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Spotlight Secondary Education
 
Secondary EducationDespite opposition from largely Christian Right-Wing Groups, resources and protections for glbtq secondary school students have dramatically increased since the first glbtq student organizations emerged on university campuses in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
 
 
The ACLU LGBT & AIDS Project has fought to compel high schools to protect glbtq students from harassment and discrimination, recognize gay-straight alliances on the same basis as other non-curricular clubs, and stop schools from censoring educational gay and lesbian websites.
 
 
Adolescence is a life stage during which young people ordinarily experience sexual uncertainty and confusion. This sexual uncertainty and concomitant emotional turmoil are compounded in glbtq adolescents by fears of being stigmatized and often by internalized homophobia.
 
 
GLADGay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) is New England's leading glbtq public-interest legal organization. The extraordinarily successful advocacy group has worked to protect glbtq students in schools and fought for the right of students to form glbtq student organizations.
 
 
Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN) was founded in 1990 to create safe K-12 school environments for glbtq students. Its mission is to reform the American educational system in order to ensure that children accept and respect one another, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.
 
 
Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) are youth-led, school- or community-based groups designed to assist glbtq students, children from glbtq families, and heterosexual students who want to be allies of their glbtq peers.
 
 
Brent HartingerBrent Hartinger (b. 1964) is a writer whose first novel, Geography Club (2003), was inspired by both his own teenage years and his experiences as a founder of Oasis, a gay teen support group with more than 200 members.
 
 
Kevin JenningsKevin Jennings (b. 1963) transformed his anger at bullying and gay bashing in schools into founding GLSEN, the first national organization to address the homophobia experienced by glbtq youth in schools. In May 2009, Jennings joined the Obama administration as Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education and Director of the Office of Safe & Drug-Free Schools.
 
 
Leslea NewmanLesléa Newman (b. 1955), author of the famously controversial children's book Heather has Two Mommies (1989), is a prolific writer of books for children, adolescents, and adults. Her young adult titles include Fat Chance (1994), about eating disorders, and Jail Bait (2005), which tackles sexual abuse.
 
 
PFLAGParents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) became a national organization in 1981. One of PFLAG's most important functions is to counsel and support parents as they come to terms with their children's sexual orientation.
 
 
Point FoundationThe Point Foundation offers generous college grants to gifted students who have lost their families' support because of their sexual orientation. Once in college, the foundation provides each scholarship recipient with mentoring and supervision to support personal growth and academic success.
 
 
Alex SanchezAlex Sanchez (b. 1957) writes fiction for the middle-grade audience that draws on his years of experience as a guidance counselor. Though his books have been lauded by teachers and librarians, they have also faced attempts at censorship.
 
 
Shyam SelvaduraiShyam Selvadurai (b. 1965) is a Sri Lankan-Canadian writer whose third novel, Swimming in the Monsoon Sea (2005), targeted Young Adult readers. The novel chronicles a fourteen-year-old Sri Lankan boy's falling in love with his visiting Canadian cousin. The book was a finalist for Canada's most prestigious literary award.
 
 
Sex Education programs are vulnerable to the attempts of religious radicals to hijack the sex education movement as a means of disseminating their own repressive blend of intolerance and fear. Because of the opposition of conservative Christians, basic discussion of sexual orientation in public schools across the country remains rare.
 
 
Student Organizations for gay and lesbian students began in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a handful found at large universities. Today, nearly all American college campuses have glbtq student organizations and more than 3,000 GSAs have been formed in high schools throughout the United States.
 
 
Teachers have historically faced all manner of social pressures, including open hostiliy and expectations that they hide their sexuality. Now, however, teacher groups and individuals are working to improve the climate for glbtq teachers.
 
 
Transgender people are becoming increasingly visible at secondary and post-secondary schools, but relatively few institutions provide for the needs of transgender students. If institutions are to be welcoming to people of all genders, issues of discrimination and equal access to facilities and health care need to be addressed.
 
 
Trevor ProjectThe Trevor Project is a Los Angeles-based educational organization that operates the only national 24-hour, toll-free suicide prevention hot line in the U.S. aimed at glbtq youth.
 
