The Girl Scouts Support Trans Girls, Even When It Costs

A $50,000 donation is cause for celebration at the Queen Anne offices of the Girl Scouts of Western Washington. “We have these little clapper thingies, and the clappers go mad when we get that kind of gift,” says the council’s CEO, Megan Ferland. So when Ferland came back to the office earlier this spring and announced that she’d just landed a $100,000 donation, the place went mad. Not only did it represent nearly a quarter of the council’s annual fundraising goal, it would pay to send 500 girls to camp. “We were thrilled,” Ferland says.

Except there was a catch. In late May, as news of Caitlyn Jenner’s transition was blowing up your Facebook news feed, she received a letter from the donor with a brief request: Please guarantee that our gift will not be used to support transgender girls. If you can’t, please return the money.

Ferland chooses her words carefully when discussing the donor, whose identity she won’t reveal out of respect for their privacy. “The relationship is complex,” is all she’ll say. But she does admit to being “very sad” upon receiving the letter. Shortly after that, though, she made up her mind about how to respond: In a short letter, she informed the donor that she would, in fact, be returning the money.  Read more

Italy: Over 300,000 rally in Rome against gay marriage

People travelled from all over Italy and Europe yesterday to protest against the proposed legalisation of gay marriage, and the teaching of ‘gender theories’ in schools. Gathering in the San Giovanni Square in Rome, with estimates of participants running from 300,000 to a million people, the protest put the ‘anti-Austerity’ protests held in London on the same day to shame, for sheer volume of people and absence of criminal behaviour.

Attendees held aloft banners reading “The family will save the world” and “Let’s defend our children”, as Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi tries to push a civil union bill through parliament. The call for Italy to keep pace with its western European neighbours on the issue has grown stronger since Ireland voted overwhelmingly in favour of gay marriage last month.

Massimo Gandolfini, spokesman for the “Defend our children!” committee said: “We are asking for families based on marriage be respected, and stressing the central role parents play. We forcefully reject the attempt to sneak into the curriculum projects which aim to destroy children’s sexual identities”.  Read More

US: Father of bisexual teen who died by suicide: 'It’s the worst pain you can ever imagine'

For the father of bisexual teenager Adam Kizer, the pain is still fresh, days after his son was taken off life support last weekend following a suicide attempt. He was 16.

According to the Post Democrat, on May 17, Contra Costa, Calif., "sheriff’s deputies took [Adam] for a mental health evaluation,” but released him claiming he wasn’t a risk to himself. On May 26, not 10 days later, Adam killed himself.

Adam came out as bisexual six months ago, to a supportive family and to friends. However, his father said, “I don’t think the boy went a whole week without somebody messing with him.” School officials told the local media they were oblivious to the bullying.
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Australian Archbishop Denis Hart lobbies parents to support 'the meaning of marriage'

Children at Catholic schools have been sent home with glossy booklets that oppose gay marriage following a request by the Archbishop of Melbourne. The 15-page booklet, "Don't Mess With Marriage" said redefining marriage would have "far-reaching consequences". "All marriages would come to be defined by intensity of emotion rather than a union founded on sexual complementarily and potential fertility."

The Safe Schools Coalition, which works to create a safe environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender students, urged principals not to distribute the material. The coalition's co-ordinator, Roz Ward, said the material could damage the mental health and wellbeing of same-sex attracted young people, by suggesting their relationships were unnatural or not as important.

 "At school it is particularly important that they can feel they can be themselves and valued for who they. In a situation where you feel that is not valued, everything else becomes more difficult." She said same-sex families who sent their children to Catholic schools would see this as a "direct attack on their existence as gay Catholics". Read More

Gay High School Valedictorian Gets Second Chance At Graduation Speech He Was Banned From Giving

Evan Young was not permitted to speak at graduation after school officials found out he was planning to come out as gay during his speech. He had the opportunity to read his full speech, as intended, on Sunday at a fundraising event.

According to Young, he received several edits to his planned speech from the school’s principal, BJ Buchmann, all of which he was fine with making — except for the edit asking him to remove the section in which he discloses his sexuality.

