Author Archives: Victoria Martin

About Victoria Martin

Victoria Martin is a senior Public Health major at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. She is originally from Shippensburg, PA in Cumberland County. Victoria aspires to work in LGBT health upon graduation. She can be reached at vmartin@pennsec.org.

GLSEN Reports Lower Physical Violence in PA Schools

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On Friday, GLSEN released the State Reports for their 2011 National School Climate Survey. This national, peer-reviewed study gauges the experiences of LGBT students in 6th – 12th grades with school violence. Since 2007, GLSEN has issued a State Report for Pennsylvania that takes into account only respondents from the Keystone State. According to these reports, rates of physical assault and violence based upon sexual orientation and gender identity have been steadily declining in Pennsylvania schools since 2007. There has been a slight decline in verbal harassment, but it is still extremely prevalent, with 89% of students in 2011 reporting the regular use of homophobic slurs in school.

We know that these reports are limited to the experiences of the respondents attracted. In each National School Climate Survey – thousands of students respond from both public and private schools. The report does not provide controls for geographic diversity – so while one year a state may have more rural respondents and another more urban respondents: the numbers can be skewed. However, these are statistically significant indicators of school climates throughout the state. Anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that school violence is as harmful as ever toward LGBT students in Pennsylvania. These studies however, are the leading baseline we have to establish the current state of LGBT youth in Pennsylvania schools.

From 2007 to 2011, rates of physical assault based upon sexual orientation fell from 27% of respondents to 15% of respondents. Similarly, physical assault based upon gender identity fell from 18% in 2007 to 8% in 2011. GLSEN defines physical assault as being “punched, kicked, or injured with a weapon.” Rates of physical harassment, which is defined as being “pushed or shoved,” have also fallen over the past few years, but remain much higher than rates of assault. Physical harassment based upon sexual orientation fell from 52% in 2007 to 32% in 2011, and physical harassment based upon gender identity fell from 36% in 2007 to 23% in 2011.

For the new 2011 State Report, GLSEN found that 60% of Pennsylvania students who experience harassment in schools did not report it to a school authority, and of those who did, only 36% of students saw an effective intervention being taken by school staff. Only 7% of students in 2011 went to a school with a comprehensive bullying policy which protected sexual orientation and/or gender identity. While almost all students could identify one LGBTQ positive staff member at their school, only 37% could identify six or more.

Pennsylvania students in 2011 were subject to more verbal harassment than students nationwide. Nationally, 85% of students reported the use of the term “gay” in a negative way on a regular basis. In Pennsylvania, this figure rises to 96%. Similarly,  71% of students nationwide heard anti-gay slurs frequently, compared to 89% of students in Pennsylvania. Rates of physical harassment and assault in Pennsylvania are similar to the national average.

The KSV has borrowed the graphs below from PSEC which show how Pennsylvania compares to other similar states: Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, and Texas. Across many of the questions asked, this comparative data suggests that Pennsylvania schools are slightly more dangerous for LGBT students than the national average.

Without proper intervention from school staff, harassment at all levels will likely continue. Decreased rates of physical violence is a great improvement within Pennsylvania schools, but more action needs to be taken to decrease verbal abuse. While it may not leave physical marks, name calling and other harassment can affect students for years to come.

Students Hearing Biased Language Relating to Gender Identity and Expression
Students Hearing Gay in a Negative Way

Students Hear Negative Remarks from School Staff – Sexual Orientation
Students Hear Negative Remarks from School Staff – Gender Identity

Verbal Harassment – Sexual Orientation
Verbal Harassment – Gender Identity

Physical Harassment – Sexual Orientation
Physical Harassment – Gender Identity

Physical Assault – Sexual Orientation
Physical Assault – Gender Identity

Students Not Reporting Incidents of Bullying to School Staff
Students Finding Effective Intervention in Bullying by School Staff

Pennsylvania Young Women Leaders: 13 for 2013 —— (Part Two)

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For Women’s History Month 2013, we are celebrating young women leadership in the Pennsylvania LGBTQ community. The KSV editorial staff have selected 13 young women who have become trailblazers for LGBTQ youth in our state for this three-part series. The youth selected  provide deeply valued strength, resilience, and courage across our Pennsylvania community – who will surely continue to make headlines in the advocacy they lead. Last year, for the first time, we selected 12 women in 2012 who shine on as our key adult women LGBTQ community leaders. Thank you to all of the courageous young women leaders throughout the Keystone State who help lead our communities to be better places for all people. Click here to visit Part 1 of this series.

