST YOUR VOTE for WE BELONG see: http://WeBelongtheMovie.com

back to top

Scholarships
*********************************************
15. PFLAG San Diego Scholarships Available!

GLBT SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

Attention GLBT high school seniors, undergraduate and graduate students :

Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) San Diego is offering scholarships for Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgendered (GLBT) students.
If you can use $1,000.00 to help pay school expenses and are a San Diego County resident, apply for one of our $1,000.00 scholarships!

Visit http://pflag.com for details and a downloadable application.

Application deadline is Monday, April 16, 2007.

back to top

NEWS
********************************************
16. NEWS: Gay Marriage Supporters Rally

Some local leaders express support for change in laws

By Shaun Bishop
Palo Alto Daily News
February 15, 2007

A cast of characters consisting of government officials and others lined up to support same-sex marriage during a Valentine's Day rally in front of the San Mateo County Clerk's office.
The event, in its second year at the county seat in Redwood City, drew a crowd of more than 100 people at its peak as supporters hoped to influence upcoming legislation to legalize gay marriage.

A star of the show was state Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, the author of Assembly Bill 43, also known as the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act.
" People ask, 'Why do we need to fight a war over a word?' This word, 'marriage,' means everything," Leno said.

A similar bill also authored by Leno passed the state Legislature in 2005 but was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

On Wednesday, the focus was on celebrating the relationships of more than a dozen same-sex couples who gathered on the steps of the county center. Other officials in attendance included state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Mateo/San Francisco, and county Supervisor Jerry Hill.

A newly outspoken supporter was Assessor/County Clerk/Recorder Warren Slocum, who said he believes he became the first county clerk in California to public take a stand in favor of gay marriage when he sent a letter to other county clerks in January.

" It just became clear that the right thing to do was support the idea of equal rights for all people," Slocum said.

The rally was organized by Marina Gatto, whose two moms Ramona and Arzu had for years asked the county clerk for a marriage license, only to be turned down each time.

" Today we stand together to show others by our own example what true community is," said Marina, a first-year student at UC Berkeley.

Several speakers emphasized that denying gay people a marriage license promotes inequality and sets a bad example for children.

A number of children stepped up to the microphone to express their support, including 7-year-old twins Miles and Zachary Kleiman, who needed a stepstool to reach the podium but didn't seem a bit nervous about facing the crowd.

" I think people should do whatever they want in their lives," Miles said.

Michaela Green, 16, and Chelsea Capone, 15, both members of the Woodside High School Gay-Straight Alliance, said they were proud of the government leaders for speaking up in favor of gay marriage.

To read the full story, visit:
http://www.paloaltodailynews.com/article/2007-2-15-02-15-07-smc-marriage

back to top

*********************************************
17. NEWS: Schwarzenegger Says He Will Veto Gay Marriage Bill Again

Associated Press
February 16, 2007

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he would veto a bill that would legalize gay marriage in California for the second time if state lawmakers pass it again this year.
In June 2005, the California Legislature became the first lawmaking body in the United States to vote in favor of allowing same-sex couples to wed. Schwarzenegger refused to sign the measure, saying it was in conflict with a 2000 voter-approved measure that shored up the state's one man, one woman marriage laws.

Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, reintroduced the gay marriage bill in December, but Schwarzenegger said on Thursday that his thoughts about it have not changed in the last year and a half.

" I wouldn't sign it because the people of California have voted on that issue," Schwarzenegger told a high school student who asked him about the bill at a California YMCA Youth and Government conference.

To read the full story, visit:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/16717314.htm

back to top

*********************************************
18. NEWS: Utah Senate OKs Club Measure

It would allow schools to ban gay alliances

By Tiffany Erickson
Deseret Morning News
February 16, 2007

The Senate has approved the ever-changing student clubs bill - now back to its original form - which would allow school officials to ban clubs that threaten "the physical, emotional ... and moral well-being of students."

Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, Senate sponsor of the bill, said under the measure schools could deny a club like a Gay Straight Alliance and not be in fear of litigation and legal costs since the Attorney General's Office would be required to defend the law.

HB236 would also give parents the authority to view material distributed in a club seven days prior to the club meeting and require the school to appoint a faculty adviser to each non-curricular club. It would also require clubs to establish bylaws, a statement of purpose and a name related to that purpose.

But during Senate debate critics called the language in the bill, aside from the provision requiring parental permission for a student to join a club "16 pages of burden some language and onerous requirements."

"The rest of the bill is strict, onerous requirements and hoops that we require 16-year-olds, who just want to get together after school and play chess, to jump through," said Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake.

To read the full story, visit:
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660196132,00.html

back to top

*********************************************
19. NEWS: Lesbian Couple Arrested for Peaceful Protest at Focus on the Family

Soulforce Campaign Asks Dobson to Take Steps Toward Reconciliation with LGBT Community

Soulforce Press Release
February 19, 2007
Paige Schilt

(Colorado Springs, CO) -- At approximately 1:30 p.m. on February 19, 2007, Dotti Berry and Robynne Sapp of Blaine, Wash., were arrested and removed from Focus on the Family headquarters in police custody. The couple entered the building earlier in the day and refused to leave until the organization's founder, James Dobson, takes a step toward reconciliation with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities by ceasing his misleading statements about research on lesbian and gay parents.

They have been charged with trespassing and have not yet been released.

" I am here today because I believed Dr. Dobson's teachings for many years, and it almost led to my suicide. My healing came from my acceptance of myself and my acceptance that God loves me exactly as I am," said Sapp. Sapp and Berry have toured Focus on the Family twice before to dialogue with visitors and staff about LGBT individuals and families.

Dobson has consistently misrepresented LGBT families with misleading references to social science research. In recent months, several social scientists -- including Dr. Carol Gilligan of New York University and Dr. Kyle Pruett of Yale -- have publicly rebuked him for mischaracterizing their research conclusions.

To read the full story, visit:
http://www.soulforce.org/article/1181

back to top

February 14, 2007

In this issue of GSA Network News, you'll find:

GSA Network Highlight
GSA Network’s Central Valley Conference – Expression NOT Suppression was a HUGE Success!!!
Go directly to GSA Network highlight

GSA Network Announcements
1. GSA Network Has 3 New HOT T-shirts!!!
2. This Weekend! GSA Network Leadership Training! (East LA/San Gabriel Valley)
3. GSA Network is Hiring a National Program Manager
4. Save the Date! GSA Network Leadership Training! (Richmond)
5. Queer Youth Advocacy Day 2007 Update: Please Read!!!
6. Free Resources for New or Re-Registered GSAs!
7. Learn Great Skills as a GSA Network Intern! (San Francisco)
8. GSA Network Youth Council Wants You! (Statewide)

Go directly to GSA Network announcements

Other Announcements
Southern California
9. Free Movie Screening at Crossroads School! (Santa Monica)
Go directly to Southern California listings

Northern California
10. Sweet'Tarts and Cupids Dance (Walnut Creek)
Go directly to Northern California listings

Statewide
11. GSA Program Assistant/SFSU Graduate Student Is Seeking Your Input for a Study!
Go directly to Statewide listings

National
12. Submissions Wanted for Queer Myths Zine!
13. AIDS/LifeCycle Jersey Design Contest!
14. New National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline
15. Open Call for Submissions from Youth and Adults with LGBT Parents
16. 50 Under 30 Public Education Campaign
Go directly to National listings

News
17. NEWS: MySpace Page Puts Teacher At Center Of Controversy
18. NEWS: Gay Teens Coming Out Earlier to Peers and Family
19. NEWS: Va. House Approves 'Permission Slips' Bill; Some Fear Impact of Parental Consent on GSAs
20. NEWS: Barstow High School Students Form Gay-Straight Alliance
Go directly to News listings

+++++++++++++++ GSA NETWORK HIGHLIGHT+++++++++++++++

GSA Network’s Central Valley Conference – Expression NOT Suppression was a HUGE Success!!!

More than 130 youth showed up for this all day youth conference, and the energy level was completely mesmerizing. ENS was held in Fresno, CA, and the attendance had tripled from last year’s event. As these youth gathered to socialize, but more importantly to be empowered, they came from as far North as Jackson, CA and as far South as Porterville, CA. Here are some of the comments from youth who attended this exciting event!

“I really liked the different workshops and the only problem I had with them was the fact that I couldn’t decide on only one! I learned many things such as how to use yourself and your political powers, and how to better improve your GSA. At the dance I liked not having the pressure of being afraid that I would be put down for dancing with a guy. It was the most fun I have had in a long time, and at the same time I can go back to school now and change the environment around me using the new tools that I have acquired, and even more importantly I know I have support all across the Central Valley. I am extremely grateful for what the people at ENS and the GSA Network do for the teens of California.” Matthew Kalik, Junior at Oakdale High School

“Expression Not Suppression was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I've never felt so comfortable in my own skin and I loved the feeling of seeing so many youth just having a good time and not caring who was looking. One of the really cool things was the drag show. I personally have never seen one of these shows. It was so beautiful and amazing, I almost started crying. I felt that that's how things should be all the time, free of the daily crap, just fun. I look forward to the next GSA Network event...hopefully Queer Youth Advocacy can be next!” Jessica Meredith, Merced HS

“Rarely do I get the chance to celebrate and express my sexuality (other than in GSA meetings), so the conference was an amazing outlet that allowed me to feel comfortable in an environment that was not gay-stifled. It gave me a sense of direction as president of my first-year GSA - this conference was a little shove towards not only creating a stronger GSA, but creating change out in the world as well. I admire the time and effort they put into organizing these events, and I sincerely thank them for caring so much about students like me. One word: amazing. I, as a student, as a LGBTQ youth, as a woman, and as person, can create change; with the proper tools, and with courage, I can make a difference in our community and for other generations of LGBTQ youth as well.” Tanya Sarmina, Granite Hills HS

“I had the best time of my life yesterday. I've never been able to go somewhere and feel that comfortable with “who I am.” It was so awesome to be able to dance with a girl and not be criticized. Once again, you all hold a place in my heart and I'm sure for many others. Thank you.” Sydney Cooke, Merced HS

Do you feel the energy from these students, some of which drove three and a half hours to and from the conference? The dedication and loyalty to the GSA Network’s movement was apparent all day long. If you question their dedication and their struggle, listen to the words of one of the youth keynote speakers, Clint Wells from Bullard HS:

“I've decided to speak today about the hardships of queer youth. It is VERY hard to be young and queer in America. I would just like to see the hands of everyone who has been tormented because of their sexual orientation at school. I wish teachers were here today to see all of your hands. To have this many hands up is disgusting and unacceptable. Every day, queer kids across the nation are thrown up against walls, pushed into trashcans, called "fag" or "dyke," receive death threats, and in some scary cases, actually see those death threats carried out. We can't walk from class to class without getting harassed. We can't use the restrooms without people accusing us of being in the wrong bathroom. We can't walk to or from school without people yelling things from cars at us. We can't take the bus without people moving seats when we sit down.

