I rarely pass along a press release wholesale, but this one from COLAGE, about scholarships for children of LGBTQ families, seemed worthy: Sponsored by COLAGE with generous support from the Horizons Foundation Joseph Towner Fund COLAGE is pleased to announce a continued partnership with Horizons Foundation to award four $1,000 scholarships to support the undergraduate […]
“Gay” is the number-one insult among schoolchildren, reports the BBC, although most use it to mean “lame,” without any intended reference to sexual orientation. The article charts how the meaning of the word has changed over the years (remember when it used to mean “happy” or “festive”?), and notes “This mutation of the word is
(Originally appeared with slight variation in Bay Windows, March 6, 2008) Where can children, teens, parents and librarians find new LGBT-themed children’s and young adult books of merit? Starting now, they can turn to the annual Rainbow List published by the American Library Association (ALA), the oldest and largest library association in the world. It
Helen and I blind you with science this week as we demonstrate a bunch of experiments and explorations for kids. Watch us use marshmallows, blue gooey stuff, really long words to describe peanut butter, and gummi bears like you’ve never seen them before (including one variation just for adults). We also point out the very
As if Oklahoma Rep. Sally Kern’s anti-gay rant wasn’t bad enough: Kern is one of the authors of House Bill 2211, which requires public schools “to guarantee students the right to express their religious viewpoints in a public forum, in class, in homework and in other ways without being penalized.” The bill was just approved
Logo has launched a public service announcement in response to last month’s hate-crime murder of 15-year-old gay student Lawrence King and other young hate-crime victims. The PSA seems aimed at young people. Many of Logo’s sister brands across MTV Networks will carry it, though Logo is making it available to other networks as well. The
(OK, no more penguin posts for a while after this. I promise.) LGBT documentary series In the Life will be airing a segment about children’s book And Tango Makes Three in its April show. They talk with the authors about the making of the book, and with a second-grade teacher about her positive experience using
Looks like the Loudoun County, Virginia school superintendent’s backpedaling over And Tango Makes Three was in the right direction. According to the Washington Post: On Monday, school officials issued a written statement saying that the book also would return to the shelves at Sugarland [Elementary School] because [Superintendent] Hatrick had discovered “significant procedural errors” in
The first comprehensive report on LGBT families’ experiences in education, Involved, Invisible, Ignored, has found that LGBT parents are more likely to be involved in their children’s K-12 education than the general parent population. At the same time, both LGBT parents and their children often report harassment because of their family structure. The report was
While we’re on the subject of education, a survey by the new research and advocacy group Common Core shows “a significant proportion of teenagers live in ‘stunning ignorance’ of history and literature.” The organization says “The No Child Left Behind Act has increased the amount of time schools devote to basic reading and math skills,
