Connecticut’s newest “Kid Governor”—chosen by fifth graders last November as part of a statewide civics program—is 11-year-old Ella Briggs, who’s proudly lesbian and ran on a platform of LGBTQ Youth Safety. The Connecticut Mirror just did a nice profile and video of her, so have a look and meet one of the young LGBTQ leaders making change today.
France’s National Assembly has passed legislation that will require schools to use “Parent 1” and “Parent 2” on all school forms, instead of “Mother” and “Father,” in order to recognize the variety of families today.
“Children raised by same-sex couples do better in school, new study finds,” said yesterday’s headline in the Washington Post. Much as I would like to believe in our kids’ general awesomeness, though, there’s more going on here than first meets the eye. Let’s take a closer look.
In addition to being Martin Luther King Jr. Day, today marks the beginning of GLSEN’s annual No Name-Calling Week, when schools across the country will be having activities and events to encourage kindness and end name-calling and bullying. Did you know the event was started because of a book written by a gay dad?
Today marks the sixth anniversary of the deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, that left 20 children and seven adults (including the shooter) dead. Are we making progress towards ensuring this never happens again?
A national organization for English teachers has established a new award for equity and inclusion in young adult literature. It will first be given to gay author Bill Konigsberg and named after him for future recipients.
The verbal harassment of LGBTQ students at school had been in decline for nearly a decade—but that decline has stalled, and the frequency of verbal harassment based on gender expression has actually increased in recent years, according to a new national survey from GLSEN.
I’ve been writing about Sesame Street’s need for LGBTQ inclusion for well over a decade, and been a fan since it first aired in 1969, when I was two. I was disappointed, however, by producer Sesame Workshop’s denial this week of a romantic relationship between Bert and Ernie, not only because that would be awesome, but also because they missed an opportunity to highlight the existing (though limited) queer inclusion on the show and to commit to more.
Ellen DeGeneres and her sponsor, Shutterfly, have given $25,000 to a fund set up by students at a Catholic school in support of their former guidance counselor, who was placed on leave from her job for being married to another woman.
It’s that time of year again! Here’s my annual collection of back-to-school resources for LGBTQ parents, parents of LGBTQ children, and educators, enlarged and improved for 2018! I hope it remains useful, whether your children are just entering school, starting a new school, or encountering new situations in their educational journeys.