To them, we are a disease and they NEVER let us forget it. To most people this constant oppression would force them into staying in their own rooms forever, but, not us. Not us “sissy little queer kids”. We fight back. We form Gay-Straight Alliances, show our numbers and empower each other. We draw in crowds bigger than bigoted Christian clubs and announce that “us sissy queer kids” are a force that you don't want to be up against. When we hear "queer!" we turn around and say "Hell yeah I'm queer, and there's nothing you could ever do to change that." HOMOPHOBIA is the disease, and we're the cure. There are these really corny inspirational posters up at my school that say "It’s better to be hated for something you are, than loved for something you're not," and all though they're really pretty cheesy, the message is great.

We need to realize that being gay doesn't mean being perfect. We can be gay and be ugly. We can be gay and be fat. We can be gay and be in a monogamous relationship. There are things beyond Abercrombie and glitter. To me being gay is about individuality, understanding and most importantly it’s about community. It is important for us to remember that our sexualities are not different. The options are not "straight" or "other." Just like the colors of our flag, there is a diverse rainbow of sexualities, all of which are completely normal and healthy. It is not until we completely celebrate this diversity that we will be on our way to liberating ourselves.”

May you all experience a moment of this type of Expression, reminding us every step of the way that the continual work that we all do to stop the Suppression will never be enough until ALL feel safe.

back to top

+++++++++++++ GSA NETWORK ANNOUNCEMENTS +++++++++++++

*********************************************
1. GSA Network Has 3 New HOT T-shirts!!!

Look out for our new t-shirts and 5 cool buttons at conferences, leadership trainings, or at any one of our three offices. So make sure to bring a little cash the next time you see us.

Not only will you be supporting GSA Network but you'll look fresh too!

CAN'T WAIT? You just GOTTA have one today? Order online at http://www.cafepress.com/gsanetwork.

back to top

*********************************************
2. This Weekend! GSA Network Leadership Training! (East LA/San Gabriel Valley)

You are invited to a GSA NETWORK LEADERSHIP TRAINING!

This FREE event will be held on February 17, 2007 from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. It includes breakfast and lunch!

So what is a GSA Network Leadership training?
Youth from various GSAs come together for a FUN, interactive, peer-to-peer training that provides students with the skills to fight homophobia and transphobia in schools. Led by other GSA leaders from California, the training will show students how to start and run a kick-ass GSA.

Topics include
* How to run a GSA meeting
* Outreach, membership building, and diversity
* Understanding gender and sexual orientation
* Understanding laws that protect LGBTQ youth in schools
* How to take action against slurs, harassment, and discrimination in your school.

Young people become activists because they respect themselves and other people too much to let anyone be treated like a second-class citizen. They believe in the basic worth of all human beings, including themselves. That's why so many students, including straight allies, are coming together to fight sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination at their schools. The goals of a student activism group include winning concrete improvements in people's lives, making students aware of their own power, and altering the relations of power. GSAs in California are leading the fight for social and justice.

This is a great opportunity to network with other GSAs in your area while learning some new skills to strengthen your club.

WHO: GSA members, potential members, and GSA advisors
WHEN: Saturday, February 17, 2007, 10am-4pm
WHERE: Bienestar, La Casa LGBT Center
5301 E. Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90022
323-727-7897
COST: Free!

GSA Network values the participation of adult allies in our fight against oppression and injustice in schools, and thus welcomes GSA Advisors and other adult allies to the leadership training. That being said, we ask that they help us to maintain the youth focus of this training.

For more information or to RSVP, please contact:
Carlos Cabrera, GSA Network Southern California Program Coordinator, at 213-534-7162 or mailto:carlos@gsanetwork.org

back to top

*********************************************
3. GSA Network is Hiring a National Program Manager

GSA Network is seeking a National Program Manager to oversee the development and management of its new national programs. Over the past two years, GSA Network has embarked on an exciting national expansion. In 2005, GSA Network founded the National Association of GSA Networks, which brings together youth and adult leaders from state and regional GSA networking groups in nearly 20 states to network and share best practices for GSA organizing.

Additionally, GSA Network has piloted a replication of its model for GSA organizing in New Mexico, helping the Santa Fe Mountain Center establish the New Mexico GSA Network. In 2006, GSA Network completed a national expansion strategic plan that formalizes its national training and replication activities. GSA Network's national program will further the organization's mission by expanding its unique youth-driven, state-based program model nationally - adding an important voice to the LGBT, safe schools, and social justice movements.

The National Program Manager is responsible for running GSA Network's national programs, including supporting the core current operations of the National Association of GSA Networks and the development and coordination of our National Training and Replication Program.

To view the entire job description and learn how to apply, visit: http://www.gsanetwork.org/about

back to top

*********************************************
4. Save the Date! GSA Network Leadership Training! (Richmond)

You are invited to a GSA NETWORK LEADERSHIP TRAINING!

This FREE event will be held on Sunday, March 11th from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. It includes breakfast and lunch!

So what is a GSA Network Leadership training?
Youth from various GSAs come together for a FUN, interactive, peer-to-peer training that provides students with the skills to fight homophobia and transphobia in schools. Led by other GSA leaders from around Northern California, the training will show students how to start and run a kick-ass GSA.

Topics include
* How to run a GSA meeting
* Outreach, membership building, and diversity
* Understanding gender and sexual orientation
* Understanding laws that protect LGBTQ youth in schools
* How to take action against slurs, harassment, and discrimination in your school.

Young people become activists because they respect themselves and other people too much to let anyone be treated like a second-class citizen. They believe in the basic worth of all human beings, including themselves. That's why so many students, including straight allies, are coming together to fight sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination at their schools. The goals of a student activism group include winning concrete improvements in people's lives, making students aware of their own power, and altering the relations of power. GSAs in California are leading the fight for social change and justice.

This is a great opportunity to network with other GSAs in your area while learning some new skills to strengthen your club.
WHO: GSA members, potential members, and GSA advisors
WHEN: Sunday, March 11th. from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
WHERE: The RYSE Center: Youth Down for Change
205 41st. Street at Bissell, Richmond, CA 94805
COST: Free!

NOTE: Although The RYSE Center is scheduled to open its doors in Spring 2008, we are grateful to be able to utilize their facilities and celebrate the birth of this project.

GSA Network values the participation of adult allies in our fight against oppression and injustice in schools, and thus welcomes GSA Advisors and other adult allies to the leadership training. That being said, we ask that they help us to maintain the youth focus of this training.

For more information or to RSVP, please contact
* Marco Castro-Bojorquez, GSA Network Northern California Program Coordinator, at 415-552-4229 or mailto:marco@gsanetwork.org

back to top

*********************************************
5. Queer Youth Advocacy Day 2007 Update: Please Read!!!

1. Bienestar, a SoCal organization providing direct services to the Latino community, has joined GSA Network and Equality California as a co-sponsor for QYAD. Find out more about them at http://www.bienestar.org. We are ecstatic about this new partnership!

2. Show your $$$ support for QYAD today! Your local group or non-profit organization can help to ensure that QYAD is open and accessible to youth from all socioeconomic backgrounds by becoming a QYAD community partner and helping to subsidize transportation and free meals for youth participants. To find out how to do this, please contact Lai-San Seto, Advocacy Coordinator, at 415-552-4229 or mailto:lai-san@gsanetwork.org. Forms for community partners will also soon be available at http://www.gsanetwork.org/qyad.

3. Transportation assistance. Several GSAs have already told us that they're planning to attend this year's event and need help with travel to Sacramento. Charter buses will again be available to pick up and drop off students in several cities, including Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles. Final routes are being confirmed and will be posted on http://www.gsanetwork.org/qyad very soon.

There are limited funds available for students who need travel help and live too far away from the bus pick-up sites. To find out how you can get help, please contact Lai-San Seto, Advocacy Coordinator, at 415-552-4229 or mailto:lai-san@gsanetwork.org.

To get help in getting yourself to Sacramento, you must indicate this on your form when you register.

4. Registration starts next week! In order to attend QYAD, you must register online first. Registration will be open at http://www.eqca.org starting next week, and we will send out a notice to everyone when it opens. Keep an eye out!

5. Application deadline for QYAD Leaders has been extended!

Due to a swell of GSA requests, we have decided to extend this year's application deadline one week to February 19, You can apply at http://www.gsanetwork.org/qyad. All of Queer Youth Advocacy Day is focused on youth like you, but it's the Advocacy Day Leaders who step up, take charge, and make sure youth voices get heard loud and clear at the Capitol.

Advocacy Day Leaders receive special intensive training to prepare them to train the hundreds of youth who will be in Sacramento for the event. Furthermore, each Leader will be in charge of leading a group of youth during their lobbying visits with lawmakers, helping out and facilitating conversations. All Leaders get to spend the entire weekend of March 24-26 in Sacramento training, networking, and practicing for the big day on Monday. Event sponsors will provide for all meals, housing, and transportation for all Leaders, when necessary.

