Schedule for April

Friday, April 1, 2011

+GSA Meeting @ tutorial in room 20 Topic: What can we do?

Friday, April 15, 2011

+Day of Silence March with the Billy DeFrank Youth Center

The Billy DeFrank Center will be meeting at 4:45pm at the Billy DeFrank Youth Space. The march will start at 5:15 pm.

For more details:

http://www.defrankyouthspace.org/calendar.php?view=event&calEid=3214

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

+GSA Meeting @ tutorial in room 201

We will talk about our participation in the Day of Silence, pass out t-shirts, distribute speaking cards, & go over any questions.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

+LGHS's Day of Silence

The National Day of Silence brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Each year the event has grown, and now hundreds of thousands of students participate to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior. Founded in 1996, the Day of Silence has become the largest student-led action towards creating safer schools for all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

"Under the Constitution, public schools must respect students' right to free speech. The right to speak includes the right not to speak, as well as the right to wear buttons or T-shirts expressing support for a cause."

Friday, April 22, 2011

+GSA Meeting @ tutorial in room 201

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

+GSA & Shifting Perceptions Meeting @ lunch in room 201 The GSA will be sharing with Shifting Perceptions, don't miss this meeting!

Friday, April 29, 2011

+GSA Meeting @ tutorial in room 201

We will have a guest speaker, Dulce Garcia from The Outlet, to give us a gender workshop in preparation for our trans speaker!

+Field Trip to the LGBT History Museum with the Billy DeFrank Youth Center

The Billy DeFrank Youth Center will be taking a trip to the San Francisco LGBT History Museum. Space is limited so sign up at the Youth Center now! http://www.defrankyouthspace.org/calendar.php?view=event&calEid=3215

* * Teachers are always welcome to join us at our weekly meetings every Friday during tutorial (unless otherwise posted) in room 201.

President Obama Says "Things Will Get Better"

"Thank the President for His Message to LGBT Youth!

President Barack Obama has just issued a video message speaking directly to young people, offering reassurance and hope to those suffering because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, or simply because of being different. The President’s empathy and concern, so clearly and directly expressed, is an historic contribution to the outpouring of support for LGBT youth we have seen over the past few weeks."

GLSEN: Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network: President Obama Says "Things Will Get Better"

Four lessons to create a safe school - California Teachers Association

Four lessons to create a safe school - California Teachers Association

After reading this the other day (when Mr. Porush pointed it out to me in his issue of California Educator), I realized that every student, staff member, teacher, and administrator should read this article. Its full of useful, accurate information! It also talks about everything the GSA has been working so hard to accomplish, making LGHS a safe school.

This Week's Topic: What can we do?

What can we do to make our school safe?

At our meeting this Friday at tutorial in room 201, we are going to talk about how we can make our school safe and bully-free.

Questions you should consider:

How can teachers help? How can students make a difference? Can parents help too? How can we (the GSA) make he change? What works? What doesn't?

Here are some good ebsite you might want to look at:

- http://www.glsen.org/

- http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org/

- http://stopbullying.gov/

- http://www.thinkb4youspeak.com/

We will also talk about our special upcoming meeting with Shifting Pecptions in room 201 on April 27 during lunch.

Please bring ideas!

* * * NOTE * * * If you plan to buy a DAY OF SILENCE T-SHIRT you MUST turn in your $10 and size to Liz Gustafson by the end of this meeting or to Mr. Porush before 2:00 pm 4/01/11.

Lunch Time with the GSA

Today's meeting was successfully held at lunch.

We talked about questions, concerns, and comments about the club.

It was a lot of fun! :)

For those of you who have yet to turn in your money or sign up for a t-shirt, you need to do so ASAP (by this Friday)!

Find Liz Gustafson, Wade Wallerstein, Rachel Stabb, or Mr. Porush to sign up and pay the $10 for a Day of Silence t-shirt.

Please refer to the previous post to see what they look like.

Day of Silence T-shirts $10 ORDER ASAP!

Day of Silence t-shirts are $10. If you'd like one, please contact Liz at lghs.gsa@gmail.com with your t-shirt size.