Christina Zappa (Aliquippa, PA)
Gannon University ’15, LIFE

Christina Zappa is a member of Gannon University LIFE, the school’s LGBTQ community organization. Next year, Christina has expressed interest in taking over the position of public relations director, which she is heavily involved with now. Christina works to make LIFE more visible on campus and throughout the Erie community. Christina is involved with organizing the university’s Day of Silence event and their LIFE week, which educates the campus on LGBTQ issues. Christina is also a member of the mental health organization Active Minds, which she has helped partner with LIFE to bring speakers about mental illness and depression to campus for Day of Silence events. She is a sister of Alpha Sigma Tau, and is working with her sorority to join in an “It Gets Better” video in conjunction with LIFE.

Christina’s advice for young women who want to become involved with the LGBTQ community is to “keep your eyes and ears open,” and to be open to meeting all types of people. “There are several people who are a part of our community who are straight, and you wouldn’t automatically know that they’re part of LIFE.”

 

Nichole Mahoney (Bethel Park, PA)
University of Pittsburgh ’14, PSEC Director of Operations

Nichole Mahoney is a student at University of Pittsburgh, and the Pennsylvania Student Equality Coalition’s Director of Operations. She became involved in PSEC while completing an internship at The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Pittsburgh for her social work program. Her supervisor recommended that she attend the 2012 Creating Change conference along with PSEC, where she became connected with the coalition. As the Director of Operations, Nichole works with larger community organizations in Western Pennsylvania, such as PFLAG, GLSEN, PERSAD, and others. She additionally manages the organization’s staff and internal functions, oversees official publications, and represents PSEC at community and advocacy events. Nichole strives to professionally represent PSEC in a way that galvanizes others in importance of the organization and the common goals of Pennsylvania LGBTQ youth.

She advises girls who want to become involved within the LGBTQ community to get started by volunteering and looking for your closest LGBTQ community center. “The LGBTQ community is everywhere. Even if you volunteer with a shelter, you will end up working with the LGBTQ community.”

 

Carolyn Pandolfo (Dunmore, PA)
University of Scranton ’13, Scranton Inclusion President and Scranton Local #1 President

Carolyn Pandolfo is a senior at University of Scranton and has served as the President of the university’s LGBTQ group, Scranton Inclusion, for two years. Carolyn is also a Board Member of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Rainbow Alliance and a recipient of their 2013 Rainbow Award for an outstanding youth leader. As president of Scranton Inclusion, Carolyn helps plan meetings for the LGBTQ community at Scranton, and organize educational events on LGBTQ issues for the campus. The club provides resources and information for students and faculty. They emphasize the importance of education and ally behavior. Carolyn is also the President of Scranton Local #1, an affiliate organization of the Pennsylvania Student Equality Coalition, where she works in forming internal policy and executing advocacy projects. Through PSEC she connects Scranton Local #1 students with LGBTQ campus organizations at other schools. As a key leader in developing PSEC’s Northeastern PA Region for nearly two years, she helps students become engaging and contributing leaders in the larger NEPA LGBTQ community. As she graduates this spring, she is committed to further supporting a new generation of LGBTQ youth advocates in NEPA.

Carolyn advises young women going into university to not be afraid to join LGBTQ groups, and to become involved within your own comfort level.

 

Picture courtesy of Amelia Lee Zhi Yi

Maria Aghazarian (Havertown, PA)
Bryn Mawr College ’13, LGBTQ Student Coordinator and Former Rainbow Alliance Co-Head

Maria Aghazarian is a student at Bryn Mawr College, and the LGBTQ Student Coordinator of the school’s Multicultural Center. During her time at Bryn Mawr, Maria has served as co-head of the school’s Rainbow Alliance group during her sophomore and junior year, and was one of the founding members of Spectra, a student group which facilitates discussion on gender and sexuality across the campus community.