Leaders are needed from each of CA's 40 state senate district which means you will be helping to represent folks in your community. Don't forget! Apply at http://www.gsanetwork.org/qyad by February 19.

back to top

*********************************************
6. Free Resources for New or Re-Registered GSAs!

Before you plan any events for your GSA, remember to register or re-register your group with GSA Network. Do it NOW to make sure you receive our student resource sheets, FREE posters, other resources, and notifications of future GSA Network or LGBT-related events. Please note that mailings will go out only to California GSAs in middle and high schools.

Register online at http://www.gsanetwork.org/register/index.html

For more info, email Tanya Mayo at mailto:tanya@gsanetwork.org or call 415-552-4229

back to top

*********************************************
7. Learn Great Skills as a GSA Network Intern! (San Francisco)

Intern call outs!

What's in it for you?
As an intern, you will gain hands-on experience working for California's most dynamic LGBTQ youth-led organization. You will gain invaluable insight about a mid-sized non-profit and GSA Network's particular organizational and organizing models. You will also learn a broad range of skills while providing program and/or administrative support.

Please note that this is a non-paid position and that the internship is for our San Francisco office.

Your Responsibilities
*If you are student, your school must take responsibility for setting the number of credits for the internship
*If you are coming from a considerable distance, you are responsible for your own housing, living expenses, and any other costs.

How to Apply
Please contact Kiely for an application. Thank you for applying!

Kiely Hosmon
Program Assistant
Phone - 415-552-4229
Fax - 415-552-4729
mailto:kiely@gsanetwork.org

back to top

*********************************************
8. GSA Network Youth Council Wants You! (Statewide)

GSA Network is accepting applications for new Youth Council members.
Go to the website and apply: http://www.gsanetwork.org/about/ycapp.html

Southern California
For more info, email mailto:carlos@gsanetwork.org or call 213-534-7162.

Central Valley
For more info, email mailto:robin@gsanetwork.org or call 559-268-2780.

Northern California
For more info, email mailto:marco@gsanetwork.org or call 415-552-4229.

back to top

++++++++++++++++ OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS ++++++++++++++++
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.

Southern California
*********************************************
9. Free Movie Screening at Crossroads School! (Santa Monica)

As part of the queer film series at Crossroads, sponsored by FLAG (our gay/straight alliance), we will be having our next movie screening of the year on Thursday, Feb. 22nd , from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. We invite you to join us for a great event!

We'll be screening the wonderful, Canadian “Oscar”- winning movie, Lilies. (See description below).

All students and faculty from Gay/Straight alliances and their friends are welcome. It's a great way to meet new friends, or see old ones. We had our biggest crowd yet at the last film, and are expecting lots of folks at this one as well.

The movie is FREE and free pizza and drinks will be provided! But please reply and let us know if you might come, so we have an idea of how much food to have ready.
**When you reply, make sure to include your name and the school (if any) you are from, as well as how many people you are bringing—this helps a great deal.

Directions are below. Please email us at mailto:flag2@xrds.org

If you have any more questions, please feel free to e-mail and ask. Hope to see you there.

Lilies
DIR: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0258531/ John Greyson, Canada, 1996

LILIES is an emotionally intense, sexy, suspense-filled tale of teenage love, betrayal and revenge in which one man's past comes back to haunt him.

The setting is a men's prison in 1952, where Bishop Bilodeau arrives to hear the confession of Simon, sentenced forty years earlier for the alleged murder of his teenage love Vallier. But Simon has more than confessing on his mind. The confessional door is locked from the outside, and Bishop Bilodeau is suddenly a hostage, forced to confront a past he'd much rather forget.

This great movie was nominated for 14 Genie (the Canadian “Oscar”) awards, and won 4 of them, including for Best Picture. It also won audience and best picture awards at LGBT film festivals around the country.

Directions:

Crossroads is at 1714 21st St. in Santa Monica, at the corner of 21st St. and Olympic Blvd.

The screening room we're meeting in is on the 2nd floor of the Arts Building.

Here's what you do--when you turn onto 21st from Olympic, take an immediate right onto a driveway-looking street and find a place to park. You'll see our "quad" which looks like a parking lot or an alley, and which we call (of course) the alley.

Walk to the end of the alley to the tall building on the left, enter and climb the stairs to the 2nd floor. You should see people..

Hope the directions aren't too confusing. It's not really that hard once you see it, and you can always ask people.

back to top

Northern California
*********************************************
10. Sweet'Tarts and Cupids Dance (Walnut Creek)

Rainbow Community Center presents

What: Sweet'Tarts and Cupids Dance
When: Friday February 16,2007
Time: 6:00-11:00 pm
Where: Walnut Creek United Methodist Church
1543 Sunnyvale Dr.
Walnut Creek
(Approx 2 blocks from Pleasant Hill BART station)
Cost: FREE!!

For more information:
Contact Michelle Herrera, RCC Youth Director at
(510)207-3400 or at mailto:youthdirector@rainbowcc.org

*This is a free dance for all LGBTQQI youth and their allies ages 14-22
*This is an alcohol and drug free event so please no using or holding.

back to top

Statewide
*********************************************
11. GSA Program Assistant/SFSU Graduate Student Is Seeking Your Input for a Study!

Hi to all you fabulous GSA members!

I am currently a Masters student in Women Studies at San Francisco State University. I’m working on a research project that is titled “That Doesn’t Happen Here”: Addressing Racism in California Gay-Straight Alliances. I’d like to survey youth who are still in high school and who are still involved with their GSAs about how they incorporate and discuss issues of race and/or racism.

If you feel that you have something important to say about this topic and would like to be interviewed please feel free to email me at mailto:khosmon@gmail.com.

People who, like you, are under 18, must have parental permission to participate in research. At the same time, for example, you may not yet be “out” to your parents or your parents may not know or approve of your involvement with the Gay-Straight Alliance, and for this reason, you do not want to give them a consent form to sign. If that is the case, please ask me for a waiver of parental permission, which will allow you to participate in my research while still maintaining your privacy. If you’re interested, I will get that to you through snail mail (or if you have access to a fax machine, I could fax it to you). Upon its return, I will then email you the link to Survey Monkey, a secured website.

My larger goal is to have your input in creating new curriculum addressing issues of race and/or racism so that GSAs have a handy tool for multi-issue organizing!

And don’t worry about having to meet me somewhere in San Francisco. I’m going to do all interviews by internet, so no one has to make any ridiculous treks across California and neither do I!

Participation in this research is voluntary. You may stop your participation at any time and/or leave any question blank. Your completion and electronic submission of this survey is a sign of your consent to participate in this research. If you have any questions, please contact me, Kiely, at mailto:khosmon@gmail.com or my advisor Dr. Julia Hua at mailto:jyhua@sfsu.edu.

Thank you in advance, and I look forward to hearing from you!
Kiely Hosmon

GSA Network Program Assistant
SFSU Grad Student

back to top

National
*********************************************
12. Submissions Wanted for Queer Myths Zine!

Calling out to all Queer youth with artistic, restless minds! ??

Yes, YOU, beautiful, creative queer young person!
You know you wanna submit to our upcoming Queer Myths vs. Realities zine!

This zine will help to educate Bay Area young people about what our realities are really like as lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, intersex and questioning youth! If you’re a writer, a poet or poetess, graphic designer, graffiti artist, photographer, illustrator, songwriter, or just a person who likes to speak their mind, we want you to make a statement and help us shatter these myths from your perspective.

Your entry will have to respond or relate to one of the following myths/stereotypes:
• People choose to be gay
• Gay people are unhappy
• Being gay is unnatural
• Homosexuality and/or transgenderism are curable diseases
• You can tell who is gay by the way they look, talk, and act
• Gay people like to advertise the fact that they’re gay
• Gay people will raise gay children
• Most gay men are pedophiles
• A lot of gay people are that way because they were sexually abused
• Transgender people are really just confused
• Homophobia doesn’t affect straight people
• Queerness is just a phase or a trend
• Only white people come out as gay
• Transgender people need to disclose their birth assigned gender

Suggestions:
Choose any myth that speaks to you and who you really are as a LGBTQIQ youth. How have these myths affected you? Have your personal experiences proven these myths to be untrue??

We also want stories of empowerment and survival. Yes, homophobia and transphobia are heavy, but we all deserve to feel good about ourselves despite other people’s ignorance. How you have stayed positive and maintained a good sense of yourself with all the negativity targeting our community?Send or email us your submissions in the form of art or writing to:
235 Montgomery Street Suite 430
San Francisco, CA 94104
mailito:valentine@hify.org

back to top

*********************************************
13. AIDS/LifeCycle Jersey Design Contest!

Announcing the first ever AIDS/LifeCycle Jersey Design Contest! We're looking for designs that convey the spirit and passion of the ride, and who understands this better than you, our participants?

We are presently accepting designs for the following:
-The General Ride Jersey-This jersey will be sold on Orientation Day and in our Camp Store. The jersey will have Major Sponsor logos, Beneficiary logos and the AIDS/LifeCycle logo that will need to be incorporated in the design.
-The 5K Incentive Jersey-This jersey will be awarded to participants who raise $5,000 or more in their fundraising.
-The Training Ride Leader Jersey-This jersey will be available to our Training Ride Leaders to celebrate their dedication to helping others train for the event.

To enter this contest:
-You must have a background in graphic design (ideally a clothing graphic designer).
-You are limited to four colors and their gradations (white is a free color)
-For more information on required design elements and to find out what you will receive if your design is chosen please contact Stephen Cadby mailto:scadby@aidslifecycle.org or 415-581-7083.

Deadline for all entries is March 10, 2007.

back to top

*********************************************
14. New National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline

The National Domestic Violence Hotline and LizClaiborne Inc. announced Thursday the launch of http://www.loveisrespect.org the National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline (NTDAH), a 24-hour national web-based and telephone helpline created to help teens (ages 13-18) experiencing dating abuse during a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington DC.

