GLSEN Baltimore

Next Meeting!

2008-05-01T20:19:00.000-07:00

Your ideas are needed for 2008-09!

Tuesday, May 6th, 6:30 p.m.
Roland Park Country School Multipurpose Room
204 Roland Ave.
Baltimore, Md. 21210

E-mail glsenbaltcommittee@comcast.net for any

And also...

Join the 2008-2009 Jump-Start National Student Leadership Team! You could be one of the 50 students nationwide who will create change by making schools safer for LGBT students. If you are selected to join this national network of student organizers you’ll be trained in ways to create a safe schools environment in your region. That means striving to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.

For more info: http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/news/record/2040.html

Edit: New Date for Meeting

2008-04-06T19:14:00.001-07:00

Due to schedule conflicts, the GLSEN meeting originally rescheduled for this week will take place next week -- Wednesday, April 16, 2008. Same place, same time (Roland Park Country School, 6:30 pm)

Hope to see you there!

Next Meeting!!

2008-03-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

Instead of meeting the first Wednesday of April, we'll be meeting the second Wednesday: April 9, 2008 at 6:30 pm in the Multipurpose Room at Roland Park Country School.

Discussion will include Day of Silence and other upcoming events - please join us!

Edit: Time of Meeting

2008-03-05T04:44:00.000-08:00

The GLSEN meeting for this evening will begin at 6:00 pm, not 6:30 as previously posted.

Comments? Compliments? Concerns?

2008-03-02T07:35:00.001-08:00

The next GLSEN meeting will be held THIS WEDNESDAY, March 5, 2008. It will be an opportunity to provide post-summit feedback.

You can also provide feedback by sending an e-mail.

Questions to consider before the meeting:

What did you LIKE about the summit? What worked?
What do you think needs to be changed?
What did not work?
What were the pluses and minuses of each of the following: registration, keynote speaker, workshops, dinner, dance?
Think back to your first reactions to each part of the summit. What would you change? Keep the same?
Do you have ideas for the next summit? Things that SHOULD NOT BE FORGOTTEN?
What made the workshops likeable / what helped ?
What could be better about the workshops to help more?

The meeting will be held at 6:30 pm at Roland Park Country School (5204 Roland Avenue, Baltimore MD 21210), Multipurpose Room.

Hope to see you there!

Thank you!!!!

2008-02-28T17:43:00.001-08:00

A super big thank you to everyone who helped out in any way and/or participated in the summit on the 23rd! You made the day a success!!

Keep checking back for updates on other awesome GLSEN events!

Scholarship Opportunity

2008-02-16T06:13:00.001-08:00

PFLAG Scholarship for LGBT High School Seniors*

PFLAG (Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) National will be awarding three $5000 scholarships, three $2500, and up to 10 $1000 scholarships. PFLAG Scholarships provide an important, positive statement to a group of young people that is coping amazingly well in an often adverse school environment. They are marginalized and subjected to harassment and discrimination in many parts of the country, not only at school but also often in their own families. PFLAG is proud to support these articulate, accomplished scholars with great promise for future contribution to our society in general and to the cause of rights and recognition for GLBT people in particular. Scholarships are available at the national level and are awarded by many of the local chapters. Applicants can receive both awards if eligible. For more info and to apply visit: http://www.pflag.org/Scholarships.1236.0.html

*Note: LGBT youth AND allies are elligible for the scholarship!

Lawrence King Tragedy

2008-02-16T06:10:00.000-08:00

Press Release: California Middle School Student Murdered in School Because of Sexual Orientation

http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/news/record/2261.html

NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2008 – Ten years after Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered because of his sexual orientation, a 15-year-old gay California student is dead after a student allegedly shot him because of his sexual orientation and gender expression.

Lawrence King, an eighth-grader at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, passed away last night after being shot Tuesday morning in class. The 14-year-old attacker, among a group of students known to bully and harass King because he sometimes wore makeup and jewelry and told classmates he was gay, will be charged with murder and a hate crime.