 
Jacqueline WoodsonJacqueline Woodson (b. 1963) is an African-American lesbian author of books for young adults. She often writes about girls, but her uncanny ability to understand the adolescent mind and communicate young adult feelings has also allowed her to write from the perspective of teen-aged boys.
 
 
notable birthdays this week
March 14
 
Alfred Redl Alfred Redl
ONE OF THE FATHERS OF MODERN ESPIONAGE, 1864
Sylvia Beach
AMERICAN EXPATRIATE BOOKSELLER AND EDITOR WHO INFLUENCED THE COURSE OF MODERN LITERATURE, 1887
 
Kevin Williamson
SCREENWRITER, PRODUCER, AND DIRECTOR, 1965
 
March 15
 
Colin McPhee Colin McPhee
CANADIAN-BORN COMPOSER WHOSE WORK INCORPORATES NON-WESTERN STYLES, 1900
Kate Bornstein Kate Bornstein
TRANSGENDER ACTIVIST WHO CHALLENGES AUDIENCES TO BUCK THE GENDER SYSTEM, 1948
 
March 16
 
Rosa Bonheur Rosa Bonheur
THE MOST POPULAR ARTIST IN 19TH-CENTURY FRANCE, 1822
Karl Meier
SWISS ACTOR, CABARET PERFORMER, DIRECTOR, AND CONTRIBUTOR TO GAY JOURNALS, 1897
 
David Del Tredici
PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AMERICAN COMPOSER AND PIANIST, 1937
 
March 17
 
Alice Austen Alice Austen
PHOTOGRAPHER WHO CHALLENGED STEREOTYPES IN NEARLY EVERY ASPECT OF HER LIFE, 1866
Bayard Rustin Bayard Rustin
KEY AFRICAN-AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST WHOSE LEGACY HAS SUFFERED BECAUSE OF HIS HOMOSEXUALITY, 1910
 
Clay Shaw
HOMOSEXUAL WHO WAS FALSELY ACCUSED AND TRIED FOR THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY, 1913
Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Nureyev
THE GREATEST BALLET DANCER OF HIS GENERATION, 1938
 
Alexander McQueen
BRITISH DESIGNER WHOSE FASHIONS ARE EROTIC, FANTASTICAL, AND OFTEN ANDROGYNOUS, 1969
Stephen Gately Stephen Gately
SINGER, ACTOR, AND SONGWRITER, 1976
 
March 18
 
Alice French
AUTHOR OF CODED STORIES THAT CELEBRATE INDEPENDENT, FINANCIALLY SELF-SUFFICIENT, WOMEN-CENTERED WOMEN, 1850
Eugène Frederik Jansson Eugène Frederik Jansson
SWEDISH PAINTER KNOWN FOR BOTH CITYSCAPES AND DEPICTIONS OF THE MALE NUDE, 1862
 
Wilfred Owen Wilfred Owen
ENGLISH WAR POET WHO PRECISELY OBSERVED THE HORROR OF TRENCH WARFARE, 1893
Sergei Paradjanov
RUSSIAN FILMMAKER AND SURVIVOR OF EIGHT YEARS IN THE SOVIET GULAG, 1924
 
John Kander
COMPOSER WHOSE WORK CELEBRATES THE POLYMORPHOUS PERVERSE, 1927
Charlotte von Mahlsdorf Charlotte von Mahlsdorf
PRESERVATIONIST AND AUTHOR OF A BOOK ABOUT HER LIFE AS A TRANSGENDERED PERSON, 1928
 
Michael Kirby
JUSTICE OF THE HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, 1939
Peter Taylor
OLYMPIC EQUESTRIAN, 1953
 
March 19
 
Sir Richard F. Burton Sir Richard F. Burton
CONTROVERSIAL BRITISH SOLDIER, EXPLORER, AND EXPERT ON SEXUALITY IN INDIA AND THE ARAB WORLD, 1821
 
March 20
 
Edmund Goulding Edmund Goulding
ECCENTRIC TALENT OF HOLLYWOOD'S GOLDEN AGE, 1891
John Boswell
ONE OF THE LATE 20TH CENTURY'S MOST INFLUENTIAL HISTORIANS OF HOMOSEXUALITY, 1947
 
About Notable Birthdays
This feature lists people about whom glbtq.com has both entries and complete birth dates. Each person listed has made a significant contribution to or had a significant impact on glbtq culture or history. Most are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, though some are either heterosexual or cannot be adequately characterized using any of these labels.
 
