Dear Safe Schools Coalition Members and Friends:

 

(1) NEW, FREE PUBLICATION: Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Students: Your Rights at School

(2) GOOD NEWS: Children of federal employees in domestic partnerships will no longer be punished through denial of health coverage just because their parents can’t marry

(3) 2012 [sexual behavior] Trends Among Adolescents in the U.S.

(4) Sexual Behavior (2010 & trend data) among adolescents in WA and Seattle

(5) Vote for Scenarios USA to receive a CLASSY Award in Human Rights

(6) The 2nd Annual Camp Ten Trees Wish List!

 

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(1) NEW, FREE PUBLICATION: Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Students: Your Rights at School

 

Following the  Obama Administration’s groundbreaking letter to primary and some secondary schools clarifying who is protected under Title IX, courts and federal agencies have concluded that discrimination or harassment because a person is transgender or gender non-conforming constitute sex discrimination.

 

To help students understand and assert their rights in schools, the National Center for Transgender Equality is releasing Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Students: Your Rights at School, a new resource that outlines the laws protecting trans people in school and steps for bringing harassment and discrimination complaints to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.

 

In the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, participants who expressed a transgender identity or gender nonconformity while in grades K-12 faced alarming obstacles:

 

Seventy-eight percent reported harassment Thirty-five percent reported physical assault Twelve percent reported sexual violence Fifteen percent reported leaving school Fifty-one percent of participants who were harassed/bullied in school reported attempting suicide, compared to 1.6% of the general population

 

These shocking numbers show how important it is that all members of a school community work together to fight against discrimination.

Anyone, including friends, family, and school staff, can file a complaint. Complaints do not need to be filed by the person(s) experiencing the bullying, harassment or discrimination. More details on filing complaints, as well as other options and resources, are available in our new guide.

 

Download the guide here:  http://transequality.org/Resources/EducationKnowYourRights_June2012.pdf

 

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(2) RULE CHANGE: Children of federal employees in domestic partnerships will no longer be punished through denial of health coverage just because their parents can’t marry

 

From the Family Equality Council, 7/20/2012:

Dear Friend,

Big Victory!
I want to share some incredible news about a big victory for some of our families.  This morning we learned that our hard work over the past year, on behalf of our parents who are federal workers, has finally paid off. Today the Obama Administration and the Office of Personnel Management announced a rule change that would effectively extend health care benefits to all children of federal employees in domestic partnerships. This rule change means that all federal employees’ children up to age 26 can now be covered under their federal health insurance plan regardless of their  legal relationship to the covered parent.  We know that most of the two million children raised by LGBT parents live in states where their parents cannot marry, cannot secure legal ties to their own kids and cannot get their children covered under a health insurance plan. This rule change means that federal workers can now be assured that a high fever, broken arm or debilitating illness won’t jeopardize their child’s health or their family’s finances. We look forward to the day when marriage equality and the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act guarantee that all of our families have the same health care protections as their friends and neighbors. Until then, we can take comfort knowing that more of our children will now grow up with the safety, security and stability that they deserve.

Thanks for your support,
Jennifer Chrisler
Executive Director

 

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(3) 2012 [sexual behavior] Trends Among Adolescents in the U.S.

 

Dear Colleagues:

 

New data released by CDC this week during the 2012 International AIDS Conference indicate fewer U.S. high school students overall are engaging in sexual behaviors that put them at risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.  According to the 20-year trend analysis, African-American youth achieved the greatest declines in risk behavior.  Overall progress, however, has stalled in recent years, and black youth still report higher levels of sexual risk behaviors than youth of other racial or ethnic groups.  Reducing sexual risk behaviors among America’s youth is critical to achieving the goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which calls for educating all young people on HIV, as well as intensified prevention efforts for populations at greatest risk, including youth.

 

The data released this week come from CDC’s National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), a nationally representative biennial survey of public and private school students in grades 9–12.  Between 1991 and 2011, the study shows that —

 

*    The proportion of U.S. high school students who ever had sex declined from 54% to 47%.

*    The proportion of high school students who had sex within the preceding three months declined from 38% to 34%.

*    The proportion of students who had multiple (four or more) sex partners declined from 19% to 15%.

*    The proportion of sexually active high school students who used a condom the last time they had sex increased from 46% to 60%.