"This incident of senseless violence is truly horrifying, and our hearts go out to the student's friends, family and the E.O. Green School community," said Kevin Jennings, Executive Director of GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. "As a nation, we've had our heads in the sand for far too long. We need to do everything we can to prevent something like this from happening again."

"In doing so, it's absolutely crucial that we name the problem of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment and address it directly to find a solution to the everyday fear that keeps countless youth from feeling safe in school. We must confront the fact that LGBT students are much more likely to be threatened with a weapon and much more likely to feel unsafe at school than other students."

The 2001-02 California Healthy Kids Survey for the California Department of Education found that California students who were harassed because they are, or are perceived to be, gay or lesbian were more than five times more likely than other students who were not harassed to report being threatened or injured with a weapon (28% to 5%).

"I am deeply saddened by the terrible news about the shooting of Lawrence King. My prayers go out to all of Lawrence's friends and family," said Judy Shepard, Executive Director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation. "This terrible incident underscores the fact that we cannot let hate go unchecked in our schools and communities. Our young people need our direction and guidance to prevent this type of crime from happening. I urge all parents and teachers to educate their children and students about acceptance, understanding and compassion."

Two of the top three reasons students say their peers are harassed in school are actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender expression, according to From Teasing to Torment: School Climate in America, a 2005 Harris Interactive report commissioned by GLSEN. The top reason is physical appearance.

As was the case at E.O. Green Junior High, what begins as bullying and harassment too often escalates to violence. In GLSEN's 2005 National School Climate Survey, nearly a fifth (17.6%) of LGBT students reported being physically assaulted at school in the past school year because of their sexual orientation and over a tenth (11.8%) because of their gender expression.

California is one of only 10 states that protect students from bullying and harassment based on sexual orientation and one of only five that protect students from bullying and harassment based on gender identity/expression.

"Safe schools laws and policies are vitally important, but simply having a law is not enough," Jennings said. "Schools need to implement staff development and trainings to address anti-LGBT bullying and harassment. Schools also need programs that teach young people respect and tolerance. Every student deserves to feel safe in school. We must take action and take responsibility for our inaction."

Another crucial intervention to protect students and all Americans is to pass the Matthew Shepard Act as an appropriate and measured response to the unrelenting and under-addressed problem of violent hate crimes committed against individuals based on actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability.

This is an emotional and scary time for many youth, and it is important to have information ready to support them in dealing with it. One national resource that you can share is the GLBT National Youth Talkline – 1 (800) 246-PRIDE (7743) – which provides telephone and email peer counseling, as well as information and local resources for cities and towns across the country.

What can I do?

~Remembering Lawrence King MySpace Page ~

GLSEN has set up a MySpace page in memory of Lawrence King. Please join as a friend and promote the page to your constituents.

~ Things Chapters Can Do Right Now in Support of Lawrence King ~

Partner with local organizations to organize a community action or vigil in memory of Lawrence and other youth who were lost due to violence based upon sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. Please pass on information about local organizing efforts to Kiwi.

Help others learn about Lawrence. Share his story with your constituents, and through media such as blogs, listserves, letters to the editor, press releases, and more. Feel free to take the GLSEN press release below, and personalize it for your Chapter.
Prepare resource information, such as community organizations and counseling/wellness services, for LGBT youth and allies to contact. This is an emotional and scary time for many youth, and it is important to have information ready to support them in dealing with it. One national resource that you can share is the GLBT National Youth Talkline – 1 (800) 246-PRIDE (7743) – which provides telephone and email peer counseling, as well as information and local resources for cities and towns across the country.

The Last One - You Can Still Join Us!

2008-02-05T04:52:00.000-08:00

We are almost to the summit, which means one last planning session. Join us tomorrow (February 6, 2007) at 6:30 at Roland Park Country School, Multipurpose Room to finish the last few pieces of planning. As always, your very presence, not to mention your ideas and support, are much appreciated!

