I thought this was a joke when I saw it on another blog. Could it be that my high school in a little suburb of the Bay Area would really be putting up an exhibit of gay athletes? That's huge. You see the school is located in Danville, CA. About 40 minutes outside of San Francisco. It's a place with a lot of money and sometimes, but not always that can breed conservatives. This should be interesting to hear about the reaction. Time to call mom and dad!

And wait - they're also having gay pride week? Lord have things changed. This makes me feel old and I graduated less than 8 years ago!

DANVILLE - Students at San Ramon Valley High School are ready to teach their classmates and the community that saying something is "so gay" is so uncool.

Members of the school's Gay-Straight Alliance, which has been on campus for about 10 years, have designated this week Gay Pride Week on campus.

Students will be spreading awareness during the week about accepting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

As co-presidents of the Gay-Straight Alliance, seniors Nick Pittarides, 17, and Sammy Brenner, 18, have been passing out rainbow ribbons on campus, telling classmates about National Day of Silence and preparing for this weekend's photography exhibit.

Photographer Jeff Sheng, a lecturer at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is bringing his "Fearless" exhibit to San Ramon Valley High School to encourage people to open their eyes and minds to people who are gay.
Pittarides found Sheng's artwork online and saw the exhibit had visited many colleges across the country, including Yale and Columbia universities.

The nearly 100 photos in the exhibit are all of athletes - mostly college students with a few high school students - who are openly gay. By having athletes in the photos, Pittarides said, sends the message that homosexuality is just one part of someone.

Labels: school

This news comes out of Sherwood Oregon (about 15 minutes outside downtown). Imagine this, not even a week after a 15 year old middle school student was shot in the head by his 14 year old classmate because of his perceived sexual orientation. This situation in Sherwood disturbs me so much.

Sherwood Middle School drama students would rather cancel their production of "Higher Ground" than give in to their principal's request for revisions.

The cast of "Higher Ground," an original play written by the school's drama teacher, Jennie Brown, that explores the effects of bullying and hate speech and that was originally scheduled to open this weekend, met Thursday, Feb. 21, to discuss Principal Anna Pittioni's announcement that the play was "too mature" for middle school students.

"They had two options," Pittioni said. "They could vote to work on revisions or to not revise the play."

(Principal Pittoni had two options as well. To choose to say that intolerance will not be tolerated or that intolerance will be tolerated and even more than that - protected. She sadly chose the latter.)

Not revising the script would mean not performing the play at the middle school. In the end, 35 of the 47 cast members present voted against making revisions, Pittioni said.

Pittioni postponed the play earlier in the week and said some of the content was too mature for her students.

"Based on the broad audience of students we serve, I believe that the existing content exceeds the maturity of many of our students," Pittioni wrote in an announcement sent out to parents on Wednesday, Feb. 20. "Additionally, I believe that the play can be revised and performed at a later date."

As some parents put it:

"The whole play has just a fabulous message with it and it's about bullying," said Horner.

On Tuesday, Horner sent an e-mail to local media and said he supported addressing the topic, having been a victim of bullying himself.

"To think that 'Higher Ground,' a play that confronts the abusive reality of bullying, was canceled three days prior to the performance because of a reference to homosexuality and other contemporary topics that some may have difficulty acknowledging, saddens me," he wrote.

Sarah Grant, whose 13-year-old son, Freddie, has a major part in the middle school production, she was upset with the late date of the postponement.

For a play that had been approved by school counselors, only to be cancelled by Principal Anna Pittioni mere days prior to it going on stage is ridiculous.

This is theater. Theater is art and expression - in addition, this production happens to have a great message.

Sadly, the message that has been sent to the kids at the school by Principal Anna Pittioni cancelling it is the polar opposite of the message that is delivered by the play. It is a sad day for Sherwood Middle School, especially for the kids who get bullied on a daily basis for any number of reasons.

Shame on Principal Anna Pittioni.

Our friend Recovering Straight Girl, who is a mother herself, put it quite eloquently:

Amazing isn't it? That Portland, Oregon is one of the most diverse and affirming cities in the United States but if you leave the city limits and drive just a mere 17 miles out of town; you are in a different world all together.

A local middle school administrator in Sherwood, a suburb of the Portland Metro area has halted a production of a play that promotes tolerance and has an anti-bullying message. She has deemed the play "too mature" for middle school students. Too mature? The students themselves stated in interviews yesterday that the content of the play is "tame" compared to what they deal with in real life. And in a world where 15 year old middle-school students are murdered because of their sexual orientation and gender identity, I think that it's vital that middle school students receive the most diversity training that they can.

Unfortunately this issue is not about promoting diversity or tolerance. It's about tolerating intolerance.

By promoting tolerance and acceptance, this school district is afraid that they will look as though they promote some kind of "alternate lifestyle."

