Parents,
Families
and
Friends
of
Lesbians
and
Gays
Bully memories
By Ed Kancler, Akron chapter president
hanks to Marie and Bill Libby, our chapter had the privilege of watching the movie, Bullied at our last meeting. To me, it evoked memories of what was then called junior high and, later, high school. In junior high, the bullies were the bigger kids, and they hung around with each other. In size there is strength, and so it is with numbers. They picked on the weak and most were afraid to step in and stop them. In those days, we didnt have guidance counselors in junior high, and no one complained to the teachers. Funny thing, those bullies got smaller as we went to high school and we started growing. But bullying existed in high school. There we had a guidance counselor, but he stayed in his office, waiting
The movie fascinates. It shows how a gay kid can be driven to wits end, and the parents are helpless because not a single school administrator will act. So, all the parents can do is give unconditional love to their son. But they had the will to go to court and sue those who ignored Jamie Nabozny and the suffering he incurred from those bullies. for retirement, and you say him twice in your senior year, by appointment only. Not a whole lot was done to stop the bullying, and it went on before, during and after school. I cannot remember if gays were singled out, but I do remember that it was the smaller, physically weaker who were picked on by the bullies. Being a retired lawyer, I was curious about the legal action that resulted in a verdict in favor of Jamie Nabozny, when it happened, and how long it took. The case was filed in 1993 and went to trial in 1996, after the court of appeals in Wisconsin reversed the trial courts dismissal of the case and ordered it to go to trial. The court of appeals in its ruling said: We are unable to garner any rational basis for permitting one student to assault another based on the victims sexual orientation...It does seem dubious to suggest that someone would choose to be homosexual absent some genetic predisposition, given the considerable discrimina(Continued on page 2)
CHAPTER MTGS.
Akron PFLAG
Nov. 17, Dec. 15 - 7 pm
N. Springfield Presbyt. 671 N. Canton Rd.
Cleveland PFLAG
Nov. 8, Dec. 13 7:30 pm
Trinity Episcopal 2230 Euclid Ave,, 44115
Alliance PFLAG
Info: a_cromwel@yahoo.com
Wooster PFLAG
Nov. 17, Dec. 15 - 7 pm
Universalist Fellowship 3186 Burbank Rd.
Please call ahead to confirm.
Youngstown PFLAG
Nov. 20, Dec. 18 - 3 pm
Stonewall Comm. Ctr. 1523 Poland Ave.
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PFLAG
Our Mission
PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons, their families and friends through SUPPORT to cope with an adverse society; EDUCATION to enlighten an ill-informed public; and ADVOCACY to end discrimination and to secure equal civil rights. PFLAG provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity and acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity.
AKRON CHAPTER
PO Box 5471 Akron, OH 44334
W W W . P F LA G A K RO N . O RG
HELPLINE: 330-342-5825
Executive Board
President-Ed Kancler; VP-Bill Libby; Secretary-Joe Gardner; Treasurer-Sue Magilavy; At Large-Chris Goldthorpe, David Horowitz, Marie Libby, Audrey Kancler, Joy Watts, Jim Lake, Chuck Magilavy, Bob Menapace
Committee Chairs
Membership-Trish Casserly; Programopen; Publicity-Marie Libby; LibraryDavid Greene; Hospitality-Rada Jenkins; Newsletter-Audrey Kancler
CLEVELAND CHAPTER
615 Prospect St. Berea, OH 44017
W W W . P F LA G C LE V E LA N D . O RG
Travel-size toiletries:
Toilet paper; toothpaste; toothbrushes; mouthwash; dental floss; shampoo; wash cloths/bath towels; deodorant (male and female); body soap/ body wash; feminine hygiene products; male hygienic products. Thank you, in advance, for your donation. For more info, contact Shavar Johnson at varshaj03@yahoo.com.