Meanwhile, DON'T FORGET TO REGISTER!

Tune in on Friday!

2008-01-17T15:00:00.000-08:00

Anyone and Everyone - Friday night, 9 pm, MPT

"MPT’s Campaign for Love and Forgiveness continues through its second year with this moving documentary about parents of gay youth. Through stories of parents from various religions and cultures, we learn important and universal lessons about love and acceptance.Call MPT’s phone lines (800-222-1292) to get connected to local services and organizations thatsupport gay youth and their families, including GLBT resources, spiritual organizations, and other support services across Maryland. For more information: www.mpt.org/community,410-581-4031."

It's Summit Time: Go Register!

2008-01-10T15:04:00.001-08:00

That's right, it's time to start registering for the Out Right Youth Summit, scheduled for February 23, 2007 at Towson University.

The day includes a keynote speaker, workshops on a variety of topics, dinner, and a dance.

Find out more (and REGISTER!!!) here.

Next Meeting!

2008-01-03T16:08:00.001-08:00

The Next Planninng Meeting is Coming!

Wednesday,January 9th
6:30 p.m.
Roland Park Country School-Multipurpose Room
5204 Roland Ave.
Baltimore, Md. 21210

Hope to see you there!

UPDATE: Meeting change

2007-11-30T15:14:00.001-08:00

The meeting scheduled for Wednesday, December 5th has been moved to Tuesday, December 4th.

Same place, same time :)

NEW EVENT: For the Bible Tells Me So

2007-11-15T04:47:00.001-08:00

Five Families: very normal, very Christian, very American

Can the love between two people ever be an abomination? Is the chasm
separating gays and lesbians and Christianity too wide to cross? Is
the Bible an excuse to hate?

So begins a description of the movie "For the Bible Tells Me So" Some
of you may have seen it. It is in People magazine this week. Carroll
Community College's Alliance as part of a co-curricular grant with
four faculty are bringing this ground-breaking film to Carroll
County. WE NEED your support, your attendance and your help to spread
the word. This group of students has worked hard to get this film
shown. Below is listed all the information on the showing and my
contact information. There are links to the site and the trailer.
PLEASE come and make yourselves part of this event:

Friday, November 30th at 7pm

Carroll Community College Theater

FREE ADMISSION
http://www.forthebibletellsmeso.org/indexd.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajBR0dq0XXk

Sharon Reid
Faculty Advisor
The Alliance
Carroll Community College
1601 Washington Road
Westminster, Maryland 21157
410-386-8259
sreid@carrollcc.edu

The Next Meeting is Coming!

2007-11-05T16:08:00.001-08:00

GLSEN Youth Summit 2008

Next Planning meeting:

Wednesday ,November 7th

6:30 p.m.

Roland Park Country School-Room 225

5204 Roland Ave.

Baltimore, Md. 21210

glsenbaltcommittee@comcast.net for any questions

Please bring one or more ideas that you tried w/ your GSA & / or a GSA related question that you may have.

HAPPY NCOD!

2007-10-11T16:56:00.001-07:00

Happy National Coming Out Day, everyone!

More stories coming later this week / next week... and keep sending 'em to glsenblog@gmail.com!

2007-10-08T05:12:00.001-07:00

Coming out. Two words, and, honestly, one of the hardest concepts to grasp, especially if you have to do it yourself. I’m only almost sixteen, and I’ve already come out to my entire family, most of my friends and some of my teachers as a lesbian. People tell me I’m brave, but, to be honest, it felt so natural to me. Of course, I was scared to death, but, being a naturally open person, I felt like I was lying by not telling the people I love about who I am.