While co-head of Rainbow Alliance, Maria worked to expand the organization’s activities, which lead to the school becoming a member of PSEC. She planned weekly meetings and helped organize the group’s largest events: an OUT week in the Fall semester, and the Day of Silence during the Spring. As of July 2012, Maria has been the the LGBTQ Student Coordinator of the Pensby Center, Bryn Mawr’s multicultural center. In this position, she met bi-weekly during the summer and fall semester with a working group of students and staff, which led to the creation of the group Spectra. Maria says Spectra’s goal is, “to support Bryn Mawr College’s LGBTQ+ community, and to facilitate discussions and events about gender and sexuality that include everyone.”

Maria advises young women who want to become involved in LGBTQ activism and advocacy to join your schools GSA, or to work to form one if your school doesn’t have one. “Find your allies, whether that’s teachers and staff within the school, parents, or people involved in local GLSEN or PFLAG chapters… Even if it doesn’t feel like you can effect change now, with growth and support (and some confidence, and knowing your legal rights) you can even revisit your middle school or high school later. Later might mean during college, or after.”

Trans Student’s Application Rejected From Smith College

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For many students, senior year of high school is a waiting game to hear back from colleges and universities. High school senior Calliope Wong’s first choice was Smith College, an all women’s school in Massachusetts. But, twice, Smith College Admissions rejected Calliope’s application without being read. The reason? Calliope is a male-to-female transgender woman, who has identified as female through her adolescence.

Yet, to be recognized as a female in her home state of Connecticut, Calliope would have to undergo sexual confirmation surgery: a costly procedure that is not often a realistic option for a teenager. Without this change, Smith College’s current policies make it impossible for Calliope to attend.

The Smith College website offers multiple resources for current students who identify as transgender, and states that, “Smith does not maintain records related to the gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation of its students. Once admitted, any student who completes the college’s graduation requirements will be awarded a degree.”

However, their current policies in place for admission prevent transgender women from attending. Smith further provides a policy regarding women who change their gender identity while enrolled. “As a women’s college, Smith only considers female applicants for undergraduate admission.” Calliope described Smith’s policy as “essentially gate keeping twofold.” Smith does not have any clear criteria for their definition of female, and requires all documents submitted by the student to read “female,” which can cause serious issues with legal documents, such as the FASFA.

After communicating with the Dean of Admissions over the summer between her junior and senior year, Calliope was told that she would be able to attend Smith if she submitted her application with her gender declared as female. Calliope posted on her personal blog that the dean wrote to her, “It seems to me that if your teachers provide the language you suggest, all your pronouns would be female and therefore consistent with what Smith is expecting.”

On March 5, Calliope’s application was returned to her with a letter from the Dean of Admissions, reading,

“We are returning your application for admission…As you may remember from our previous correspondence, Smith is a women’s college, which means that undergraduate applicants to Smith must be female at the time of admission. Our expectation is that it is consistently reflected through the application that the student is a woman. Upon reviewing your file, this is not the case. Your FAFSA indicates your gender as male. Therefore, Smith cannot process your application.”

While Smith was her first choice, there are other schools Calliope is interested in attending.

Back in Pennsylvania, Bryn Mawr College, an all women’s school in the seven sister consortium with Smith, also has language in their policies which could prevent transgender women from attending. A 2011 interview with the college’s admissions office by a Bryn Mawr student revealed that only cisgender women are eligible for admission at the school. Yet, transgender men are eligible if their legal documentation lists them as female. “The policy is basically to have no policy, from what I understand. Everything is dealt with on a ‘case by case’ basis,” said Bryn Mawr student and former BMC Rainbow Alliance President Maria Aghazarian.

Bryn Mawr students are taking steps towards making the school accessible to all women, either cisgender or transgender. A Bryn Mawr student drafted a potential resolution to the university’s policies, which would allow the admission of transgender women without their gender being reflected in all legal documentation.

A Smith College group, Q&A, hosted a letter writing and photo campaign on March 13, where students at the school wrote to administrators regarding the decision to not review Calliope’s application, and took pictures of themselves holding signs in support of admitting transgender women. A Facebook group titled “Trans Women Belong at Smith College,” has garnered the attention of current students, alumni, and students at other women’s colleges. You can check out the photo campaign online here.

The complications of legal gender can put transgender women at a major disadvantage. Women’s college admissions processes which necessitate that all legal documents read “female” are essentially requiring applicants to drop their pants at the door. It’s not realistic to expect young transgender women to have undergone full gender confirmation surgeries at the age of seventeen or eighteen, and they should not be denied equal access to women’s spaces because they have not. Having gender reassignment surgeries are major and costly procedures, and not every transgender individual finds it necessary or desirable to do so. It’s a serious problem that bottom surgery is required to legally change one’s gender to female in many states, and institutions of higher education must work to overcome this inequality, rather than reinforcing it.

