Bullying is on everyone’s mind this week. I’ve been covering some of the recent happenings for Keen News Service: “Fed grants awarded to begin addressing bullying and safe schools,” coverage of some moves the federal government is making to address the problem, based on my interview with Kevin Jennings, Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office […]
Several federal departments under President Obama have made moves to benefit the LGBT community, but the Department of Education has done little. This is despite growing evidence that LGBT youth are among those most at risk and that safe-schools programs benefit all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. I’ve explored this issue in
Politics and Law Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida announced a series of improved policies “more responsive to the needs of the LGBT community.” The move was in response to a lawsuit brought by Janice Langbehn, who in 2007 was kept from her partner Lisa Pond who lay dying in the hospital. The couple’s three children
Last week, I wrote about the performance of a Tony Award-winning gay-themed musical by students at Massachusetts’ Concord-Carlisle Regional High School. Anti-LGBT group MassResistance was up in arms about a high school producing a “depraved homosexual musical” and was trying to use director Peter Atlas’ supposed friendship with Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education Kevin Jennings to
Let’s start with a funny: When I first saw the Advocate headline, “Lesbian Named Part Owner of Cubs,” my first thought was, “And I thought it was hard enough for lesbians to adopt human babies.” Politics and Law Lisa Neff’s piece at 365gay.com gives a touching example of how HUD’s proposed new anti-discrimination policies would
Just Awesome The Harry Potter Alliance, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit “dedicated to bringing the themes of Harry Potter into the real world” announced a grassroots effort to help defeat Ref. 1 and support marriage equality in Maine. As Jeremy at Good As You said, Dumbledore would be proud. Youth and Schools Fifty-three Republicans have signed a
It’s a big roundup this week, so grab some coffee: Personal Stories The U.K.’s Mirror brings us the story of Emma and Laura Flanagan, who used the same known donor to get pregnant five months apart, and plan for their children to know the man as their father, though not a legal one. It’s pretty
Time for another roundup. Yee hah! Youth and Schools Kevin Jennings, assistant deputy secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools in the U.S. Department of Education, and founder of GLSEN, is speaking out about the beating of a high school student in Belleville, Illinois and the inaction (or cheering encouragement) of bystanders. Meanwhile,
A compilation of what other people have been saying about LGBT families: Personal stories: CNN.com has a must-read article on the perspective of children growing up with gay parents. Thanks to Abigail Garner, one of their interviewees, for the tip. (And if you haven’t read her book, Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell
Senators Obama and McCain have very different views of LGBT families, as I mentioned Monday. Yesterday, I received an e-mail from Obama’s campaign about the expansion of his LGBT leadership team. It only adds to his status as the candidate committed to LGBT families. There will be five new national co-chairs of Obama Pride, which