" If teens are not turning to their parents for help, it is essential that they have a private outlet where they can discuss their fears with someone who will provide immediate assistance" said SherylCates, chief executive officer of the National Domestic Violence Hotline and the Texas Council on Family Violence. "This helpline and website were designed exclusively for teens so they can speak to a peer or an adult advocate anonymously and confidentially."

Teens and parents anywhere in the country can call toll free, 866-331-9474 or log on to the interactive Web site, http://www.loveisrespect.org, and receive immediate, confidential assistance. In addition to a toll-free phone line, http://loveisrepect.org will be the first interactive dating abuse website, staffed by trained advocates, where teens can write and immediately get assistance in a one-on-one private chat room.

LizClaiborne Inc. initiated and funded loveisrespect.org with a multi year, million dollar grant as part of the Company's commitment to help end teen dating abuse in this country. The helpline and website will operated by the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

" My boyfriend terrorized me in a number of ways, but one of the most effective was through email. Email became one of his primary methods of control, especially when my parents refused to let us speak on the phone. He wanted to know where I was every second of every day" says Kendrick Sledge, a teen dating abuse survivor. "If there was a teen dating abuse helpline when I was being abused, I might not have stayed in therelationship as long as I did."

The National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH) is a project of the Texas Council on Family Violence in Austin, Texas. NDVH provides empowerment-based crisis intervention, information and referral to victims of domestic violence and their friends and families. The Hotline serves as the only center in the nation with access to more than 5,200 sources of help including 2,000 battered women's shelters in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. NDVH and ndvh.org operates 24 hours each day, 365 days every year, in over 150 different languages, with a TTY line available for the Deaf, Deaf-Blind and Hard of Hearing. All calls to NDVH are anonymous.

back to top

*********************************************
15. Open Call for Submissions from Youth and Adults with LGBT Parents

Let your voice be heard! Contribute to COLAGE's one-of-a-kind publication, Just For Us!

JFU is the only publication dedicated to the words, thoughts, opinions, and experiences of people with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender parents - and we want to hear from YOU.

The next issue of JFU celebrates the way that health impacts all of our lives. We want to explore and promote healthy individuals, families and communities. At the same time, we want to examine the ways that our families face discrimination in health care systems, the impacts of prejudice on our mental and physical health, and other ways that we and our families are impacted by issues of health.

We are looking for articles, poetry, interviews and more from youth and adults who have one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transdender parent/s. The following are just a few topics that you could address:

-Experiences you have had with health care as an individual or a family- both positive and negative
-SELF CARE: Ways that you or your family takes care of itself
-Experiences you have had as an individual or as a family with mental or physical health illnesses or abuse
-How you promote healthy families, relationships and friendships
-Your ideas for how to create a healthier world for kids of LGBT parents and our families.
-How you or your family is impacted by not having the same access to health care as a family with access to marriage or other forms of family protection.

Submissions may take several formats - share your personal stories, essays, interviews, poems, artwork, and ideas. We will work with you to make sure your story is told in your own words, the way you want it - you, the contributor, have final approval of your piece before it goes to print. You can submit a finished piece or let us interview you - it's up to you.

Please limit your pieces to two-dimensional and 500 words or less.

Please send all questions, comments and submissions to mailto:jfu@colage.orgby March 1st, 2007. We can't wait to hear from you!

back to top

*********************************************
16. 50 Under 30 Public Education Campaign

Gender-Based Violence: In Our Classrooms and Communities

Since 1995, more than 50 youth and young adults, ages 30 and unders have died in an under-reported tide of violence in attacks that targeted them because they didn't fit stereotypes for masculinity or femininity -- because of their gender identity or gender expression. 92% were Black or Latina, and most of them were gay or transgender. Most were biologically male and killed by young males their own age, often in attacks of profound violence. One-third of the victims are teens. They are young people who are in our classrooms - or were forced out of school because of merciless bullying and harassment.

The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition documents this epidemic that continues to claim another young life every 2-3 months in a new report, 50 Under 30: Masculinity and the War on America's Youth. Youth and educators have a unique role to play in stopping gender-based bullying and its escalation into fatal assaults through early intervention, education and prevention. To learn more about the 50 Under 30 public education campaign - and what you can do in our classrooms and communities to help stem this tide of violence - visit http://www.50under30.org.

back to top

NEWS
********************************************
17. NEWS: MySpace Page Puts Teacher At Center Of Controversy

A local teacher is back at the center of a MySpace controversy.

February 7, 2007
NBCSanDiego.com
SAN DIEGO

Challenger Middle School teacher Gerald Gapusan stepped down recently as the chaperone for a school trip.

Gapusan took the rest of this week off, reported NBC 7/39, upset about the situation. Initially, Gapusan had voluntarily stepped down as chaperone, hoping he could retain some of his privacy. The school district, however, released a CD-ROM with images of his MySpace page.

On the Web page were images of Gapusan, as well as personal writing and poems, including one called "Dear Homophobic." Some of the images on the site, including one of two bare-chested men hugging, were added to the page by other people who had access to the teacher's page, reported NBC 7/39.

Parent Bob Turner, who supported the teacher before the CD-ROM was released, was even more certain after seeing it, that Gerald Gapusan should chaperone the field trip.

"I don't have any problem," said Turner. "I would send my daughter on that trip today with Mr. Gap. Mr. Gap has been doing that trip for nine years. He's been gay the whole time. It's not like he just turned gay in November when this stuff came about."

The San Diego Education Association said that Gapusan's private life should not be the subject of public scrutiny. Association officials were upset that the CD-ROM was released at all, saying that the district had agreed to consider it a personnel matter, hoping the attention would wane.

To read the full story, visit:
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/10957940/detail.html

back to top

*********************************************
18. NEWS: Gay Teens Coming Out Earlier to Peers and Family

By Marilyn Elias
USA TODAY
February 8, 2007

Kate Haigh, 18, a high school senior in St. Paul, recalls attending her first meeting at the school's Gay-Straight Alliance club when she was in the ninth grade. "I said, 'My name is Kate, and I'm a lesbian.' It was so liberating. I felt like something huge had been lifted off my shoulders, and finally I had people to talk to."

Zach Lundin, 16, has brought boyfriends to several dances at his high school in suburban Seattle.
Vance Smith wanted to start a club to support gay students at his rural Colorado school but says administrators balked. At age 15, Vance contacted a New York advocacy group that sent school officials a letter about students' legal rights. Now 17, Smith has his club.

Gay teenagers are "coming out" earlier than ever, and many feel better about themselves than earlier generations of gays, youth leaders and researchers say. The change is happening in the wake of opinion polls that show growing acceptance of gays, more supportive adults and positive gay role models in popular media.

To read the full story, visit:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-02-07-gay-teens-cover_x.htm

back to top

*********************************************
19. NEWS: Va. House Approves 'Permission Slips' Bill; Some Fear Impact of Parental Consent on GSAs

By ELIZABETH PERRY
February 09, 2007
Washington Blade

The Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill requiring school districts to give parents control over which after-school clubs their middle and high school students may join. Gay-straight alliances have been frequently cited as the target of such legislation.

The bill is now under consideration in the state Senate and was assigned this week to an education subcommittee for study. It passed in the state House Jan. 30.

The version that passed in the House was the third version of the bill. The first version, which failed on Jan. 17, would have required that parents "opt in" their children and teens for each club.

Although some Virginia districts currently use such a program, it failed largely because in larger districts, such as Fairfax County Public Schools, it would prove logistically cumbersome requiring the processing of hundreds of thousands of documents each school year.

The second version was an attempt at streamlining the process by giving parents "opt out" power, meaning they could turn in one form with all after-school clubs listed on it and check off the ones they did not want their children or teens participating in.

It changed once again on Jan. 30 to the current version which, if passed in the Senate and signed by the governor, will give districts the choice of whether to use an "opt in" or "opt out" system. There are districts in the state that use one or the other and others that use no such system.

Gay Del. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) opposed the bill from the start calling it "unnecessary" and difficult to enforce.

"In schools with a large number of clubs and students, this legislation will require a lot of paperwork being transmitted and tracked," he said. "This is not a valid substitute for parents communicating directly with their children. I oppose forcing school districts to impose one of two 'solutions' to a non-existent problem. Right now any opt-out or opt-in decision is up to locally elected school boards and that is where it should remain."

The bill, known officially as HB1727, was introduced by Del. Matthew Lohr, (R-Harrisonburg).

The "permission slips" bill, as it has come to be known casually, is considered anti-gay because it means that gay students would have to come out to their parents in order to participate, even if they were not ready or willing to do so.

"A lot of young people are not comfortable coming out to parents and wouldn't ask them to sign," said Dyana Mason, executive director of Equality Virginia. "[GSAs] can be a lifesaver for gay kids, who have higher rates of intimidation, harassment and dropping out of school."

A number of GSA clubs have waged successful battles against school boards that do not want gay clubs on their campuses. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, courts in Georgia, Utah, California, Indiana, Kentucky and Minnesota have all ruled in favor of GSAs under the Equal Access Act, which states that schools allowing one non-curricular club to meet on campus must allow all non-curricular clubs to meet.

To read the full story, visit:
http://www.washblade.com/2007/2-9/news/localnews/9969.cfm

back to top

*********************************************
20. NEWS: Barstow High School Students Form Gay-Straight Alliance

By AARON AUPPERLEE
Desert Dispatch
February 12, 2007

BARSTOW - While part of the Barstow High School student body ate lunch on Friday, a new club met in a classroom. About 25 students socialized, complained about parents, compared iPods and cell phones and planned T-shirts, fund-raisers and community service - men and women, freshmen through seniors, and the word "gay" was only mentioned once.

Students at Barstow High School recently started a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), a student group that brings together gay and straight students to raise awareness of gay, lesbian and transgender issues and encourages tolerance among students of different life-styles.