There will be other great schools for Calliope, but the unique perspective and talents she could have offered the Smith College community are now lost to them.

Photos courtesy of Smith College Q&A. Image of Smith College Admission letter is from Calliope Wong.

Pennsylvania Young Women Leaders: 13 for 2013 —— (Part One)

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For Women’s History Month 2013, we are celebrating young women leadership in the Pennsylvania LGBTQ community. The KSV editorial staff have selected 13 young women who have become trailblazers for LGBTQ youth in our state for this three-part series. The youth selected  provide deeply valued strength, resilience, and courage across our Pennsylvania community – who will surely continue to make headlines in the advocacy they lead. Last year, for the first time, we selected 12 women in 2012 who shine on as our key adult women LGBTQ community leaders. Thank you to all of the courageous young women leaders throughout the Keystone State who help lead our communities to be better places for all people.

 

 

 

 

Sipho Ndlovu (Annville, PA)
Messiah College ’13, LGBTQ Student Leader

Sipho Ndlovu, a senior at Messiah from Lebanon County, has spent her college career as a student advocate for change. Upon coming to Messiah, Sipho saw the need for a more intentional LGBTQ community to develop within the campus community. Her friend Isaiah Thomas began efforts to bring the community at Messiah together and to work with the school’s leadership to create change in policy regarding LGBTQ issues. After he transferred to a different school following significant anti-gay harassment, Sipho took up the cause of strengthening the LGBTQ community and working with Messiah College’s administration to make the campus more LGBTQ friendly. She helps connect fellow queer students with an unofficial group for LGBTQ members of the Messiah community.

Currently at Messiah College, due to a policy called the Community Covenant, official LGBTQ groups cannot be created. Without a formal group, the community at Messiah is unable to reserve a meeting room, which would provide a safe space for students without having to find members’ private apartments to gather in.

Sipho would like to see Messiah become more LGBTQ friendly. “Faculty should not have to feel that their jobs are in jeopardy because they call themselves allies.” She hopes that the unofficial group of LGBTQ students will have a safe space on campus to meet in the future.

Sipho advises young women who are working towards a greater LGBTQ presence on campus to start where their college is at, and work towards your goals from there. “Start with people you know, and what you know and then do your research.” She stresses the importance of being organized, conducting yourself in a mature fashion, and “having all your ducks in a row,” when approaching administration and others about creating change in your community. Sipho also advises student leaders to make sure your organization is sustainable, with multiple leadership roles, training, and recruiting to ensure that it will last beyond your time at the school. “Don’t let your organization die off.”

Sarah Hendry (Camp Hill, PA)
University of Pennsylvania ’14, Queer Ladies at Penn (QLP) and J-Bagel

Sarah Hendry, of Camp Hill PA, is an undergraduate student at the University of Pennsylvania. In her freshman year, Sarah became involved with the Lambda Alliance, the university’s main LGBTQ group. Sarah saw that most of the LGBTQ groups were dominated by men and felt that there needed to be a larger presence of queer women on campus. As a result, she and two friends (get names) got together and started an unofficial group for queer women, called Queer Ladies at Penn. Through a private Facebook page to prevent outings, they created a network to allow queer women to meet up, make friends, and reach out to others on campus. In the past year, Queer Ladies at Penn has taken off as a formal group, and received funding from the university. Recently, the group has held programming on queer women and body perception.

Sarah is also a member and former Treasurer of J-Bagel, the Jewish LGBTQ community organization at the University of Pennsylvania. J-Bagel works to bring speakers to campus and educate the campus on Jewish LGBTQ issues, as well as host regular social gatherings and shabbat dinners with queer Jewish students and allies.

Sarah advises young women in the LGBTQ community to seek out like minded individuals to help work towards your goals, but to also pay attention to diversity and other identities within your community. “There are always going to be people interested in the same things as you, and who have the same values as you. Try to find people who might be different from you to get different perspectives, and a broader view of the community.”