mail@pflagcleveland.org
INFOLINE: 216-556-1701
Executive Board
President-Sharon Groh-Wargo; VP-Jes Sellers; Secretary-Marianne Buccini; Treasurer-Art Thomson; At Large-Alan Cohen, Diana DeForest, Craig Hoffman; Legislative Coordinator-Tom Roese; Newsletter-Pat Brandt; Snacks-Gail Smith; Webmaster-Quentin Jamieson
November 2011
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November 2011
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Nan A. Baker, Representative (R) Phone: (614) 466-0961 district16@ohr.state.oh.us Ted Celeste, Representative (D) Phone: (614) 644-6005 district24@ohr.state.oh.us Andrew Brenner, Representative (R) Phone: (614) 644-6711 district02@ohr.state.oh.us Jim Butler, Representative (R) Phone: (614) 644-6008 district37@ohr.state.oh.us Timothy Derickson, Representative (R) Phone: (614) 644-5094 district53@ohr.state.oh.us Ronald V. Gerberry, Representative (D) Phone: (614) 466-6107 district59@ohr.state.oh.us Bill Hayes, Representative (R) Phone: (614) 466-2500 district91@ohr.state.oh.us Bill Patmon, Representative (D) Phone: (614) 466-7954 district10@ohr.state.oh.us Matt Huffman, Majority Floor Leader (R) Phone: (614) 466-9624 district04@ohr.state.oh.us Casey Kozlowski, Representative (R) Phone: (614) 466-1405 district99@ohr.state.oh.us Ron Maag, Representative (R) Phone: (614) 644-6023 district35@ohr.state.oh.us Kristina Roegner, Representative (R) Phone: (614) 466-1177 district42@ohr.state.oh.us
The victim has suffered a possible concussion and dental damage. The attacker was suspended from school for just three days.
Union-Scioto has no policy in place that specifically protects students from being bullied or attacked based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The UnionScioto Local School District does have a policy that prohibits harassment based on sex, race, color, national origin, religion, disability, among others, but it does not specifically protect against harassment
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Adoption Institute surveying 158 gay and lesbian parents and their experience with the adoption process found the highest number of homosexuals adopted children from Massachusetts, California, New York and Texas, noted the AP report.
All Children Matter: Legal and social inequalities hurt LGBT kids
Todays American families are increasingly diverse. Yet discriminatory laws deny children the protection of a legal connection to a parent, prevent access to health insurance and family tax credits, and even leave children destitute if a parent dies or becomes disabled. Ohio is one of 18 states that treats LGBT parents/partners as legal strangers. In economic terms, this means LGBT couples cannot file joint tax returns and are denied tax credits available to other family households, including the child tax credit, the dependency exemption, earned income tax credit, education deduction credit, and gift/estate tax exemptions. Children with LGBT parents are denied the Social Security benefits of the non-recognized parent. State laws can also deny children inheritances and the right to participate in a wrongful death suit if the deceased parent is not legally recognized. LGBT parents often face higher health insurance costs, and children often cannot be listed as dependents on a non-recognized parents policy. Non-recognized parents cannot make medical decisions for their children, and sometimes cannot even visit the child in the hospital. In cases of separation or divorce, the non-recognized parent has virtually no legal standing for custody or visitation, even if that parent was the primary caregiver. These rights related to the welfare of children are coming to the forefront of gay equality strategies. The Census Bureau does not attempt to count the number of children being raised in LGBT households, but some reports put that figure between 1.2 and 2 million. Contrary to stereotypes, children in same-sex households are twice as likely to live in poverty as children in heterosexual parent households. LGBT household income can lag as much as 20 percent behind heterosexual households. In addition, children of LGBT parents often face social stigma at school or in their communities which can cause emotional distress. The Family Equality Council and Center for American Progress has developed a website called All Children Matter to bring attention to these and other concerns related to LGBT households (www.childrenmatter.org).
W h e n yo u n o l o n g e r n e e d P FL AG , t h a t s w h e n P FL AG n ee d s yo u !