"We're really about people coming together and talking," Rebakah Michelson, the faculty advisor for the GSA club, said. "Our goal is to just make everybody feel comfortable with who they are."

Michelson, who teaches freshmen English at the high school, was asked by students from her class to serve as the faculty advisor. To start a club at Barstow High School, students must find a faculty advisor, write a constitution, get approval from the Associated Student Body and then be approved by the school board. The board unanimously approved the club at the Jan. 23 school board meeting. To become a member of the club, Michelson said students had to receive per mission from the parents.

A Safe Environment

Active for about a month, the club has grown since its beginning. One GSA member said new members come to each meeting. Michelson said about 10 percent of the club's membership is openly gay in some form. The rest, she said, are either straight or still figuring out their sexual orientation.

"They're unformed clay, and they're trying to figure out who they are and how they want to live," she said. "My goal is to provide a safe environment where kids can be social."

Students have attempted to form the club before, Michelson said. Matt Mendibles, 17, the club's vice president, said he tried to start the club in October but could not find a faculty advisor. Later, a group of freshmen were able to bring all the necessary pieces together.

Carolyn Laub, founder and executive director of the Gay-Straight Alliance Network, a California-based non-profit umbrella group for GSAs around the state, said while most GSAs form without much resistance, some students do face a battle. Students from a school in Clovis fought for three years to establish a GSA she said. Many parents expressed opposition to the club, and the students could not find a faculty advisor.

"They couldn't find a single teacher to step up for them," Laub said. "That reflected how negative and hostile the school climate was."

Change in Clovis has been slow, Laub said, but the climate is getting better. Gay-Straight Alliances have formed in a couple of schools in the Clovis area. State-wide, however, Laub said it has become the exception not a have a GSA at a high school. More than 600 GSA clubs have registered with the Gay-Straight Alliance Network, a number that represents about 40 percent of the public high schools in California, according to Laub. Alliances have also started at some middle schools.

To read the full story, visit:
http://www.desertdispatch.com/2006/117129132332166.html

back to top

February 7, 2007

In this issue of GSA Network News, you'll find:

GSA Network Highlight
Top 10 Reasons for Organizing a Day of Silence Proclamation!
Go directly to GSA Network highlight

GSA Network Announcements
1. This Weekend! GSA Network Leadership Training! (San Jose)
2. This Weekend! Organizing a Powerful Day of Silence (San Francisco)
3. Pre-Register for the Expression NOT Suppression Conference! (Central Valley)
4. Save the Date! GSA Network Leadership Training! (East LA/San Gabriel Valley)
5. Apply to become a Queer Youth Advocacy Day Leader! (Statewide)
6. Free Resources for New or Re-Registered GSAs!
7. Learn Great Skills as a GSA Network Intern! (San Francisco)
8.GSA Network Youth Council Wants You! (Statewide)
Go directly to GSA Network announcements

Other Announcements
Southern California
9. Cupid's KickBack (West Hollywood)
10. Bike Out & LifeWorks Mentoring Ride (Los Angeles)
11. LGBTQ Youth Prom, Sponsored by Friends of Project 10 Inc. (Los Angeles)
12. Get Involved with the Family Acceptance Project!
Go directly to Southern California listings

Northern California
13. Marriage Equality Press Conference and Rally (Redwood City)
14. YouthAware Educational Theatre Presents Party Daze! (San Francisco)
15. Coro's Exploring Leadership Program (Bay Area)
16. Queerfest II (Hayward)
17. 6th Annual San Francisco Black LGBT Film Festival (San Francisco)
Go directly to Northern California listings

National
18. Trans Teens and Young Adults Needed for Documentary
19. The Principles of Youth
20. 50 Under 30 Public Education Campaign
Go directly to National listings

Scholarships
21. Deadline Tomorrow! Award to Lesbian Visual Artists!
22. eQuality Scholarship
23. Santa Clara County Service Center Council’s Human Rights Committee Teaching Scholarship
24. COLAGE and Horizons Foundation Scholarships
25. Models of Excellence Scholarship, Sponsored by Friends of Project 10 Inc.
26. Fresno State Bulldog Pride Scholarship Fund Needs Donations!
Go directly to Scholarships listings

Jobs
27. Love and Justice Program Intern (San Francisco)
28. Part-Time Van Driver (San Francisco)
Go directly to Jobs listings

+++++++++++++++ GSA NETWORK HIGHLIGHT+++++++++++++++

Top 10 Reasons for Organizing a Day of Silence Proclamation!

We are only a couple of months away from GLSEN’s National Day of Silence! On April 18, 2007 students and teachers nationwide will observe the day in silence to echo the silence that LGBT and ally students face everyday. In it's 11th year, the Day of Silence is one of the largest student-led actions in the country (http://www.dayofsilence.org).

Founded in 1996, the Day of Silence® has become the largest single student-led action towards creating safer schools for all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. From the first-ever Day of Silence® at the University of Virginia in 1996, to the organizing efforts in over 1,900 middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities across the country in 2002, its textured history reflects its diversity in both numbers and reach. For more information on the history of GLSEN’s Day of Silence, please visit: http://www.dayofsilence.org/content/getinformation.html.

Although GLSEN’s Day of Silence is considered to already be the largest day of direct action, you and your GSA can make it even bigger and more powerful!

By getting your school board or your governor (that’s right, we have big dreams here at the GSA Network) to officially write a letter of proclamation recognizing April 18, 2007 as a Day of Silence speaks volumes to the importance of safer schools. Not only does a Day of Silence Proclamation add validity to the actual day itself, but the steps prior to asking for a proclamation is something that will ultimately lead your GSA to better organizing skills.

And without further ado, here are the top 10 reasons:

10. It will gain broad recognition for your club at a larger, more visual level. Your GSA means business!

9. Learning how to use the media to your advantage. Depending on how hardcore your GSA gets, there is the chance to involve TV stations, radio stations, and newspapers to cover the importance of a Day of Silence proclamation.

8. Learn how the school system works in your area. What’s better than knowing exactly how to gain access to your School Board?

7. Practice in writing your own testimony. Depending on how much information is needed, your GSA might be asked to write a personal testimony explaining why it’s so important to have a Day of Silence Proclamation.

6. Networking and coalition building with community organizations or even other clubs on your campus. Try thinking of organizations that may not be LGBTQ focused to start working within a broader framework of social justice.

5. It’s a great way to practice youth/adult partnerships in your community or school! Chances are you’ll be connecting with a lot of adults to try and get a proclamation passed and this will be beneficial in the future.

4. Organizing outside the school! Fighting for a proclamation guarantees public interaction and fighting for something on a larger framework.

3. Experience in running campaigns, lobbying, public speaking, keeping to agendas, etc. These are, of course, very importance skills that never go out of style!

2. For clubs that fly by the seat of their pants, it teaches great time management and responsibility to get things done. Because if you can’t get follow directions and deadlines…your GSA should probably contact us.

1. Empowering yourself, duh! If you can get your school board to sign off on a Day of Silence Proclamation, you’ve officially mandated them to make changes for your entire school district. You’ll be the coolest club at your school, hands down! Whose GSA rocks? Yours does!

For helpful steps on how to actually enact a Day of Silence Proclamation, please visit: http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/library/record/95.html

Of course, not all GSAs are going to be able to get their School Board to sign off on a Day of Silence Proclamation, and that’s ok! But remember, if you attend a public school, you have a right to organize on your campus and create a ruckus to show that safer schools are for everyone. Get ideas and tactics by visiting the Day of Silence website (http://www.dayofsilence.org) and start organizing for your own day of action!

back to top

+++++++++++++ GSA NETWORK ANNOUNCEMENTS +++++++++++++

*********************************************
1. This Weekend! GSA Network Leadership Training! (San Jose)

You are invited to a GSA NETWORK LEADERSHIP TRAINING!
This FREE event will be held on February 10 from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. It includes breakfast and lunch!

So what is a GSA Network Leadership training?
Youth from various GSAs come together for a FUN, interactive, peer-to-peer training that provides students with the skills to fight homophobia and transphobia in schools. Led by other GSA leaders from around Northern California, the training will show students how to start and run a kick-ass GSA.

Topics include
* How to run a GSA meeting
* Outreach, membership building, and diversity
* Understanding gender and sexual orientation
* Understanding laws that protect LGBTQ youth in schools
* How to take action against slurs, harassment, and discrimination in your school.

Young people become activists because they respect themselves and other people too much to let anyone be treated like a second-class citizen. They believe in the basic worth of all human beings, including themselves. That's why so many students, including straight allies, are coming together to fight sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination at their schools. The goals of a student activism group include winning concrete improvements in people's lives, making students aware of their own power, and altering the relations of power. GSAs in California are leading the fight for social change and justice.

This is a great opportunity to network with other GSAs in your area while learning some new skills to strengthen your club.

WHO: GSA members, potential members, and GSA advisors
WHEN: Saturday, February 10 from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
WHERE: Billy DeFrank Center
938 The Alameda
San Jose, CA 95126
COST: Free!

GSA Network values the participation of adult allies in our fight against oppression and injustice in schools, and thus welcomes GSA Advisors and other adult allies to the leadership training. That being said, we ask that they help us to maintain the youth focus of this training.

For more information or to RSVP, please contact
* Marco Castro-Bojorquez, GSA Network Northern California Program Coordinator, at 415-552-4229 or mailto:marco@gsanetwork.org
* Cassie Blume, Youth Programs and Volunteer Coordinator, Billy DeFrank Center, at 408-293-3040 X 111 or mailto:youthprog@defrank.org

back to top

*********************************************
2. This Weekend! Organizing a Powerful Day of Silence (San Francisco)

You are invited to a Day of Silence Workshop! This event is a collaboration with GLSEN National.

This FREE event will be held on February 9 from 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. It includes dinner!

The Day of Silence is an annual event held to commemorate and protest anti-LGBT bullying, harassment and discrimination in schools. Students and teachers nationwide will observe the day in silence to echo the silence that LGBT and ally students face everyday. In it's 11th year, the Day of Silence is one of the largest student-led actions in the country.