Faith Elmes (Landisburg, PA)
Indiana University of Pennsylvania ’15, Pride Alliance Programing Chair and PSEC Assistant Convener

Faith Elmes, of Landisburg, PA, is a sophomore at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and the Assistant Convener of the Pennsylvania Student Equality Coalition. During her freshman year at IUP, Faith became involved in the IUP Pride organization and was elected to the executive board of the group in the second semester of her freshman year. Pride’s former representative to PSEC no longer served on the executive board, and Faith felt it was important for someone to step up to the role.

Due to her close proximity to Harrisburg, Faith was able to attend many political events with PSEC over her summer break. She was elected Assistant Convener of the organization during the fall semester of 2012. As the Assistant Convener, Faith contacts member organizations’ of PSEC and keeps them informed and involved with PSEC activities. She also works with school representatives to train them in advocacy and activism.

Faith advises young women involved with LGBTQ advocacy and activism to not be intimidated by the importance of the work they are doing. “It can be intimidating to be around a bunch of guys in suits, but you’re supposed to be there. Have confidence that what you have to say is important.”

 


Shannon Fields (Shippensburg, PA)
Shippensburg Area Senior High School ’14, GSA President

Shannon Fields is a junior at Shippensburg Area Senior High School in Franklin County, where she serves as the President of the GSA. South Central Pennsylvania has been on the front lines of social change in the past few months, with the recent approval of neighboring Big Spring High School’s GSA group and the fight to form a GSA in Chambersburg High School after the school board voted against forming one.

Shannon was elected President during the end of her Sophomore year, following the resignation of the group’s serving President. She became involved with the GSA as a Freshman and took on the role of Secretary in her Sophomore year. In the Summer of 2012, a friend of her’s who attended Big Spring High School reached out to Shannon and asked her to attend the school board meeting where the GSA would be voted upon. Shannon attended without intending to speak, but felt compelled to do so when she heard other speakers making negative and untruthful comments about the Day of Silence.

Shannon’s advice for other young women looking to be involved in LGBTQ advocacy and activism is to understand that at times, it will be hard, and you will deal with ignorance and prejudice, but to keep pushing forward. “Sometimes it feels like taking two steps forward and one step back, but as long as we keep making those two steps forward, we’re going to have equality,” says Shannon. She encourages students in schools without GSA’s or other LGBTQ groups to take the steps to establish one, and to involve yourself in community events as much as you can.

G Philly Drops LBT Coverage From Printed Publication

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G Philly announced Wednesday, March 13, that they will be changing the focus of their quarterly printed publication to exclusively target gay men. The subsidiary publication of Philadelphia Magazine states that the online blog component of G Philly will continue to post content inclusive to lesbian, bisexual, and transgender readers.

Launched in 1908, the Philadelphia Magazine empire has no secret of the fact that they primarily target an upper-class, Main Line demographic.

An editorial published Thursday by G Philly editor, Michael Callahan, justified the decision, saying, “The print component is now exclusively focused on lifestyle content. And we felt that to serve this venue best, it made sense to sharpen its editorial focus a bit, instead of trying to be all things to all people and giving short shrift to everyone in the process.”

G Philly was launched two years ago, in March of 2011. In a January 2013 editorial published on Philly.com, former editor of G Philly, Natalie Hope McDonald, described the publication as a “GQ-style magazine exclusively for the LGBT community. It makes way for a new era of LGBT publishing – one that acknowledges that gay people may like to read as much about investigative journalism as maybe fashion and entertainment.”

The reboot of G Philly is to feature regular segments on eligible gay single men, sex and love advice, a fashion accessory column, a dining column, gay friendly vacation spots, and an interior decorating section which will provide, “a mouth-watering peek into the domiciles of gays with very good taste.”

Reader comments left on the editorial announcing the publication’s relaunch were negative. A commenter named Jen D wrote,

“This new direction you’re headed in is unfortunately narrowly focused and (quite frankly) offensive. There isn’t another queer magazine for people specifically in Philadelphia and now you’re going to just focus on the gay men…”

Another comment left by Nikki Lopez, a young leader in the Philadelphia LGBTQ community, wrote,

“This is disappointing, upsetting and completely utterly disrespectful to the beautiful mosaic that is the lgbtq community in Philadelphia. It’s a blatant move of exclusivity showcasing that gay, white men are deemed ‘worthy’ to print…”

Philadelphia Magazine was recently criticized in an editorial of the Philadelphia Gay News, after the magazine ran a profile feature entitled “Your Guide to Philadelphia’s A-Gays.” All twenty eight individuals featured were men, and twenty-seven of them were white. G Philly Editor, Michael Callahan, acknowledged the need for more racial diversity within the relaunched G Philly publication, stating,

“One criticism I fully accept is that ours is a diverse community, and there needs to be solid representation of men of color within the G Philly magazine. In our defense, we did book an African-American model for our fashion shoot, but he cancelled when he found out the publication was gay, saying he didn’t feel comfortable with the content, and we had to scramble a bit to find a replacement. That said, I pledge to do better going forward in representing all of the colors of our rainbow in future issues.”

