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Stonewall horoscope '- ' . !,~.‘«|él‘tr.-3 ='m2.1';'¢;+.m=. % VG \I N I IIIIIIIIIIIII wwmvillagetrade.com/accolade : IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-IIIIIII-IIIflflflfl 9 qoieesaa 19U.l9].U| 0 sdmpeg 3d . your printing 8’, mailing II information 8 pricing. ‘L’ 1'“ ) .6; OP-ED: §efs_‘-3_c_h92|§_¢_°3!it_i2-19932.-3g|§.92v_<:n3rPseI1 Dear Editor: In response to youreditorial "T 00 LittleToo Late” (OITM, April 1998), in which you criticized Gov- ernor Dean for lack of action on homophobia in the schools, we offer the following comments. We represent the Vermont Safe Schools Coalition. Formed in 1995, the coalition’s first effort was the ”Building~Bridges to Equity Conference” on GLBTQ youth is- sues in 1 996.‘ The Coalition is com— :- prised of representatives fromlthe VT Department of Health, VT De- partment of Education, ‘Outright Vermont, and concerned educa- tors and students. Currently, the Coalition is engaged in work to 'educate and - sensitize elected officials, school administrators, and, others about the levels of homophobic harass- ment still present in’ Vermont schools. Despite state legislation passed in 1994 prohibiting dis- crimination and harassment in schools on the basis of sexual ori- entation (S313), many schools have not yet developed, ad- equately communicated, or en- forced the policies which were mandated to be in place by Au- gust, 1995. The goal of the Coalition is to make schools safe for all stu- dents. One way to do this is to create a program in Vermont simi- lar to the Safe Schools Program in Massachusetts. The Massachu- setts program mandated gay / straight alliances in schools; pro- vided for education of faculty, staff, and students; and created a staff position at the Department of Education to provide technical as- sistance, communication and other resources. We have shared information about this model with both Governor Dean and Vermont State Commissioner of Education Marc Hull, and continue to be in contact with them about it. The model is helpful to us but cannot be implemented in the same way as in Massachusetts because . Verrnont’s schools are controlled locally and not by the Governor. On November 19, 1997, 17 GLBTQ youth from around the state sat down with Governor Dean for pizza and a conversation about their lives. This meeting received its impetus from inter- Priiitiiig and Mailing %VPellI7 VALLEY" PRINT 8IWAIL lVlL.~inhci'oftl1c R&lllll)O\.'v Business Association Call Sarah Harrington, resource, for more - '~1'5J :‘ :,- It ‘ant, i:.';.,\ <~g'~.”.\"' views and conversations Paul Olsen had conducted for OITM with the governor over'the past several years. In those conversa- tions, Governor Dean expressed ‘interest in meeting with a group of GLBTQ youth. The November 19th meeting, the first in a plan to make the voices of GLBTQ youth heard, resulted from those conver- sations, and the efforts of the Safe Schools Coalition, the Queer" Youth Providers Network (a state- wide network of community based GL‘BTQ,,youth ‘serving groups), Outright Vermont, and Keith Goslantof VCLGR. GovérnorDean gave gene_r- L ously of his time and attention,-in fact, he stayed a half an hour longer than originally planned. During the meeting he committed to writing a letter about the need to enforce the anti-harassment/ anti—discrimination policy. He also expressed his support for the formation of Gay /Straight Alli- ances in high‘ schools across the state, and for the need to provide training on homophobia, heterosexism, and the needs of GLBTQ youth for school faculty, staff, and administrators. On March 11, 1998, a simi- lar meeting was held with Com- missioner Marc Hull. Those who attended the meeting came away ' feeling that Hull listened with both his heart and his mind. He shared with us that in five years of School Superintendents meet- ings, the issues of GLBTQ youth, or the fact of their existence in schools, never came up. He prom- ised that this would not be the case in the future, and committed to raising awareness among school administrators. In April, he proved his commitment by allo- cating 40% of one Department of Education position to the needs of GLBTQ youth and the faculty / staff who work with them. The next step, meeting with members of the House and Sen- ate Iudiciary, Education, and Health and Welfare Committees, took place at Visibility Day on April 15th. Again, young GLBTQ people and those who work with them had an opportunity to tell their stories directly. In addition, the group was introduced to the with PIZIVE! and piintoi‘ of the Pruilo Guido. House by Representative Bill Lippert, and met with Governor Dean in his ceremonial office. At this meeting, the Governor made his strongest statements of sup- port to date, including his willing- ness to "play cop” with schools not in compliance with anti ha- rassment legislation, and to speak about these issues at schools him- self. He has been as good as his word — yesterday he spoke at U32 " High School in Montpelier, and he has confirmedvan engagement at Cabot School on May 20. Also during the April 15th meeting, Dean himself brought up com- plaints that his letter to school principals was not strong enough. He offered to make stronger and more public statements, including sending another letter if necessary. In all these meetings we had two goals. One was to educate and sensitize people to the issues and the need. The other was to begin a dialogue about how we can work together to make Vermont's schools safe. We did not present the Governor, the Commissioner, or the legislature with a laundry list of things to do ”for” us. In- stead we asked them to work ”with” us. Both Governor Dean and Commissioner I-lull have joined in the work enthusiastically, each has taken initiative to address these issues in ways appropriate to their roles, and our dialogue continues. Sincerely, Palmer Legare, founder of Cabot School Gay/ Straight Alli- ance on behalf of Safe Schools Coalition members: Tom Aloisi, Vermont De- partment of Health, AIDS Pro- gram Tom Dalton, Vermont De- partment of Health, AIDS Pro- gram Shaun Donahue, Vermont Department of Education, HIV/ AlDS—Health Education Consult- ant; Safe Schools Coordinator Tami Eldridge, Outright Vermont, Executive Director Rob Levy, Vermont Depart- ment of Education, Health Educa- tion Resource Centers Tage Lilja, Outright Ver- mont, Direct Service Coordinator P.O. Box 147 6 Commerce Street Hinesburg, VT 05461 T. (802) 482-2995 F. (802) 482-2999 E-mail: vpmvt@aol.com <_.«- t-.-z_-1-_v ,r~--r »«