This is a great opportunity to network with other GSAs in your area while learning some new skills to strengthen your club.

WHO: GSA members, potential members, and GSA advisors
WHEN: Friday, February 9 from 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
WHERE: GSA Network's Statewide Offices
1550 Bryant Street, San Francisco, CA
Look for the "Lobby Conference Room"
COST: Free!

IMPORTANT: Space is limited. Please RSVP!!

For more information or to RSVP, please contact
* Marco Castro-Bojorquez, GSA Network Northern California Program Coordinator, at 415-552-4229 or mailto:marco@gsanetwork.org

back to top

*********************************************
3. Pre-Register for the Expression NOT Suppression Conference! (Central Valley)

Your Expression NOT Suppression Conference is only one month away. Make sure you and your GSA register online to attend the ENS Conference!

GSA Network's Expression NOT Suppression Conference is coming soon to the Central Valley. ENS is a FREE conference for LGBTQQI youth activists and their allies who are dedicated to defeating homophobia and transphobia, and creating safe and supportive schools for everyone. The target audience is high school & middle school students. Teachers & GSA advisors are welcome.

WHO: LGBTQQI youth activists & their allies
WHERE: 1343 East Barstow Avenue, Fresno, 93710
WHEN: Saturday, February 10, 11:00am-9:30pm
WHY: To meet other youth leaders, learn new skills, and share strength!
COST: Everything, including food, is FREE!
WHAT ELSE: Get down & dance with everyone you've just met at a special, youth-only dance at the same location – we will be
celebrating the Freedom to Marry movements and there will be a Drag Show as well – if you’d like to participate, contact us NOW!

The ENS Conference is a chance for LGBTQQI and straight ally youth to network and enjoy free workshops on activism and topics related to queer life.

Pre-register for the GSA Network's ENS Conference at http://www.gsanetwork.org/ens

For more info, email mailto:ens@gsanetwork.org or call 559-268-2780.

Don't forget, GSA Network is also looking for Conference Committee members! If you are interested, please contact Sara at mailto:sara@gsanetwork.org

back to top

*********************************************
4. Save the Date! GSA Network Leadership Training! (East LA/San Gabriel Valley)

You are invited to a GSA NETWORK LEADERSHIP TRAINING!

This FREE event will be held on February 17, 2007 from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. It includes breakfast and lunch!

So what is a GSA Network Leadership training?
Youth from various GSAs come together for a FUN, interactive, peer-to-peer training that provides students with the skills to fight homophobia and transphobia in schools. Led by other GSA leaders from California, the training will show students how to start and run a kick-ass GSA.

Topics include
* How to run a GSA meeting
* Outreach, membership building, and diversity
* Understanding gender and sexual orientation
* Understanding laws that protect LGBTQ youth in schools
* How to take action against slurs, harassment, and discrimination in your school.

Young people become activists because they respect themselves and other people too much to let anyone be treated like a second-class citizen. They believe in the basic worth of all human beings, including themselves. That's why so many students, including straight allies, are coming together to fight sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination at their schools. The goals of a student activism group include winning concrete improvements in people's lives, making students aware of their own power, and altering the relations of power. GSAs in California are leading the fight for social and justice.

This is a great opportunity to network with other GSAs in your area while learning some new skills to strengthen your club.

WHO: GSA members, potential members, and GSA advisors
WHEN: Saturday, February 17, 2007, 10am-4pm
WHERE: Bienestar, La Casa LGBT Center
5301 E. Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90022
323-727-7897
COST: Free!

GSA Network values the participation of adult allies in our fight against oppression and injustice in schools, and thus welcomes GSA Advisors and other adult allies to the leadership training. That being said, we ask that they help us to maintain the youth focus of this training.

For more information or to RSVP, please contact:
Carlos Cabrera, GSA Network Southern California Program Coordinator, at 213-534-7162 or mailto:carlos@gsanetwork.org

back to top

*********************************************
5. Apply to become a Queer Youth Advocacy Day Leader! (Statewide)

Represent your school and community, and become an Advocacy Day Leader!

All of Queer Youth Advocacy Day is focused on youth like you, but it's the Advocacy Day Leaders who step up, take charge, and make sure youth voices get heard loud and clear at the Capitol.

Advocacy Day Leaders receive special intensive training to prepare them to train the hundreds of youth who will be in Sacramento for the event. Furthermore, each Leader will be in charge of leading a group of youth during their lobbying visits with lawmakers, helping out and facilitating conversations. All Leaders get to spend the entire weekend of March 24-26 in Sacramento training, networking, and practicing for the big day on Monday. Event sponsors will provide for all meals, housing, and transportation for all Leaders, when necessary.

Leaders are needed from each of CA's 40 state senate district which means you will be helping to represent folks in your community. To become a Leader, you must apply at http://www.gsanetwork.org/qyad. The deadline is February 12.

back to top

*********************************************
6. Free Resources for New or Re-Registered GSAs!

Before you plan any events for your GSA, remember to register or re-register your group with GSA Network. Do it NOW to make sure you receive our student resource sheets, FREE posters, other resources, and notifications of future GSA Network or LGBT-related events. Please note that mailings will go out only to California GSAs in middle and high schools.

Register online at http://www.gsanetwork.org/register/index.html

For more info, email Tanya Mayo at mailto:tanya@gsanetwork.org or call 415-552-4229

back to top

*********************************************
7. Learn Great Skills as a GSA Network Intern! (San Francisco)

Intern call outs!

What's in it for you?
As an intern, you will gain hands-on experience working for California's most dynamic LGBTQ youth-led organization. You will gain invaluable insight about a mid-sized non-profit and GSA Network's particular organizational and organizing models. You will also learn a broad range of skills while providing program and/or administrative support.

back to top

*********************************************
8. GSA Network Youth Council Wants You! (Statewide)

GSA Network is accepting applications for new Youth Council members.
Go to the website and apply: http://www.gsanetwork.org/about/ycapp.html

Southern California
For more info, email mailto:carlos@gsanetwork.org or call 213-534-7162.

Central Valley
For more info, email mailto:robin@gsanetwork.org or call 559-268-2780.

Northern California
For more info, email mailto:marco@gsanetwork.org or call 415-552-4229.

back to top

back to top

*********************************************
10. Bike Out & LifeWorks Mentoring Ride (Los Angeles)

::: Bike Ride in Griffith Park :::

Saturday February 24th, 10am - 4pm

LifeWorks Mentoring and Bike Out are organizing a bike ride for LGBTQ youth, allies, and mentors. We'll get together in the morning to get the bikes ready and play some icebreaker games, then we'll ride through the park as a team, taking breaks when we need them. The route is even, no big hills! It will be possible for anyone who knows how to ride a bike, and easy for those who are strong riders. We'll stop in the park for lunch and hang out time, then come back along the LA River bike path. The theme for the trip will be how being LGBTQ affects us in sports and exercise, and what our challenges are in staying healthy and taking good care of ourselves.

Details:
-Open to all youth ages 14-24 in all our LGBTQ communities
-Some spots available for adult allies and mentors
-We have some bikes and helmets available for people who need to borrow one
-Free lunch provided
- The meeting point is on four bus lines for easy access
-Some assistance with transportation is available if needed

WANT TO COME?
Great! The next step is to RSVP and fill out some paperwork! Because of the risks involved with urban biking, you need to fill out an application, waiver, and medical form so we can make sure we all stay safe. Get started by filling out the form at: http://lifeworksmentoring.org/lifeoutapp.html, or call Dan Dumont at 310-724-6300 to receive a registration form by mail, fax, or e-mail.

back to top

*********************************************
11. LGBTQ Youth Prom, Sponsored by Friends of Project 10 Inc. (Los Angeles)

This annual event is held in May of each year at the Friendship Auditorium in Los Angeles (near Griffith Park).

This year's prom will be held on Friday, May 18, 2007.

Prepaid tickets are $30 and tickets bought at the door at $40, which includes free parking, dinner, beverages, DJ, and live entertainment.

Visit http://www.modelsofpride.org for prom details and ticket application. Contact us at mailto:project10@hotmail.com or 626-577-4553 for more information.

back to top

*********************************************
12. Get Involved with the Family Acceptance Project!

FAP ia a research project that is developing family education materials in several languages for the family members of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth; these materials will be based on our project findings from the past three years along with the feedback we are now in the process of collecting from family members.

FAP is a participatory research and education project of the César E. Chávez Institute at San Francisco State University developed in 2002 to help increase family support for LGBT young people. FAP includes the first major study of LGBT adolescents and their parents to be conducted throughout California. The project is beginning to develop a series of educational, assessment and training materials to help strengthen families, and increase support for LGBT youth and improve the quality of care they receive.

For those who call-in and qualify we will arrange a time and place that is convenient for participants to hold the presentation. The project is open to all and can go beyond the community at Project 10 or LAUSD.

Also, all those who participate in a 2 hour project presentation session will be paid a $50 cash stipend for their time and any feedback they care to offer the project. We are also paying $25 a piece to all those who refer someone into the project, who qualifies and completes a session.

For more information:
-All those interested can call our project toll free at (888) 354-4222
-Visit our website http://familyproject.sfsu.edu
-Email us at mailto:fap@sfsu.edu

back to top

Northern California
*********************************************
13. Marriage Equality Press Conference and Rally (Redwood City)

Join nationally recognized LGBT rights activist Marina Gatto, State Senator Leland Yee, San Mateo County Clerk Warren Slocum, EQCA, Marriage Equality USA, PFLAG, COLAGE, NOW, the ACLU, Freedom To Marry, and many other local officials and community members at the second annual Marriage Equality press conference and rally organized by Marina Gatto. The press conference & rally is from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on the steps of the county courthouse building at 555 County Center in Redwood City, Ca.

