Dear Safe Schools Coalition Members and Friends:
(1) National Suicide Prevention Week (Sept 4-10, 2011; United States)
(2) National Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read (Sept 24-Oct 1, 2011; United States)
(3) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) History Month (October; EVERYWHERE)
(4) National Coming Out Day (Oct 11; United States)
(5) National Mix It Up at Lunch Day (October 18; United States)
(6) National Transgender Day of Remembrance (Nov 20; United States)
(7) World AIDS Awareness Month (December; EVERYWHERE)
(8) World Human Rights Day (Dec 10, 2011; EVERYWHERE)
(9) National No-Namecalling Week (Jan 23-27, 2012; United States)
(10) National Condom Week (Feb 14-21; United States)
(11) Day of Silence (April 18, 2007; EVERYWHERE)
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(1) National Suicide Prevention Week (Sept 4-10, 2011; EVERYWHERE)
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(2) National Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read (Sept 24-Oct 1, 2011; United States)
Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing
attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.
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(3) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) History Month (October; EVERYWHERE)
LGBT History Month celebrates the achievements of 31 gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender Icons. Beginning October 1, a new LGBT Icon is featured each day with a video, bio, bibliography, downloadable images and other resources. The 2011 web page isn't
up yet, but here is the 2010 page, so you can see what to expect:
http://www.glbthistorymonth.com/glbthistorymonth/2010/
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(4) National Coming Out Day (Oct 11; United States)
Every October 11, thousands of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and allies celebrate National Coming Out Day (NCOD). They hold workshops, speak-outs, rallies and other kinds of events all aimed at showing the
public that GLBT people are everywhere. The facebook page about NCOD is here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/National-Coming-Out-Day/108332482524425
- WHY do people come out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex (LGBTI)?
- BUT is it also OK to work for human rights in quieter ways if it isn't safe
to be "out" at this point in your life or in your particular home or work environment?
- WHY do people come out as heterosexual allies (or as children or other family members or friends) of LGBT people?
- WHAT ACTIVITIES might teachers and GSAs consider?
- WHAT KIND OF CELEBRATIONS might empower people to come out?
- WHERE can we find other resources on the Web?
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(5) National Mix It Up at Lunch Day (October 18; United States)
On Tuesday, October 18, 2011, join millions of students for National Mix It Up at Lunch Day. Students and staff alike are encouraged to break out of your clique and sit with someone new. Bring down the walls dividing your school. Organize Mix It Up Lunch!
http://www.tolerance.org/node/12861
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(6) National Transgender Day of Remembrance (Nov 20; United States)
National Transgender Day of Remembrance is held in November to honor those murdered -- at least one a month in the United States alone -- for transgressing the rigid gender expectations of the society in which they live.
Thee pages can help as you plan:
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(7) World AIDS Awareness Month (December; EVERYWHERE)
World AIDS Day is December 1.
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(8) World Human Rights Day (Dec 10, 2011; EVERYWHERE)
Every year, on the anniversary of the United Nations' adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we celebrate International Human Rights Day.
The Safe Schools Coalition invites you and your school to focus on the promise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was December 10, 1948, more than half a century ago, when the U.N. adopted the Declaration. World War II and the Nazi Holocaust had
made clear to the world that we must stand together for "...the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family..." So a U.N. Commission on Human Rights was formed. It was chaired by tireless human rights activist
and former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The commission drafted an historically unprecedented document to codify that commitment. You can read that document, to which we [the United States] are signatories, at http://www.udhr.org/UDHR/default.htm
or, in dozens of languages, http://www.udhr.org/UN/default.htm
But having an international agreement doesn't, of itself, make life more livable for individual human beings. WE do that ...
"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual
person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these
rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."
-- Eleanor Roosevelt
What is your family, your class, your club, your school district or your agency planning to do next, for instance, to ensure that nobody is "subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment"
as promised by the Universal Declaration? What are you doing to ensure that every person "has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association"? How about that each of us "has the right to education"? Let us all work toward peace on earth
and the full recognition of the human rights of every member of the human family. Web sites with more include: http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/humanrights/index.asp
and http://www.pdhre.org/chre/index.html and http://www.hrusa.org/advocacy/Partners.shtm
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(9) National No-Namecalling Week (Jan 23-27, 2012; United States)
No Name-Calling Week was inspired by a young adult novel entitled "The Misfits" by popular author, James Howe. The book tells the story of four best friends trying to survive the seventh grade in the face of all too frequent
taunts based on their weight, height, intelligence, and sexual orientation/gender expression. Motivated by the inequities they see around them, the "Gang of Five" (as they are known) creates a new political party during student council elections and run on
a platform aimed at wiping out name-calling of all kinds. Though they lose the election, they win the support of the school's principal for their cause and their idea for a “No Name-Calling Day” at school. Motivated by this simple, yet powerful, idea, the No
Name-Calling Week Coalition, created by GLSEN and Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, and consisting of over 40 national partner organizations, organized an actual No Name-Calling Week in schools across the nation during the week of March 1-5, 2004. This
year No Name-Calling Week will begin the week of January 23-27, 2012. The project seeks to focus national attention on the problem of name-calling in schools, and to provide students and educators with the tools and inspiration to launch an on-going dialogue
about ways to eliminate name-calling in their communities.
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(10) National Condom Week (Feb 14-21; United States)
National condom week is celebrated each year during the week of Valentine's Day. It is celebrated around the same time in many other countries, as well.
2012 web sites are not up yet.
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(11) Day of Silence (April 18, 2007; EVERYWHERE)
Founded in 1996, the Day of Silence has become the largest single student-led action towards creating safer schools for all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. More here: http://www.dayofsilence.org/
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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.
Safe Schools' website: http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org
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=10and we will respond within 24 hours.
For non-emergencies: 206-451-SAFE (7233).
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Mo Lewis, King County Sexual Assault Resource Center
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