At the KSV, we are left speechless that in a city where over 60% of the population are people of color, and where the Human Rights Campaign gives their highest rating for LGBT-friendliness, G Philly could not identify a non-caucasian man willing to model.

Additionally, Philadelphia Magazine’s cover story this March is on race relations entitled, “Being White in Philly,” which was heavily criticized by both outside news sources and other writers of the publication as being irresponsible. With an all-white editorial board, Philadelphia Magazine explored racial tensions only between white and black Philadelphians – solely through the lens of white people. ABC 6’s Tamala Edwards took on Philadelphia Magazine’s editor Tom McGrath on March 10th’s “Inside Story.” She challenged Philadelphia Magazine’s approach to covering race relations in a city predominantly people of color.

Tamala Edwards: You’re talking about race. Shouldn’t you be talking about class? That it’s not about black people in Philly, but poor people who happen to be black?…[Well, for] the two-thirds of African-Americans who are above the poverty line, why not talk to them? But he talks to no blacks in this piece.

Those same lines could be said in response to G Philly’s severance of the LBT people from their publication.

Will we see a coordinated response from the LGBTQ community of Philadelphia, or mainstream journalism community – or will this decision go unchallenged? Maybe Tamala Edwards could take some time to also educate G Philly on diversity. Only time will tell.

College Meme Pages Create Controversy

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Across the country, Facebook pages are sprouting up for college memes and confessionals. While the majority of the posts tend to consist of commentary on the state of the dining hall, athletic season, and party scene, often times when students don’t have to put their name behind what they post, arguing over controversial opinions take over the pages.

During Freedom Week at Lebanon Valley College, sponsored by the school’s LGBTQ group, a graphic was posted to the university’s meme page stating ,“I support gay rights and all, but I hate when opinions are rammed down my throat,” to which the second panel says, “LVC has rainbow flags flying all week.” The post quickly attracted controversy and started a discussion about Freedom Week and free speech in the comments, which almost immediately degenerated into students yelling, “butthurt” at each other, and asking why there is no “White History Month.”

You can check out the full comments at the live image here.

A follow up meme was made using the image of “Scumbag Steve,” stating “Participates in Freedom Week; Tells you your opinion is wrong and you shouldn’t be allowed to express your free speech.” The moderator for LVC Memes refused to take down the image. However, it’s worth noting that he changed the cover photo for LVC Memes so it is now a rainbow flag.

Washington, PA: A Test of Two Words?

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Washington, PA councilman, Matt Staniszeweski, authored a test emergency alert email from the city’s department of transportation, reading, “Alert: This is a test. Bryan is gay.” The message was sent to all Washington residents subscribing to emergency alerts. Complaints about the immaturity and content of the message soon followed. Mayor Brenda Davis described the email as “completely inappropriate and unprofessional coming from an elected official.” Davis said that she was unsure why Staniszeweski had access to the password of the transportation department’s email.

After facing criticism from the mayor and community, Staniszeweski claimed in a statement that his use of the word gay was intended to mean “happy,” and responded to the mayor’s comments saying, “It’s offensive and unprofessional for the mayor to automatically assume one definition of the word when there are multiple definitions.”

Washington, PA native and GLSEN Student Advocate of 2011, Emmett Patterson commented on the content of the email.

The Matt Staniszeweski case is problematic in the following ways. Firstly, his use of the word “gay” as a means of humor or public humiliation. Let’s face it, the use of gay to equate to stupid is so, as Jimmy Kimmel puts it, “fourth grade.” In addition, as a person outside of the LGBTQ community, the councilman isn’t at liberty to try to reclaim any kind of word that is involved in a community that he isn’t a part of. Some communities have been reclaiming words that may have been detrimental to them. However, words are personal to the communities who they have affected.