San Mateo County elected officials are making an unprecedented statement of support for marriage equality at this event. In showing full support of equality for all people and families in his community, County Clerk Warren Slocum  will read the letter he has written to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger expressing his  personal support for being able to marry ALL loving couples within his county , regardless of gender or sexual orientation. County Clerk Warren Slocum is also asking Governor Schwarzenegger, Sen Pro Tem Don Perata, and the California Assembly & Senate to support Assembly Bill 43- The Religious Freedom & Civil Marriage Protection Act, which will end marriage discrimination against same sex couples in California, and which was authored by Assemblymember Mark Leno.

On Valentines Day Wed. Feb. 14th, 2007, PLEASE come out and show your support of marriage equality for ALL loving couples  at a local marriage counter near you. Please join Marina Gatto, State Senator Leland Yee, and County Clerk Slocum, and others for the San Mateo County's press conference and rally at 9:00 a.m. in Redwood City. Show your support for equality for ALL people, ALL couples, and ALL families. Support those leaders who support equality, be visible, and make a difference!! Equality will finally be won when as individuals we stand up to show that we believe in equality, and that we expect NOTHING less!

Contact media@marriageequality.org if you are interested in organizing one!

For more  information go call: (650) 740-1475
Email: mailto:cupcake3x@aol.com
Visit: http://www.marinagatto.com/ or http://www.marriageequality.org/

back to top

*********************************************
14. YouthAware Educational Theatre Presents Party Daze! (San Francisco)

Party Daze
by Ed Roy (The Other Side of the Closet playwright)
Directed by Sara Staley
Based on the original production by Youtheatre of Montreal

A Sexual Assault Prevention Play for Teens (Grades 7-12),
Touring Northern California ONLY TWO WEEKS! March 13th - 23rd 2007

TOUR DATES STILL AVAILABLE!
Friday 3/16, Monday 3/19, Tuesday 3/20, Thursday 3/22 or Friday 3/23

We can do the program up to two times a day in any theatre, gymnasium, or other multi-purpose performance space. We travel with our own set and sound equipment. This program is available to tour to your school, free of charge for SFUSD, and for a low-cost ($250) donation per performance for schools outside of SFUSD. Email to discuss possible underwriting for low-income schools.

This compelling multi-media, one-man show has been applauded for its honest exploration of a single incident of sexual assault that is told from the male perspective. The story centers on Rod Clark, a seemingly normal sixteen year-old, growing up in an age of conflicting expectations. Like most of his peers, Rod has a deteriorating relationship with his parent and he receives confusing messages about sex from his peers and an older brother. One night at a party when Rod uses alcohol to escape his reality, he rapes a girl. A girl he liked. The next day, Rod must relive the nightmare of his mistake and learn to take responsibility for his actions. Each performance is followed by a facilitated discussion with the cast.

For more information or to reserve a tour date, call (415) 694-6149 or *email mailto:sara@nctcsf.org

back to top

*********************************************
15. Coro's Exploring Leadership Program (Bay Area)

Launched in the summer of 1998, Exploring Leadership is a full-time summer (June 25th to August 17th) and part-time after-school fall program (September to mid-November) designed to engage high school students to become active citizens who have the tools to participate in and improve their communities. Exploring Leadership participants are 36 entering 11th graders (current sophomores) - 18 in San Francisco and 18 in the East Bay - who are interested in expanding their leadership skills by examining community issues and existing public leadership. Students earn a $1,000 stipend over the duration of their participation.

We are in the process of redoing the Exploring Leadership webpage but students can visit our webpage at http://www.coro.org/el to learn more and to download an application. The priority application deadline is March 1st and the regular deadline is March 15th.

For more information, please contact:

Amy Chan
Youth Programs Manager
Coro Center for Civic Leadership
601 Montgomery St., Suite 800
San Francisco, CA 94111
ph: 415.986.0521 ext. 105
fax: 415.986.5522
http://www.coro.org

back to top

*********************************************
16. Queerfest II (Hayward)

Located at CSU East Bay, Hayward Campus

Monday, February 12, 2007
WALKING A SEXUAL TIGHTROPE, Student Health Conference Room (SH 1225), 1-2:30 pm, Questions about sex? Come talk and learn about safe sex, and how to incorporate it between the sheets.

QUEERS OF COLOR FILM FESTIVAL, MI 2064, 2-4:30 pm, Features two short films, In My Skin/En Mi Piel (2006), Amy Andre and Tienes Hambre? (2004), Margo Rivera-Weiss, that depict queer Latinos/as negotiating identity, desire, and community. Followed by discussion with the filmmakers and Logan Gutierrez-Mock, the mixed race, transgender subject of Andre's film. Reception following.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007
SYLVIA GUERRERO SPEAKS, 12-1:30 pm, UU 311, Mother of slain transgender teen, Gwen Araujo, talks about her journey losing her daughter, dealing with the courts, advocating for transgender equality.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007
THE DATING GAME, UU 311, 11:30 am-1 pm (part of Sexual Responsibility Fair), Queerfest II events information; brochures about LGBTQ issues; issues of dating and sexuality.
RAINBOW RECEPTION AND SOCIAL, Lassen Hall (Pioneer Heights), 4:30-6 pm, Reception honoring LGBT students, staff, and faculty and allies, Jazz Quartet, refreshments; student social at 6 pm.

Thursday, February 15, 2007
SAFE ZONE/ALLY TRAINING, 12-2 pm, Biella Room (Library), An interactive workshop addressing issues affecting LGBTQ individuals; suggestions for creating an inviting culture. Lunch served at 11:30 am.

ZERO TARGET, 6-8 pm, PE 201 (gym), Triangle Martial Arts Association and CSUEB Professor Phil Atkins will demonstrate self-defense techniques that allow students to defend themselves and remain safe.

Friday, February 16, 2007
FILMING EQUALITY, 10:40-11:50 am, MI 2032, Stuart Gaffney will be discussing filmmaking, his wedding day in San Francisco City Hall, and equality under the law - as well as showing two of his short films, Secret Sounds and Muni to the Marriage.

For more information call 510-885-3657 or 510-885-3690, wwwsa.csueastbay.edu/slife

back to top

*********************************************
17. 6th Annual San Francisco Black LGBT Film Festival (San Francisco)

Opening Night Gala- Yerba Buena Center for the Arts [701 Mission St. @ 3rd] [Doors 7:30p/Show 9p]

Celebrate this year's festival opening in explosive style and grace!

Hosts: Mr. & Miss Gay SF 2007: The Incomparable John W. & Mercedez Munro

Musical Voyage: "Minister of Sound" DJ David Harness [Taboo | Fag Fridays | Super Soul Sundayz]

Don't just hear about it after it's over. BE THERE!

Film Screening Day- African-American Art and Culture Center [762 Fulton St. @ Webster]
[Doors 10:30/Screenings Noon-9p]

Join us for the heart of the festival, a jam-packed ride packed with all-day film screenings representative of the entire Black Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, and Transgender community.
Special Feature Screening: "Pick up the Mic" @ 7p
Appearances by homo-hop star JenRo and many others!

Charity Basketball Game and Community Brunch- Everett Middle School [450 Church St. @ 16th] [1p-4p/ "Tip Off" @ 2p]
Watch out when the Rockdogs [Reigning Gay Games VIII Gold Medalists] take center court all for the kids!

Celebrity Announcer: Mr. Gay SF 2007, John W.
A portion of the proceeds benefit LGBTQ Youth at EMS

For more information contact:
http://www.myspace.com/sffestival --> Join our Myspace Page!
http://www.bcoa.org/
mailto:ev_coordinator@bcoa.org
415.615.9945 X 102

back to top

National
*********************************************
18. Trans Teens and Young Adults Needed for Documentary

MSNBC is producing a 1 hour documentary on transgender teenagers and young adults. We have some subjects already but are still looking for young transwomen and men (ages 18, 19, 20ish) who are in college and are transitioning to the opposite sex or just don't believe in gender conformity and are willing to talk about their life with us and how they got to this point in their lives.

The show will be similar to Transgeneration (Sundance Channel) in the way that we profile young people; however, this is just for a one hour documentary. We understand the sensitivity of this issue and the tendency for the Trans-community to shy away from the media, but we can assure you that this documentary will be handled with thought and care.

In addition, we will also be addressing tough issues that the community at large faces such as homelessness, black market hormones, and prosititution.

If you are interested in finding out more about this documentary, please contact Rachel Walder at 212.664.2329 or mailto:rachel.walder@nbcuni.com.

back to top

*********************************************
19. The Principles of Youth

This February, In the Life, America's gay and lesbian newsmagazine, presents "THE PRINCIPLES OF YOUTH," an episode dedicated entirely to stories about LGBT youth. Hosted by Grammy® Award-winning songwriter and performer Ani DiFranco, this month's In the Life, gives voice to an often unheard and overlooked population.

To find out when this show airs in your area, please visit: http://inthelifetv.org/inthelife/when_its_on/index.php

back to top

*********************************************
20. 50 Under 30 Public Education Campaign

Gender-Based Violence: In Our Classrooms and Communities

Since 1995, more than 50 youth and young adults, ages 30 and unders have died in an under-reported tide of violence in attacks that targeted them because they didn't fit stereotypes for masculinity or femininity -- because of their gender identity or gender expression. 92% were Black or Latina, and most of them were gay or transgender. Most were biologically male and killed by young males their own age, often in attacks of profound violence. One-third of the victims are teens. They are young people who are in our classrooms - or were forced out of school because of merciless bullying and harassment.

The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition documents this epidemic that continues to claim another young life every 2-3 months in a new report, 50 Under 30: Masculinity and the War on America's Youth. Youth and educators have a unique role to play in stopping gender-based bullying and its escalation into fatal assaults through early intervention, education and prevention. To learn more about the 50 Under 30 public education campaign - and what you can do in our classrooms and communities to help stem this tide of violence - visit http://www.50under30.org.

back to top

Scholarships
*********************************************
21. Deadline Tomorrow! Award to Lesbian Visual Artists!