“One of my themes is that I was going to tell everyone my secrets,” Young told Daily Camera. “Most of the things were stupid stuff — books I never read that I was supposed to, or homework I didn’t like. But then I gradually worked up to serious secrets.” Read More

Amsterdam: "Inside Out - Portraits of Cross Gender Children"

In the last twelve years, the Dutch photographer Sarah Wong has documented life and experiences of a group of children suffering from gender dysphoria , they had passed the stage of transition - or were going through - to the conquest of self.  See More

Almost 7% of young Australians identify as gay, study finds

A new study has found that 6.5% of Australians in their 20s identify as gay, more than any other age group surveyed. The survey asked 18,000 Australians aged 14 and over to agree or disagree with the statement: “I consider myself a homosexual.”

The general trend shows a steady increase in people identifying as gay across all age groups. The figure increased from just over 4%t in 2006 to 2008.

Roy Morgan Research chief executive Michael Levine said that the overall rising numbers reveal a cultural shift. “Finding out the ‘real’ number, therefore, is less about getting a head-count and more a gauge of just how open we are."  Read More

US: Protecting students from homophobic bullying

Students who are bullied because of sexual orientation have willing defenders in their classmates -- motivated by leadership, courage, their beliefs in justice, altruism and having lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender friends, according to a Boston College professor and co-author of a new report on bullying at school.

With as many as eight out of every 10 LGBT students enduring bullying at school, the findings can help shape new programs to make schools safer, said Lynch School of Education Associate Professor Paul Poteat, who presents the study today at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association.

"Homophobic behavior often goes unchallenged, and there has been little attention to the large segment of students who witness homophobic behavior," said Poteat. "It is important to distinguish those who actually intercede or support students when homophobic behavior occurs."

An eight-year Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found between 12 to 28 percent of LGBT students reported they had been threatened or injured at school the prior year. The 2011 Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network national survey found 82 percent of LGBT. Read More

UK: Phrase 'that's gay' acceptable to nearly half of young people

The last 15 years have seen some big changes to the laws on sexuality, from equal age of consent to same sex marriage. But over that time the words we use to talk about the subject have changed and social media allows people to make mistakes more easily. It also allows people to react to possible offence more quickly & easily.

Of the words about sexuality which put to the audience, "faggot" was the one that people found most offensive. Many agreed the context in which a word is used is as relevant as the person who is using it. Some young people were also confused about which words people would find offensive when talking about sexuality. Around 15% didn't know if "queen" was an inappropriate term while almost 10% believed using the word homosexual was not acceptable in any circumstance.  Read More 

Guam: Half of university students support gay marriage, according to poll

A poll of students at the University of Guam found 55% of students support same-sex marriage while 29% oppose it. About 16% had no opinion.

"Almost everybody you talk to on Guam has an uncle or an aunt or a cousin or a sister ror brother who is gay, and so this is a readily understandable sort of issue. So one of the things, when we focus group people on this particular topic, having gay people in stable relationships is preferable to having them in unstable relationships, so this may be an extension of that kind of view," said the researcher. Read More 

Russia: Court won't reinstate fired lesbian teacher

A district court in St. Petersburg refused to reinstate a lesbian music teacher who was fired in December from a local school for “immoral conduct.” The teacher sued the school, seeking reinstatement to her job and 300,000 rubles (roughly $6,000) in compensation for moral damage. In its ruling, the court drew from an expert evaluation of the teacher’s photos from social networks.

The dismissal of the teacher was the result of efforts from anti-gay activist Timur Isaev, who was engaged in “forced outing.” This means he searched for lesbians and gay people on social networks and reported them to their employers. At least 29 teachers were dismissed as a result of his activities before he was arrested on charges of embezzlement.

Isaev repeatedly appealed to the principal of the school, demanding that the teacher be dismissed. In firing the teacher, her principal mention the the social media photos, given to him on a CD by Isaev.  Read More 

US: Pennsylvania high school students organize “Anti-Gay Day”

Students at a Pennsylvania high school held an “Anti-Gay Day” protest on Thursday, wearing coordinated flannel shirts, writing “anti-gay” on their hands, and sticking Bible verses on LGBT students’ lockers. The anti-gay protest occurred a day after students with the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance held a “Day of Silence,” an event aimed at drawing attention to anti-gay bullying. 

“I got called a dyke, a faggot,” Johnson said. “They were calling us every horrible name you can think of.” The national Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network organized a “Day of Silence” around the United States. As part of their protest, Johnson and the other dozen members of the GSA arranged to wear black, paint rainbows on their faces, and stay silent for much of the day.

“This is a troubling turn of events,” wrote Sue Kerr, editor-in-chief of Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents. “These kids didn’t just spontaneously pull a homophobic move. They have a plan. They have coordinated outfits.”  Read More