 

Sexual risk behavior declined most dramatically among black youth over the 20-year study period, and as a result, the gap in risk behavior between these students and their white counterparts has narrowed considerably.  In 1991, black students were nearly two-thirds more likely to have had sexual intercourse and almost three times as likely to report having multiple partners, as compared to white students.  By 2011, the disparity between black and white students who ever had sex was cut in half, and the difference in the likelihood of having multiple sex partners declined even more (58%).

 

The analysis also shows that many indicators of progress have plateaued over the past decade, and that significant racial disparities in risk continue:

 

*    Since 2001, there has been no significant overall change in the proportion of U.S. high school students who reported ever having sex or who had multiple sex partners.

*    The percentage of sexually active students who used a condom the last time they had sex has been stable since 2003.

*    Black students report higher levels of sexual risk behavior than their white or Hispanic peers, with the exception of reporting higher levels of condom use.

*    Condom use among sexually active black students has been declining since 1999.

*    No significant change in sexual risk behaviors among Hispanic students has occurred since 1991.

 

The press release and the MMWR — “Trends in HIV-Related Risk Behaviors Among High School Students - United States, 1991-2011” — are available on the YRBS Web site (www.cdc.gov/yrbs).

 

For more information about DASH and its programs:

Web site: www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth

Phone: 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636)

E-mail: nccddashinfo@cdc.gov

 

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(4) Sexual Behavior (2010 & trend data) among adolescents in WA and Seattle

 

Washington State has no trend data, as it only began asking about sexual behaviors in 2010 on the Healthy Youth Survey (“HYS” is WA’s alternative to the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey or “YRBS”), but you can find results for HYS 2010 here: https://www.askhys.net/results.asp

 

In Seattle Public Schools, which participates in both HYS and YRBS, find both 2010 YRBS data and trend data here: http://district.seattleschools.org/modules/cms/pages.phtml?pageid=230238&sessionid=d5e6ea3735343dd939b5ffff0771643e&sessionid=d5e6ea3735343dd939b5ffff0771643e

 

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(5) Vote for Scenarios USA to receive a CLASSY Award in Human Rights

 

Scenarios USA  is a Top 5 Finalist for the CLASSY Award in Human Rights. (You may be asking yourself what the CLASSY is... It's like the Oscars for nonprofits.) This recognition of our team's effort to fight prejudice and promote the voices of marginalized youth is awesome. Please help us win help by voting!   

 

Click here to vote, then click on "East" for our region, and then scroll down to find Scenarios USA under the "Human Rights" category and submit your ballot.

If you like our work, please ask your friends and colleagues to vote for us as well!

Thanks for your support,

Your friends at Scenarios USA

 

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(6) The 2nd Annual Camp Ten Trees Wish List!

 

Last year, Camp Ten Trees invited the community to support our campers' experience by helping us to purchase much-needed supplies for the summer camp sessions.  So many of you joined in the effort, pitching in to buy health and wellness supplies, arts and crafts materials, kitchen goodies, and much more.  Well it's that time of year again, and we hope you'll take a few moments this week to visit our Camp Ten Trees Wish List and help us supply this summer's camp sessions!

This year's wish list includes items ranging in price from $1.29 to $205, and every single item is important.  Please contribute in any way that works for you.  If you see something on the Wish List that you'd like to donate in another way (rather than by purchasing it from the Wish List), e-mail Airen at info@camptentrees.org.

Remember, visit the Camp Ten Trees Wish List and place your order no later than Saturday, July 28th to be sure it arrives at our office by August 9th!

Thanks, as always, for your support of our campers, children and youth of LGBTQA communities and families.

Camp-ily yours,

Camp Ten Trees

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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+ individuals working to help schools become safe places where every family can belong, where every educator can teach, and where every child can learn, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.

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Got a problem at school with anti-gay harassment?

In Washington State:

1-877-SAFE-SAFE (1-877-723-3723) 24 hours a day - the phone line is answered at the Sexual Assault Hotline and they will have a Safe Schools Coalition Intervention Specialist volunteer get back to you within 24 hours. Or contact us by email (click here: Intervention) http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org/contact/?id=10 and we will respond within 24 hours.

 

For non-emergencies: 206-451-SAFE (7233).

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Co-Chairs:

Beth Reis, Public Health - Seattle & King County, 206-263-8297 NEW
Michelle Munro, not representing a member org
Mo Lewis, King County Sexual Assault Resource Center
Matthew Wilson, Oasis/Pierce County AIDS Foundation

 

Co-Secretaries:

Heather Carter, Youth Suicide Prevention Program
Frank Couch, Science & Management of Addictions Foundation
Penny Palmer, not representing a member org

 

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