Astraea Visual Arts Fund - Deadline: Thursday 2/15/07 @ 6pmEST (deadline is for receipt of applications at the Astraea Office)

Recognizes the work of contemporary lesbian visual artists within the U.S. Thanks to Skipâœs Sappho Fund, at least one of the three grants will be awarded to a lesbian artist who is based west of the Mississippi. Awards are $2,500 to each winner. This fund does not include film or photography. Please make sure to call the office for an application ID# if you do not receive one with your application.

For more information, or a copy of guidelines and application for the above grants, please contact us at: 212-529-8021, ext. 22 or via email at: mailto:grants@astraeafoundation.org. Guidelines and application forms are also available online at: http://www.astraeafoundation.org/PHP/Grants/DeadlinesAllGrants.php4

Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice works for social, racial and economic justice in the U.S. and internationally. Our grantmaking and philanthropic advocacy programs help lesbians and allied communities challenge oppression and claim their human rights.

back to top
*********************************************
22. eQuality Scholarship

The eQuality Scholarship is awarding at least 10 scholarships in the amount of $5,000 each. The scholarship deadline is Feb. 28th.

Please visit the website for more information and for an application: http://www.allyaction.org/scholarship. Or, you can email David Stevenson at: mailto:eQuality@allyaction.org or mailto:d2sp@pge.com.

back to top

*********************************************
23. Santa Clara County Service Center Council’s Human Rights Committee Teaching Scholarship

California Teathers Association Santa Clara County Service Center Council’s Human Rights Committee will award three $2,000 scholarships to encourage members of under- represented groups to enter the teaching profession.

Requirements:
1. Applicant must be a member of an under represented group, such as: Hispanic, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian/Pacific Islander, African American, Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual and Disabled Persons.
2. Applicant must currently be attending a public secondary school or community college in Santa Clara County.
3. Applicant must pursue a college degree at an accredited four-year institution of higher education beginning in 2007, and a credential for a teaching career in Pre-K-12 Public Education.
4. Applicant must present a completed application form with one (1) letter of recommendation (written within the last year) from the following:
a. A person familiar with the applicant’s student performance; or
b. A person familiar with the applicant’s aspirations, educational goals and academic record. (This person cannot be a family member.)
5. Applicant must include an official transcript of current school attending.
6. Finalists will be interviewed by the selection committee and funds will not be released until verification of enrollment.
7. The Human Rights Scholarship Selection Committee will make the final decision.

For an application, please contact: John Lindner at mailto:jglindner@yahoo.com or visit there office at:

Santa Clara County CTA Human Rights Scholarship
34 S. Second Street, Suite 206
Campbell, CA 95008

back to top

*********************************************
24. COLAGE and Horizons Foundation Scholarships

Scholarships for Undergraduate Students with one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender parent/s.

COLAGE is pleased to announce a new partnership with Horizons Foundation to offer four $1,000 scholarships to support the undergraduate studies of students with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender parents. The application deadline is April 20th, 2007.

COLAGE and Horizons Foundation will award four scholarships to children of LGBT parents through two funds honoring gay fathers Lee Dubin and Joseph Towner. Each scholarship will provide $1,000 to post-secondary students with one or more LGBT parent(s)/guardian(s) who have demonstrated ability and commitment to effecting change in the LGBT community and the community at large.

Lee Dubin Memorial Fund
Some of the most powerful members of the LGBT community are the children of LGBT parents who have grown up being nurtured and supported by this community and are now part of a whole generation of people who have the power to create dramatic change in the world. Through college scholarships, we aim to honor this power and celebrate the unique experiences and achievements of our families. Students who are actively working to combat homophobia and increase positive awareness of LGBT families are strongly encouraged to apply.

Joseph Towner Fund
Relationships among LGBT parents and their children that successfully overcome societal pressures are strong and vibrant role models for the LGBT community. Access to emotional and financial support can be a crucial factor in meeting such challenges. The purpose of the fund is to award scholarships to post-secondary students who have at least one LGBT parent residing in one of the nine Bay Area counties. Scholarships are awarded for tuition and/or cost of books. Students who feel they have overcome challenges in their life are strongly encouraged to apply.

Guidelines
The same guidelines and application process apply to both funds. Although only students with one LGBT parents residing in the nine-county Bay Area can qualify for the Joseph Towner awards.

· Four grants of $1,000 each will be awarded.
· Awards will be granted by the Scholarship Committee, which is made up of volunteers who are LGBT parents and adult children of LGBT parents.
· The sponsoring organizations would like to encourage applicants of all backgrounds to apply. COLAGE and Horizons Foundation do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, physical ability, class, sexual orientation, age, gender, or type of LGBT family.
· People who are active community participants are encouraged to apply.
· Board or staff members, and their family members, are not eligible.
· Applicants must be willing to be named publicly in association with COLAGE, Horizons Foundation, and the Scholarship Program.
· Applicants with demonstrated economic need are encouraged to apply.

Requirements
Applicants must:
-Have one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender parent(s)/guardian(s).
-Be enrolled in an accredited postsecondary institution. No graduate level or higher applicants please.
-Maintain a minimum GPA of 2.0.

The application is available online at http://www.colage.org/scholarship.html extremely soon!

Questions?
Contact COLAGE at 415-861-KIDS (5437) or mailto:colage@colage.org.

COLAGE engages, connects, and empowers people to make the world a better place for children of LGBT parents and families. Through community building, youth empowerment, public education, and political advocacy at local, regional, and national levels, COLAGE plays an active role in creating a safe, just world for all children and families.

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Horizons Foundation serves the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community by making grants, strengthening LGBT organizations and leadership, and increasing philanthropic giving.

back to top

*********************************************
25. Models of Excellence Scholarship, Sponsored by Friends of Project 10 Inc.

This competition is open to any senior high school student who is graduating from a California senior high school and who has demonstrated a commitment to LGBT civil rights.

The student needs to provide evidence that he/she is going on to some form of higher education. Awards of $1,000 and $500 are given at a scholarship dinner in June 2007.

Applications are on the http://www.modelsofpride.org Web site. Contact us at mailto:project10@hotmail.com or 626-577-4553 for more information.

back to top

*********************************************
26. Fresno State Bulldog Pride Scholarship Fund Needs Donations!

The Bulldog Pride Scholarship Fund awards students with financial relief and recognition for an attending student who demonstrates pride within the community. The fund exists today because of over 200 donors contributing to the fund with generous donations, helping to raise over $25,000.

The Bulldog Pride Fund receives no help from the government, its sustained solely on donations from the community. 100% of all donations are deposited into the account to assure maximize growth.

To read how you can donate please visit this site: http://www.gayfresno.com/content/view/221/79.

For more information on the scholarship, please visit this site: http://www.bulldogpride.org/index.php?n=1&id=1

back to top

Jobs:
*********************************************
27. Love and Justice Program Intern (San Francisco)

Community United Against Violence Love and Justice Program Intern

Title: Love and Justice Program Intern

About the Program: The Love and Justice Program is a youth outreach and education project that serves to end hate motivated violence, intimate partner violence, and oppression, within and against LGBTQQ youth communities. We accomplish this through peer to peer trainings, by providing technical assistance to other agencies, and by outreaching information and resources into the community.

Qualifications:
• Must be 20 years old or under
• Experience with LGBTQQ youth (particularly youth of color)
• Experience and/or desire to work with high school age youth, and youth ages 18-25
• Ability to commit for through June amount of time
• Willingness to learn and share knowledge
• Ability to work in a diverse environment
• Good computer skills (Microsoft word, internet, etc)
• Excellent oral communication skills
• Ability to interact with others face to face (other orgs)
• Experience with researching/verifying information (online/phone)
• Reliable, Responsible, Punctual
• Interest in learning about anti-oppression and violence
• Comfortable speaking to groups, of both youth and adults
• Organized and good with details

Job Responsibilities:
• Intern will work directly with and report to the Love and Justice Program Manager
• Researching outreach locations (orgs/schools/hang outs/etc)
• Working on updating outreach strategy and materials
• Revising content of Queer Youth Resource Guide
• Distribute outreach and education materials (to different orgs/tabling events)
• Possible additional project based on interest and experience (planning events/multi-media project)
• 8-16 hours per week

Salary:
$9 per hour

This is a temporary position that runs through June 30, 2007, with the possibility for renewal.

To Apply:
For more information and an application, contact Tamara: 415.777.5500 ext. 312 or at mailto:tamara@cuav.org, fax 415.777.5565 (Attention: Tamara) or via mail: 170-A Capp Street, SF, CA 94110

Position open until filled Youth, women, people or color, queer and trans folks, and differently abled folks are strongly encouraged to apply.

back to top

*********************************************
28. Part-Time Van Driver (San Francisco)

TITLE: Part-Time Van Driver

Hours: 14-18 hours/week in the afternoons and early evenings.

Salary: $12 - $16/hour depending on experience

Start Date: Immediately

General Description: Responsible for the transportation of youth to and from programs.

Qualifications:
-Must have excellent driving record.
-Commercial Class B license with Passenger Endorsement preferred.
- Must be proficient in English.
-At least one year experience working with youth.
-Experience in reporting.
-Experience managing schedules.
-Strong communication skills.

Responsibilities:
-Obtaining Commercial Class B license with Passenger Endorsement if necessary.
-Transporting youth ages 6-17 to and from various sites.
-Filling out necessary paperwork for van use including logs, inspection sheets, and trip data.
-Doing light upkeep/maintenance of van.
-Supervising youth while in the van.
-Reports to the Mission Van Collaborative Manager.

The above is intended to describe the general content of and requirements for the performance of this job.

Please send resume, cover letter, & DMV driving record to:

Bret Falconer, MVC Manager Email: mailto:bret@jamestownsf.org
c/o Jamestown Community Center
3382 – 26th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
No phone calls please.
Fax: 647-4718

We are an EOE employer. Women and people of color encouraged to apply.

back to top

back to top

back to GSA Network News

HOME