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congratulations to Mexico City
Mexico CityOn March 12, 2010, same-sex couples began marrying in Mexico City. In December 2009, the Mexico City legislature passed a law defining marriage as "the free uniting of two people." The law was bitterly denounced by the Roman Catholic hierarchy and challenged as unconstitutional by Mexico's federal government, but after the nation's highest court refused to intervene to stay the law, the city began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in March 2010.
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congratulations GLAAD Media Award Winners

Cynthia Nixon, recipient of the Vito Russo Award. Image courtesy HBO. Copyright © HBO.
Among the honorees at the 21st annual GLAAD Media Awards ceremony in New York on March 13, 2010 were Cynthia Nixon, who received the Vito Russo Award, and Joy Behar, who received the Excellence in Media Award. Prayers for Bobby won the Outstanding TV Movie or Miniseries Award; Brothers & Sisters won the Outstanding Drama Series Award; One Life to Live won the Outstanding Daily Drama Award; and Little Ashes won the Outstanding Film-Limited Release Award. The Rachel Maddow Show was honored for its series on the Ugandan "kill the gays" bill and the Oprah Winfrey Show for its episode, Ellen Degeneres and Her Wife, Portia de Rossi. CNN's American Morning was honored for its segment on Arkansas 10-year-old Will Phillips' refusal to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance until gay men and lesbians have equal rights. Brent Hartinger and John Buccigross tied for the Outstanding Digital Journalism Award. New York Times writers Frank Rich, Tara Parker-Pope, and Benoit Denizet-Lewis were also honored. The event was hosted by Alan Cumming.
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congratulations to 2010 glbtq Olympians
Ireen Wust 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist Ireen Wüst on the ice in 2007.
Photograph by Bjarte Hetland. Image appears under the Gnu Free Documentation License.
Erika Holst, a member of the Swedish women's ice hockey team.
Short-track skater Sanne Van Kerkhoff, a member of the Dutch 3000-meter relay team that finished fourth.
Vibeke Skofterud, a member of the Norwegian team that won the gold medal in the 4 x 5 kilometer relay in cross-country skiing.
Sarah Vaillancourt, a forward on the gold medal-winning Canadian women's hockey team.
Dutch Speed Skater Irene Wüst, winner of the gold medal in the women's 1500 meter event and partner of Sanne Van Kerkhoff.
Related Encyclopedia Entries:
new on glbtq
Tove Jansson
Best known for her series of children's books about the Moomin family of trolls, Tove Jansson (1914-2001), considered a national treasure in Finland, also wrote fiction for adults and was an accomplished artist and illustrator.
Neil MillerNeil Miller
Historian and journalist Neil Miller (b. 1945) has attempted to widen the understanding of gay and lesbian life by moving away from the major metropolitan areas, focusing instead on small cities and rural areas.
Henry Cady WellsHenry Cady Wells
Famous for his watercolor paintings, Henry Cady Wells (1904-1954) was also a patron of the arts and an activist citizen of the Santa Fe and Taos art colonies from the 1930s to the 1950s.
interview
glbtq Interview with Carolyn Laub
Carolyn LaubCarolyn Laub discusses the needs of secondary school students, the impact of Proposition 8 on high school bullies, and her work as Executive Director of GSA Network in an interview with glbtq Publisher Wik Wikholm.
in memoriam
 
Robert Carter
(1927-2010)
Reverend Robert Carter, a founder of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) and of the New York chapter of Dignity, USA, died on February 22, 2010 in New York City. One of the first Roman Catholic priests to declare his homosexuality, Father Carter was described as both "the heart of Dignity" and "a Catholic Harvey Milk."

See:

 
Roman Catholicism
 
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF)
 
 
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