Subject: Action Alerts: remove Heritage Keepers Abstinence Education from the list of approved programs; petitioning the Delaware Legislatures for Civil Marriage in 2013; Call on Congress to pass the Safe Schools Improvement Act
1)Action
Alert: A Bold Step Forward for Comprehensive Sex Education
-
remove
Heritage Keepers Abstinence Education from
the list of approved programs 2) Action Alert: Delaware Marriage
Equality will be petitioning the Delaware Legislatures for
Civil Marriage in 2013 3) Action Alert: "Toning It Down" Isn't a Solution:
Call
on Congress to pass the Safe
Schools Improvement Act
Note: We are
sharing these items because we believe that they are
issues Safe Schools Coalition members and friends may
be interested in. If you have
opinion about them, please let your voice be heard.
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1)Action
Alert: A Bold Step Forward for Comprehensive Sex Education
May
18, 2012
Yesterday,
the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV
and AIDS (PACHA) took the bold step in officially
recognizing the rights of
young people to comprehensive sex education to ensure
that they receive the
information and education they need to make healthy and
responsible decisions
about their sexual health.
On
its own, this is important and exciting news. In
the context of the recent decision by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human
Services (HHS) to include the abstinence-only-until-marriage
program, Heritage
Keepers Abstinence Education, on its approved programs list,
PACHA's resolution
could not be more timely.
Comprehensive
sex education programs not only
provide age-appropriate information about abstinence,
contraception, pregnancy
and STD prevention, and basic biology — they also include
critical topics such
as healthy relationships, communication skills, and
information inclusive of
and relevant to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT)
youth. In
contrast, abstinence-only-until-marriage programs withhold
life-saving
information, promote gender stereotypes, stigmatize GLBT
youth, and too often
include medical misinformation. The choice could not be more
clear.
For
decades, public health experts — including the
American Medical Association, the American Academy of
Pediatrics, and the
Society of Adolescent Medicine — have supported a
comprehensive approach to sex
education to ensure the health and well-being of all young
people. With this
historic move, PACHA now joins this esteemed group in its
support of
comprehensive sex education.
We
hope the Obama administration hears its own
advisory council loud and clear. Secretary Sebelius has
a responsibility to
ensure that HHS reviews not only the data but also the content
of each and
every program endorsed by the administration. The inclusion of
Heritage Keepers
Abstinence Education on the list of approved, evidence-based
programs is
frighteningly shortsighted.
President
Obama has called for "an AIDS-free
generation," but if we are ever to see that day, we must
ensure that our
nation's youth have the information and skills they need to
make healthy and
responsible decisions.
By
taking a stand for comprehensive sex education,
the President's Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS has taken us
one step closer
to that reality.
Sincerely,
Deb
Hauser
President
Advocates
for Youth
2000
M Street NW Suite 750 | Washington, DC 20036 US
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2) Action
Alert: Delaware Marriage Equality will be petitioning the
Delaware Legislatures for Civil Marriage in 2013
May 20, 2012
To whom is may concern:
Delaware Marriage
Equality will be petitioning the Delaware Legislatures for
Civil Marriage in
2013.
Delaware Marriage Equality has joined forces with Delaware
Right to Marry http://www.delawarerighttomarry.com/
Delaware Right to Marry is the creator of the online petition.
3)Action Alert: "Toning It Down" Isn't a Solution: Call
on Congress to pass the Safe
Schools Improvement Act
May 22, 2012
A young gay man is constantly and
violently bullied by his classmates.
He asks his school administration for help.
They say he needs to "tone down" his flamboyant behavior,
and stop
wearing girls' clothes.
We saw this story in California in 2008, when Lawrence King
was ultimately
murdered by a classmate who had been tormenting him for
months. School
officials, defense attorneys, and commentators all
maintained that Lawrence
shouldn't have worn high heels and lipstick — that his
outrageous get-ups
enraged his murderer. That he, Lawrence, held the
responsibility to prevent his
murder — not the boy who murdered him, or the school that
failed to protect
him, or the culture that made him a target. Lawrence should
have toned it down.
In Indianapolis this month, we're seeing
another young victim of bullying: Darnell "Dynasty" Young.
Darnell is 17 and openly gay. He was frequently bullied by
classmates — they
hounded him, harassed him, followed him, threw rocks and
bottles at him.
He told school officials at least 10 times. They told him to
"tone it
down." So, Darnell Young's mother gave him a stun gun. And,
the next time
he was cornered by six violent students, he brandished it.
The result? Arsenal
Tech High School suddenly located its zero tolerance policy
— and expelled
Darnell. TAKE ACTION: Take a stand against bullying. Tell
Congress to pass the Safe
Schools Improvement Act!
Ten reports of bullying, a group assault on one young
person, and the result is
that young person is expelled. No penalties for the bullies
— they ran off
while school police arrested Darnell.
Sure, pretty much no one thinks stun guns should go in kids'
backpacks. Many,
even most, may agree with Darnell's expulsion, and the
school district is
certainly sticking by it. No student should bring a weapon
to school.
But — and this is the critical point that keeps getting
overlooked — no student
should ever feel they have to bring a weapon to school to
prevent being
assaulted.
The story shouldn't end with Darnell's expulsion — that is
why we are calling
on Congress to finally get serious about preventing bullying
and pass the Safe
Schools Improvement Act.
LGBT young people have no responsibility or imperative to
"tone down"
their gender expression or hide their sexual orientation. We
have the
responsibility to protect these youth in schools and to
teach students the
value of accepting and valuing all types of people.
Julia Reticker-Flynn
Youth Activist Network Coordinator
Advocates for Youth
2000 M Street NW Suite 750 | Washington, DC
20036 US
Safe
Schools Coalition
c/o Rosehedge 1401
East Jefferson Street, Suite 401 Seattle,
WA 98122
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The
Safe Schools Coalition
is a public-private partnership of 60+ organizations (government
agencies, schools, community agencies, churches, youth/student
groups, gay/lesbian groups, human rights groups) and 100+
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Beth
Reis,
Public Health - Seattle & King County, 206-296-4970 Michelle
Munro,
not representing a member org Mo
Lewis,
King County Sexual Assault Resource Center Matthew
Wilson,
Oasis/Pierce County AIDS Foundation
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Carter,
Youth Suicide Prevention Program Frank
Couch,
Science & Management of Addictions Foundation Penny
Palmer,
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