Right-wing religious and political
leaders who wave the banner of "traditional
family values" are a major impediment to
overcoming the teen suicide problem, ac-
cording to a parent-church-educator coali-
tion that recently announced a prevention
program focused on gay and lesbian youth.

The project, "Respect All Youth," is
being undertaken by the Federation of P-
FLAG, Parents and Friends of Lesbians
and Gays, with financial assistance from
the United Thank Offering Fund of the
Episcopal Church.

The principal function of the project
will be to develop and furnish training
materials to those who work with youth,
according to Paulette Goodman, President
of Parents FLAG. The organization's anti-
discrimination efforts were endorsed by
First Lady Barbara Bush earlier in the year.

Govennental studies show that lesbian
and gay teenagers are up to three times as
likely to attempt suicide as other young
people because of the stigma society places
on them. Nevertheless, Congressman Wil-
liam Dannemeyer (R-CA) recently pre-
vailed upon Louis Sullivan, Secretary of
the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, to disavow the studies in the inter-
est of "traditional family values."

"We in Parents FLAG love and respect
our gay and nongay children equally,"
Goodman said. "We value the lives of all
our children. It is tragic that many of us only
learn of our child's homosexuality after a
suicide attempt.

”One of the lessons learned in World
War II is that it is evil to discriminate
against any human being and to think that
lives are expendable. America, land of the
free, is no place for the bigotry and intoler-
ance that perpetuate hatred and violence.

"Parents FLAG values the lives of all

 

P-FLAG/Church Partnership Addresses Suicide Problem

children. We strive to keep families in
loving relationships. The conservative
right wing does not have a monopoly on
traditional family values."

Goodman said the project will alert
youth counselors, school administrators,
and church educators of what needs to be
done to "counteract the devastating effect
of society's anti-gay attitudes toward our
children."

Speaking strongly in support of the
Parents FLAG announcement were the
Right Reverend Oliver Bailey Garver, Jr.,
Suffragen Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese
of Los Angeles; and Jackie Goldberg,
President of the Los Angeles City School
Board. Goldberg's district undertook the
first program in the nation to initiate coun-
seling for gay and lesbian high school stu-
dents.

Also endorsing the program were Vir-
ginia Uribe, Director of Project 10; and

December 1990

 
   

Mary Griffith, a mother whose son died
because of her earlier misguided religious
beliefs and lack of information. Griffith, a
Northern Californian mother of four, said
that her gay son, at her urging, resorted to
prayer and "reparative" therapy with reli-
gious counselors in the vain attempt to
become heterosexual. At the age of 20,
convinced that he was evil in the eyes of
God, he threw himself off an overpass and
into the path of an 18-wheel semi-trailer-

It would not have happened, she is now
convinced, if there had been programs at
school and elsewhere that "could have off-
set what he was told by me at home and by
others in our church."

Griffith is now President of the Mount
Diablo, California, chapter of Parents
FLAG. Her object, she said, is to help other
parents avoid the tragedy that befell her
family. The "Respect All Youth" program
is a positive step toward that goal.

OUTRIGHT Names New Co-Coordinator

OUTRIGHT VERMONT, an organi-
zation dedicated to the needs and issues
facing gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth in
the state, recently announced the hiring of
Lynn Goyette as Administrative Coordina-
tor.

Lynn will serve as Co-Coordinator
with Josie Juhasz. Together, the coordina-
tors will share the responsibilities of organ-
izational management and direct services.

Lynn comes to OUTRIGHT with an
extensive background in business, educa-
tion, administration, and counseling. She is
also committed to fostering social change
which will enable young people to experi-
ence themselves without oppression.

This new position has been made pos-
sible through funding support from the

ATTORNEY AT LAW

lloff, Agel, Curtis, Padit & Cassidy, RC.
100 MAIN STREET

PO. BOX 247

BURLINGTON. VT 05402-0247

David W. Curtis

Office of Drug and Alcohol Prevention.
The financial assistance will allow the
organization to initiate long overdue serv-
ices in other areas of the state.

OUTRIGHT has also recently re-
ceived a donation of over $1 100 worth of
books to their library. They are asking for
volunteers to build or donate bookshelves
and to catalogue the new titles.

A committee has also been formed to
plan monthly chem-free events for OUT-
RIGHT members and the community at
large. Anyone interested in helping should
contact OU'I'RIGHT's office.

Volunteers are still needed to staff the
OUTRIGHT Hotline, which should be in
operation early next year. Training will
begin sometime in January.

Rm. 3E

802-864-4531

Lynn Goyette, M.S.Ed., M.A.C.P.

is pleased to announce the opening
of her Psychotherapy Practice
Individuals, Couples, Groups

Richardson Place

860-6360
2 Church Street
Burlington, Vt.