Secondly, the fact that this public figure couldn’t even own up to his mistake just reflects poorly on his abilities to be a responsible leader. By saying that he meant “gay” to mean happy shows that he denies the entire history and social implications of the utilization of that word. In the LGBTQ movement, language choice is absolutely critical. True, gay used to mean happy. But it gradually transformed to take on a new meaning. The meanings of words are valid in their social and historical context: they have histories, some volatile and harmful.

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel aired a segment on the email, saying of Staniszeweski, “This guy sounds like a real dumbbell. And by that, I mean he sounds like someone you could use for strength training… not offensive.”

As of today, Staniszeweski has not apologized for his actions. What do you think should be done?

Former Pennsylvania Governor Reverses Stance on Marriage Equality

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Republican Tom Ridge, governor of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2001, has reversed his anti-marriage equality stance since his time as governor. Ridge was one of the 131 Republicans who signed a brief to be submitted to the Supreme Court in favor of overruling California’s Prop 8 law, which banned same sex marriage in the state. The brief states that those who have signed, “have concluded that marriage is strengthened, not undermined, and its benefits and importance to society as well as the support and stability it gives to children and families promoted, not undercut, by providing access to civil marriage for same-sex couples.” Ridge supported Republican Jon Huntsman in the 2012 Republican primaries. Huntsman has become an outspoken supporter of marriage equality as a conservative cause.

As governor of Pennsylvania, Ridge signed a 1996 state ban on same sex marriage, which is still law today. Currently, Pennsylvania State Senator, Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery County) is drafting a bill for marriage equality in Pennsylvania, as he has done in previous years. A Quinnipiac Poll conducted in January found that a majority of Pennsylvania residents support same sex marriage, with 47% in support, and 43% opposed.

Jon Huntsman Announces Support for Marriage Equality

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Jon Huntsman, 2012 Republican Presidential Candidate, former governor of Utah, and alumni of the University of Pennsylvania recently wrote a column for a prominent Republican publication, stating that marriage equality should be a Republican cause. Huntsman supported civil unions during his presidential campaign and term as governor. He has since altered his position to supporting full marriage equality .

Huntsman wrote in his editorial, “Today we have an opportunity to do more: conservatives should start to lead again and push their states to join the nine others that allow all their citizens to marry. I’ve been married for 29 years. My marriage has been the greatest joy of my life. There is nothing conservative about denying other Americans the ability to forge that same relationship with the person they love.”

Seventy-five prominent members of the Republican Party have signed a brief to be submitted to the Supreme Court in favor of same-sex marriage. The brief is to be included in the Proposition 8 trial, in support of overturning the California law which bans same-sex marriage. Politicians who have signed the position statement include several members of the Bush administration and multiple former governors, including Huntsman.

While Huntsman and several other members of the Republican Party are committed to marriage equality, the official stance of the Republican party continues to define marriage as “between a man and a woman.”

National Anti-Bullying Campaign Launched in Philadelphia

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On Wednesday, February 20, Cartoon Network launched a national campaign to stop bullying at Harding Middle School in Philadelphia. The event was attended by US Senator Bob Casey, of Pennsylvania, who announced his re-introduction of the Safe Schools Improvement Act, a bill requiring all federally funded schools to state that bullying is unacceptable. This proposed legislation would also track incidents of bullying, and promote anti-bullying programs. Seventh grader Raina Mills, the student council president of Harding Middle School, said that she wants Harding to be bullying free, and that, “the most important thing that all of us can do is to be a friend to someone being bullied.”

The “Stop Bullying: Speak Up” program by Cartoon Network encourages students to take a stand against bullying. The campaign’s three part pledge asks students to speak up by telling an adult about the bullying they witness, being a friend to those who are bullied, and becoming involved with bullying prevention programs. At the campaign’s website, students can find videos from the television network’s actors, comics, posters, and tips on stopping bullying at their schools. The site also features resources for educators, such as a timeline for the implementation of anti-bullying programs, suggested class reading on bullying, and links to other organizations. The program is partnered with organizations such as The Boys and Girls Club of America and the GLSEN: the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network.

While Harding Middle School was the first school to officially launch their own “Stop Bullying: Speak Up,” campaign, the program began in 2011, and has since garnered over a million Facebook likes, and the endorsement of public figures from Anderson Cooper to President Obama.