OREGON S LE S BIAN/GAY/B l/TRAN S/QUE E R NEWSMAGAZINE
N O VEM BER 5 2010
1
are steps required by the OSSA.
“I fear that the Safe Schools Act is not be­
ing implemented by schools and districts be­
cause of a lack of awareness of the law, not be­
cause bullying is being ignored,” reports
Wallace. “We can all help increase awareness
and help make our schools safer for students
by asking our neighborhood school or school
board member what is being done about the
new legislation. This might just be the push
that is needed.”
Aside from a school district risking being
designated as “non-standard” if reported to
the Superintendent of Public Instruction for
non-compliance, schools nationwide were put
on notice by the U.S. Department of Educa­
tion in a “Dear Colleague” letter October 26
to pay closer attention to their policies. The
letter outlined that while current laws en­
forced by the DOE do not protect harassment
based on religion or sexual orientation, they
do include protection against harassment of
members of religious groups based on shared
ethnic characteristics, as well as gender and
sexual harassment of LGBTQ_ individuals.
This means, essentially, that some student
misconduct that falls under a school’s anti­
bullying policy may also trigger responsibili­
ties under one or more of the federal anti-dis­
crimination laws enforced by the D O E’s Of­
fice of Civil Rights.
The OSSCC says it is working hard to col­
lect data about implementation of the OSSA
and is eager to help school boards, districts
and schools meet the requirements of the law.
Meanwhile, other gaps in youth resources
exist in counties outside of Multnomah. Clark
County appears to have no LGBTQ_ youth
outreach program in place (emails to Clark
County Commissioner Steve Stuart to identi­
fy future plans in that arena went unreturned),
and Washington County is home only to the
Pride Project, a program under SMYRC.
Clackamas County’s Mental Health Organi­
zation recently approved funding to The Liv­
ing Room program, which provides safe spaces
and activities for LGBTQ_youth, but there’s
MARTY DAVIS
FEATURE
"It’s e n tire ly too easy for opponents or foot-
d rag g ers to m arginalize or pigeonhole an
in d iv id u al organization for its alleg ed so c ia l
or p o litic a l agenda. I t ’s much h a rd e r to d is ­
m iss a diverse co llectio n of in d iv id u als and
agencies who sta n d to g eth er in support of
common causes such as human rig h ts , c h ild ­
hood safety, dignity, h e a lth c a re and more."
-JENN BURLETON. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR. TRANSACTIVE
little else in the way of resources for one of the
biggest counties in the state.
“That’s really in its infancy,” says Cindy
Becker, director of the Clackamas County’s
Health, Housing and Human Services depart­
ment. “Probably in a year from now you’ll see
more. We’ve just started to pay attention to
really looking at how to expand our services
and be very inclusive.”
That’s good to hear, but it prompts another
question: Have Portland metro community
leaders been late in getting the information,
resources, counseling and outreach out to the
LGBTQ_youth community?
That depends on whom you ask.
“The emotional, social and medical needs of
transgender children and youth, ages 4-18, are
almost completely overlooked within both the
LGBTQ^and heteronormative communities,”
explains Burleton. She also points out that el­
ementary schools will not allow organizations
that offer sexual orientation-focused outreach
to come in to give gender identity education.
“The failure of the LGBTQ_community it­
self to more fully understand the need for in­
dependent gender identity, gender expression
and gender perception education at the ele­
mentary school level exacerbates these gaps,”
says Burleton.
Brown acknowledges the pace of change
has been slow, but that change is happening in
Oregon’s schools. Just last year, GLSEN Ore­
gon’s Ambassador Program attempted to con­
nect with rural areas of the state by way of ed­
ucational trips, GSA workshops with smaller
schools in areas like Ashland, Medford and
Bend, and by establishing foundations for
functional, supportive GSAs across the state.
“Fifteen years ago there were almost no
GSAs in Oregon,” he notes. “Today, there are
as many as 90 around the state.”
Burleton—whose TransActive organization
is the only group in the United States to spe­
cifically serve transgender youth with a full
range of education, support and research—ad­
vocates for regional services organizations to
work hand in hand to combat discrimination
and bullying toward transgender or gender
non-conforming youth.
“[Working together] may allow organiza­
tions serving marginalized populations to
have a coalition-level impact rather than a
‘boutique need’-level impact,” she observes.
“It’s entirely too easy for opponents or foot-
draggers to marginalize or pigeonhole an in­
dividual organization for its alleged social or
political agenda. It’s much harder to dismiss a
diverse collection of individuals and agencies
who stand together in support of common
causes such as human rights, childhood safety,
dignity, healthcare and more.”
Ellis promotes the idea that more educa­
tional workshops like SMYRC’s Bridge 13 be
made available—and in some circumstances,
required—to every adult with any access to or
influence on young people.
“This includes teachers, parents, police offi­
cers, policy makers, social workers, health care
providers, counselors and members of the
faith community. Adults need to be empow­
ered to care for LGBTQ_youth,” says Ellis.
“All youth are looking to us to learn how to
treat each other, and to understand how to be
in the world.”
Increasingly, LGBTQjwelcoming faith
congregations, such as the Metropolitan
Community Church of Portland, have as­
sumed a dual responsibility—that of proving
they don’t teach or preach the hurtful message
that being queer is broken or sinful; and also
to prove the congregation is authentically
queer-friendly and an LGBTQjwelcoming
space, not only in name, but in practice.
“It’s essential for progressive religious lead­
ers and LGBTQ_clergy to speak out publicly
because such anti-queer bullying is too often
done in the name of religion,” explains MCC
Portland Senior Pastor Reverend Nathan
Meckley. “Too many people still only hear
churches that say ‘homos go to hell’ and never
hear another church or another pastor say
otherwise. That misguided message wins and
people die—spiritually and literally. Quite
frankly, it’s that important.”
And it’s being heard. The pooling of re­
sources and the teaming of numbers, the con­
cerns and the praises, the outcry being met
with a unified front against bullying best ex­
emplify the climate of response and support in
the region. As the popular video campaign re­
minds us, it does get better. Portland’s youth
resource leadership community is making sure
of it, one step at a time.
Visit blogout.justout.com for more on LGBTQ
youth resources in the Portland metro area and
beyond. Just Out will explore resources statewide
in an upcoming issue.
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