Please.

This is a public school filled with students who have to deal with this crap every single solitary day. By statistical data, 10% of them are GLBTQ themselves, and some of them even have GLBTQ parents and family members.

This is outrageous and embarrassing that this kind of bigotry has a voice and it's voice is so prominent.

And as the Statesman Journal put up their list of "Winners and Losers" they wisely included this:

LOSER: Sherwood Middle School. The administration postponed a school play about bullying, contending that it was too mature for some students and would offend some people. Get real. Students know what's going on in society -- and in their schools.

I encourage you to email the administration at Sherwood Middle School let them know what you think about promoting a nasty message of tolerating intolerance in her school. Here are the contacts:

Anna Pittioni - Principal: APittioni@sherwood.k12.or.us
Steve Emmert - Assistant Principal: SEmmert@sherwood.k12.or.us
Chris Stevens - Dean of Students: CStevens@sherwood.k12.or.us
Marianne Funderhide - Dean of Students: MFunderhide@sherwood.k12.or.us

Labels: anti-gay, oregon, school

The NJ star-Ledger has the scoop on this ridiculous, hypocritical decision by the high school...

A photograph of an East Side High School student kissing his boyfriend was blacked out of every copy of the school's yearbook by Newark school officials who decided it was inappropriate.

Andre Jackson said he never thought he would offend anyone when he bought a page in the yearbook and filled it with several photographs, including one of him kissing his boyfriend.

But Newark Superintendent of Schools Marion Bolden called the photograph "illicit" and ordered it blacked out of the $85 yearbook before it was distributed to students at a banquet for graduating seniors Thursday.

"It looked provocative," she said. "If it was either heterosexual or gay, it should have been blacked out. It's how they posed for the picture."

Russell Garris, the assistant superintendent who oversees the city's high schools, brought the photograph to Bolden's attention Thursday afternoon. He was concerned the picture would be controversial and upsetting to parents, Bolden said.

There are several photos of heterosexual couples kissing in the yearbook, but the superintendent said she didn't review the entire yearbook and was presented only with Jackson's page.

Ripping the page out entirely was considered but, Bolden said, it was decided blacking it out with a marker would lessen the damage to the yearbooks.

Jackson said he showed up at the banquet, excited to collect his yearbook. He'd paid an additional $150 for the special tribute page filled with shots of boyfriend David Escobales, 19, of Allentown, Pa., and others. Jackson learned what happened to his page moments before the books were distributed.

While the students waited, staff members in another room blacked out the 4 1/2-by-5-inch picture from approximately 230 books.

"I don't understand," said Jackson, 18. "There is no rule about no gay pictures, no guys kissing. Guys and girls kissing made it in."

East Side's is like most high school yearbooks. About 80 pages in the roughly 100-page tome is dedicated to class photos, formal shots of seniors, candids and spreads dedicated to a variety of sports teams and academic clubs.

The back of the book is a collection of tributes where students designed pages filled with pictures depicting them with their families, girlfriends and boyfriends, and friends.

Rules for publication of the pages prohibited shots of gang signs, rude gestures and graphic photos, said Benilde Barroqueiro, an East Side senior graduating with Jackson.

"You know, it couldn't be too provocative. No making out, no tongue," she said.

Students were surprised when they opened their books and found Jackson's picture had been covered with marker, Barroqueiro said.

"He purchased the page and fell under the rules," she said. "If they want to kiss, that's their page. If you don't like it, don't look at it."

via the NJ Star-Ledger

Labels: discrimination, gay rights, new jersey, school

As first written about over at Loaded Orygun, the lastest news as of today is that the Molalla principal approves gay-straight alliance, despite objections from people like the devil's spawn, Tootie Smith, the lobbyist for the Oregon Family Council.

Despite their hate for real Oregon families... (I will save that post for later)

Here it is from the Oregonian:

After weeks of local controversy, Molalla High School Principal Kevin Ricker this week approved students' request to launch a Gay-Straight Alliance club.

Two students originally proposed the club in February to promote tolerance of diverse sexual orientation, said Tanya Earle, a teacher and club adviser. The students drafted a constitution and submitted it to student leaders, who approved it after some debate, and forwarded it to Ricker for final approval.

In recent weeks, a group of concerned parents gathered signatures on a petition opposing the club and met with school officials. Tootie Smith, who helped circulate the petition, declined to comment on approval of the club. Smith is a district parent, former state representative and a lobbyist for the Oregon Family Council.

Wayne Kostur, superintendent of Molalla River School District, said Ricker's decision was in line with school standards governing student organizations: "It appears to me that the students who wished to form that group did so in the appropriate fashion, and once they met the criteria that were established, the principal approved it."

Sorry Tootie. Homophobia lost. You lost.

Labels: anti gay, gay rights, oregon, school