In writing this coming out story, I asked my younger sister and closest friend what exactly I did to come out. “I can’t remember how I came out!” I told her. She responded simply with, “You didn’t! Well, not to me at least. You didn’t tell me. I started to assume, and then it was like… okay… It didn’t just happen. It wasn’t like a movie regular kinda coming out. I think they way you told mom and dad was like that. But for me, it wasn’t straightforward. Get it? Straight forward!”

It seems like most of my coming out stories have turned out to be that way. Most of my close friends had already seen it coming, and took my news really well. I felt so accepted and comfortable with myself for a while. But after a few months of knowing who I am and being comfortable with it, I decided I needed to tell my parents.

I remember distinctly the first time I told my mother that I thought I was gay. Being a traditional and a tad conservative woman from England, my mother didn’t take my news very well. At first, laughed at the idea and said something along the lines of “Well, just don’t become one of those, with your hair cut all short…” and giving the stereotypical lesbian description. I was so hurt, I didn’t say much more to her about it at the time. In tears, I went back upstairs, feeling defeated and rejected. My older sister, who I don’t normally get along with, saw I was upset, and demanded to know why I was crying. I mentioned what my mom had said and my sister went storming downstairs and yelled at my mom. Normally, I hate it when my family fights, but at that moment I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride and love towards my sister.

My father was a completely different story. He is very traditional, growing up in India and being very academically and science-focused. Before I told him, I asked him what his opinion on gay rights was, and he responded well, saying, “Well, people can’t change who they are…” etc. then he followed his response with a question: “Why? Do you think you are?” I told him I was questioning my sexual orientation and my dad began to get defensive, telling me how could I possibly know when I was so young? And that he knew me, and there was no way I could be gay. I had to bring the topic up various times, so he would know that it’s not just a phase, it’s who I am. My most vivid memory of telling my father was the time he had reduced me to tears, and I had my mother and sisters defending me, standing by my side and telling him that he could not yell at me for who I was.

While half of my coming out experiences were positive and half were negative, I learned to be a stronger person through all of this, and my family grew stronger as a unit. We learned to deal with the good, bad, and the ugly. My parents at times had to stand by me, defending me when they didn’t necessarily want to, saying, “She’s my daughter, and she can’t help the way she is.”

Today's story

2007-10-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

I had been dating my second girlfriend for about a year when I decided to come out to my mom. I didn't want to talk to her about it, so I wrote her a long letter and put it on the table next to her bed while she was sleeping.

The next morning, I woke up to my mother checking on me, to make sure I was alive. She had only read a little bit of the letter and for some reason thought it was a suicide letter. She was relieved to find out it wasn't. And it turned out that she already knew I was a lesbian (and had known about it for some time), knew that I was dating my girlfriend (funny how moms sometimes know everything), and that she loved both of us.

2007-10-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

Another coming out story (keep on sending them to glsenblog@gmail.com! we need more!):

I guess I just wanted to write not to lose hope. When I first told my parents that I was gay, they couldn't accept it. They refused to talk about it and acted like I never told them, even when I tried to bring it up in conversation.

Time went by and I started dating my boyfriend. We've been dating for a while now. I talked about him to my mom bit by bit. And she listened bit by bit. Things aren't perfect or even "normal" yet, but I feel like my family is starting to understand me a little and starting to be willing to hear what I have to say.

2007-10-04T19:07:00.000-07:00

Today's story (and an example of a short one)

When I was a sophomore in high school, I spent weeks agonizing over telling my best friend that I had a girlfriend. I wondered how to say it and how she would respond. When I finally got up the nerve, I went to her and said, "Manda, I have something to tell you." She responded, "What, that you're dating Sam?" She'd known for a WEEK - Sam had already told her - and she never let me know. It was both a relief and an embarrassment at the same time.

Coming Out Stories

2007-10-03T20:05:00.000-07:00

It's the month of October, the month of National Coming Out Day (October 11th) and we need you! We're looking for anonymous or first-name only coming out stories to post daily on the GLSEN blog. Stories can be short or long, and about coming out in any way that matters to you (coming out as a lesbian? coming out as an ally? etc. etc.)