Bring your $10 to the next GSA meeting

(Friday @ LUNCH in room 201)

Today's Meeting: John Forrett

John Forrett and two GSA members.

John Forrett
Commander
8th District
Department of California
The American Legion

Thank you John Forrett for speaking to us today!
John's presentation was quite insightful and well received.
If you have any questions you may email John at bluevetbear@gmail.com.


General GSA Announcements:
-Next Meeting 3/25/11 at LUNCH in room 201
-Day of Silence April 21, 2011

Making LGHS a Safe School

Today Mr. Porush and I met with Ron Idra, the Coordinator of Safe Schools Project Santa Cruz County who will be assisting us in making LGHS a safe school.

There is much to be done before next year but one step at a time, LGHS will become a safer school for all students through simple and educational methods.

"The mission of the Santa Cruz County Safe Schools Project is to raise awareness of the harsh atmosphere queer youth face on school campuses in Santa Cruz County, advocate for the enforcement of AB 537, The California Student Safety & Violence Prevention Act of 2000, and be a catalyst for action in each Santa Cruz County school district to make schools safer for all youth."

http://www.qytf.org/qytf-projects/safeschoolsproject/mission-and-objectives

http://diversitycenter.org/programs/lgbtiq-youth-task-force/safe-schools-project-of-santa-cruz-county/

Venue GSA Dance Mixer = Success!

We had a good turn out and the night went smoothly. I am glad so many kids showed up to have a good time. Also, the LGHS GSA now has a substantial amount of money to do things like get club t-shirts with, yay!

Thank you DJ Quintessence for the wonderful music!

Thank you Teezy for the great pictures (more on facebook)!

Hopefully we will be able to do another event like this in the future (May or June) before school is out.

If you know DJs who play EDM (including trance, electro, dubstep, drum & bass, etc) please contact me at lghs.gsa@gmail.com

Today's Meeting - Pye Project

At today's meeting we watched an education video from the Pye Projec called "Coming out in the 1950s".

Watch it at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGOnoPnmeH4

Schedule for March

Here's a brief overview of all the fun and exciting things we have in store for everyone this month.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

+ Shift is having a meeting this Thursday and all GSA members are invited. They will be talking about bullying posters and would like our help, so be there!

Friday, March 11, 2011

+ GSA Meeting @ tutorial in room 201. We will watch a short educational film and talk about the protest last Friday.

+VENUE GSA DANCE MIXER @ The Venue from 7pm-11pm

Come dance the night away to some awesome Electric Dance Music at The Venue! This dance is open to all youth under 21 Tickets are $7 at the door which includes food, drink, and music. Attendees are encouraged to wear white or neon colors since there will be black lights. This event is all about peace, love, unity, respect, and equality!

Doors open at 7:00 pm

Music starts at 7:30 pm

DJ Quintessence 8:00-11:00

Ends at 11:00 pm

This is a drug, alcohol, and drama free event! Violators will be asked to leave.

Friday, March 18, 2011

+GSA Meeting with GUEST SPEAKER @ tutorial in room 201 We will have a special guest speaker that you don't want to miss!

All GSA members, friends, and supporters are encouraged to come.

Friday, March 25, 2011

+GSA Meeting @ lunch in room 201

We will be having a special "share time" meeting.

* * Teachers are always welcome to join us at our weekly meetings every Friday (unless otherwise posted) during tutorial in room 201.

Announcement to the LGHS Staff

Last week, Mr. Autrey made an announcement to the staff on my behalf. In this statement, I talked about the use of anti-gay slurs and the necessity to stop people from using them.

Its hard enough to stand up for yourself and even harder when the adults around you won't even stand up for you.

I mostly talked about the difficulties of being out at school and why teachers need to stand against homophobic behavior. Its not a suggestion, this is a reminder of law AB537.

“No person, whether or not acting under color of law, shall by force or threat of force, willfully injure, intimidate, interfere with, oppress, or threaten any other person in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him or her by the Constitution or laws of this state or by the Constitution or laws of the United States because of the other person's race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender, or sexual orientation, or because he or she perceives that the other person has one or more of
those characteristics.