To get you started thinking, here's today's submission:

I have lots of coming out stories: coming out to family, coming out to friends. One of my favorites, though, involved coming out to a complete stranger.

I was at a showing of "The Laramie Project," sitting quietly, when the guy next to me began to talk about how during the discussion following the movie, he was going to bring up the topic of gay marriage and how it was wrong. After getting over my frustration that he would bring up the topic of gay marriage during a discussion that would surely be about hate crimes, I engaged him in conversation. He began to talk about gay marriage and how it was wrong because the Bible says it is wrong.

After listening to him for several minutes (and respectfully disagreeing here and there), I mentioned my girlfriend. He stared at me for a minute, disbelieving that he had unknowingly been degrading toward me and my relationship.

The story should stop there, but doesn't. After talking about sexuality for several more minutes and after asking several questions that made it clear he knew very little except "what the Bible says," my conversation companion decided that he knew a thing or two about bisexuality, which is how I identified myself to him. He proceeded to ask whether we could date, since bisexuality means that someone dates two people at once (one male and one female, of course).

I explained the real meaning, and he argued with me - in person and later, online, until I unfortunately had to block him from instant messaging (I'd given him my screenname in hopes that through conversation I could enlighten him - I was wrong.)

The moral of the story, I guess, is to watch out when messing with people... or when trying to "enlighten" them. Sometimes (not always!) it's more trouble than it's worth.

Post-meeting update!

2007-10-03T19:29:00.001-07:00

The GLSEN meeting tonight was a huge success and our biggest meeting so far this year! Thanks to everyone who attended :) If you didn't attend (or did and want to reminisce), here's what was covered:

1) We reviewed general plans for the next bi-annual summit: it will be held on February 23, 2007 at Towson University (mark your calendars now!

2) We then split into groups to discuss entertainment and the workshops. Work was done on creating advertisements, discussing music options for the dance, considering potential speakers, and more.

3) Community announcements were made. Among them:
- GLSEN Baltimore is always available to support new and more seasoned GSAs. Representatives from several GSAs also offered to support fellow GSAs this evening. If you are looking to offer or to get help, e-mail glsenblog@gmail.com
- Several Baltimore colleges are working together to have a Halloween Dance at Loyola College on October 27th. You must be 17+ to get in.
- We're still looking for writers for the blog. Specifically, this month we are looking for coming out stories. If you have one, e-mail it (anonymously or known) to glsenblog@gmail.com

Thanks again to everyone who came tonight. Our next meeting will be November 7, 2007 at 6:30 at Roland Park Country School, room 225. We still need help and ideas, so whether it will be your first meeting or your third, come out and join us!

In case you didn't know...

2007-09-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

Several resources are listed on the left hand side of this page (scroll down to see!)

Be sure to check out the GLSEN National Maryland Page It will be updated over time to reflect the 2007 activities and events.

In case you missed it...

2007-09-15T20:49:00.001-07:00

... the first meeting for GLSEN Baltimore's 2007-2008 school year was a big success. Students from a variety of local schools came to offer ideas and support for the 2008 Summit and other events for the year. Couldn't make it? No worries, send any ideas or suggestions to glsenblog@gmail.com or come to our next meeting:

Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Roland Park Country School, Room 225
6:30 pm

Also got some great volunteers to write for the blog - so look for more frequent (and exciting?) updates coming soon!

Youth Summit 2008!

2007-08-31T12:40:00.000-07:00

It's not as far away as you might think, and we need YOU to help with the planning. So if you have ideas, suggestions, or just want to stop by and hang out, we'd love to have you (and anyone you would like to bring!):

Monday, September 10, 2007
6:30 PM
Roland Park Country School - Room 225
5204 Roland Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21210

If you can't make it, but have ideas, please send them along to glsenblog@gmail.com

Looking forward to seeing you on the 10th!