Schools are also responsible for ensuring that students are free from harassment and discrimination from any source while at school. This includes parent or community volunteers, and sports team coaches.

Like any other violation of the California Education Code, schools and school districts can be sued for not complying with AB537. Schools are responsible for ensuring that students are not victims of harassment or discrimination based on sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation. If they fail in preventing or stopping that type of behavior, they can be sued. In addition, administrators, teachers and staff may be personally liable as well.

Complaints of sexual orientation or gender discrimination must be handled in the same manner as other discrimination complaints. Students can file a complaint with the school board, with an investigation and written response due in 60 days. If a student is not happy with the response, they can appeal to the California Department of Education. Students are also free to file a civil action for injunctive relief (an order to stop prohibited behavior) or for compensatory damages."

Its my plea to the LGHS staff that teachers talk to their students about the use of homophobic and other hateful words that should and will not be tolerated.

I also ask that any teachers interested in becoming a teacher ally of the LGHS Gay Straight Alliance please email me at liznug@live.com.

Thank you all for reading,
Liz Gustafson

This Week's Meeting

At the meeting this Friday @ tutorial in room 201 we will be doing a few things:

-Watching a short educational video from the Pye Project

-Going over the counter-protest that took place last Friday

-Giving last minute details for our event on Friday (Venue GSA Dance Mixer)

This is going to be a lot of fun, especially with some cup cakes for everyone! :D

Bring your friends and good vibes!

Info for Venue Dance Volunteers

For everyone who signed up to help at Friday's event and has cleared your "duty" with me...

Set-up crew, be @ The Venue at 5pm!

If you can bring any pride flags, laser lights, strobe lights, black lights, or any other awesome decorations, BRING THEM! :D

All other volunteers, be @ The Venue at 6pm! I need volunteers to get there early to talk over duties, set up, and get settled before guests arrive.

PLEASE BRING FOOD OR SNACKS IF YOU CAN!

Clean-up crew, we will start clean up @ 11pm and will hopefully be done by 11:30 pm. Plan to be picked up then!

Coutner Protest @ Gunderson High School

Thank you everyone who came out to support Gunderson high school tonight! The protest was awesome! I ran into a surprising number of LGHS kids here which was cool. :) People from all sorts of groups came out. The signs and supporters were phenomenal! I got to meet a lot of people and am proudto say that we will be having more guest speakers in the near future includding a veteran!

Today's Meeting

Today we went over some up coming events includding the WBC counter-protest.

-Mandatory Volunteer Meeting
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=186618998041182

-Venue GSA Dance MIXER
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?cropsuccess&id=503013218#!/event.php?eid=201764243171908

Also, thank you everyone for all your support and help. I really appreciate everyone who has signed up to help. I am especially grateful to those who have donated their time to help sell bracelets and advertise our Venue GSA Dance Mixer!

This Friday

With our social event only a week away, we have a lot to talk about and do.

At our meeting this Friday at tutorial in room 201 we will be passing out fliers, making posters, taking group photos, signing up for volunteer/leadership opportunities, and talking about upcoming events.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=183197665034396&index=1

Also we will be talking about the counter-protest taking place at Gunderson High School later that day, this is something you don't want to miss!

The Westboro Church is planning to picket Gunderson High School in San Jose on March 4, 2011 @ 6:15 PM - 7:00 PM This is the same hate group that desecrates the American Flag, protests our Soldier's funerals around the country, as well as this play "The Laramie Project" and protests against Jewish institutions.

(from their event page)

http://www.ktvu.com/video/27060217/index.html

Gunderson High School

622 Gaundabert Lane

San Jose, CA

 

Don't miss this meeting!

Bring your friends and enjoy the free cookies.

Don't forget that we are still selling purple "Acceptance is Beautiful" wristbands for only $1!

Also, if you'd like to get involved with making our school safe, please contact lghs.gsa@gmail.com 

 

Upcoming events:

• MANDATORY VOLUNTEER MEETING 3/07/11 @ Lunch

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=186618998041182

• 03.11.11 VENUE GSA DANCE MIXER

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=201764243171908

• East Bay Gay-Straight Alliance Leadership Summithttp://gsanetwork.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=65