Bullied to Death: by Jill Estes

After reading recent news articles about three gay student suicides all within the same school district in the same year, I was reminded how important it is to address this issue. It is no shock that LGBT youth face extreme amounts of isolation at school, at home, at religious organizations and in our community. Along with this isolation they are also facing high levels of homophobia, bullying and harassment. This has been the case for decades and is continually a problem for these youth. A gay student by the name of Justin Aaberg took his own life on July 9th this year. He was one of three gay students in the Anoka school district in Minnesota to commit suicide this year. This created uproar in the community between LGBT advocacy groups and anti-gay groups. To hear a testimony from his mother’s words please reference this article. http://minnesotaindependent.com/64047/anti-gay-group-organizes-in-anoka-schools-as-community-deals-with-gay-suicides A 1989 US government study found that LGBT youth are 2-3 times more likely to attempt suicide than other young people. This finding was supported by a 2001 study that found LGBT adolescents 2.3-2.5 times more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual peers. Also, psychological autopsies- that is the examination of a person’s psychological state in the time leading up to their death, show an alarming 30% of LGBT youth among the dead teens that have committed suicide. Psychologists believe that number may be higher, as LGBT teens are more likely to have the true cause of death and their sexual identity hidden by their family members. Many LGBT teens out there do not know where to turn to for help. Most of these youth cannot go to their families, teachers, peers, religious organizations or communities for help. But there are people to turn to for help. Right here in Long Island we are lucky to have Pride for Youth. We provide counseling including individual and family counseling, a drop-in center on Friday nights and support groups for LGBT youth. Also the Long Island Crisis Center provides short term crisis intervention on a 24/7 hotline. One more great resource is the Trevor Project, the leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention for LGBT and questioning youth. All these resources are free, anonymous and confidential. The question here is how do we lower the risk of suicide for LGBT youth? The answer, I believe, is education. Already in many school districts we provide suicide prevention education. And in some school districts we are able to provide homophobia education. Recently passed was The Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) in New York, a bill that will prohibit harassment against students in school, including harassment based on real or perceived race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression and sex. This bill will require schools to adopt policies to make schools harassment and discrimination-free environments and also incorporate discrimination and harassment awareness into education curricula. This gives us an amazing opportunity to get into more schools to educate staff and students making a less homophobic environment. When taken into account these breaking news stories of gay student suicides and the alarming statistics of LGBT youth suicides in the US, one can hopefully see the need for more diversity education in the schools for both staff and students. With the passing of DASA, doors should be opened for us to get in and provide this ever so important education. My hopes are that over the next few years we will see these numbers drop and we will have less students being “bullied to death”. Resources: Pride for Youth (516)679-9000 www.prideforyouth.org The Long Island Crisis Center (516)679-1111 www.longislandcrisiscenter.org The Trevor Project (866)4-U-TREVOR or (866)488-7386 www.thetrevorproject.org

Dignity for All Students Act signed into law! by Andy Peters

The need for better policies and training to prevent anti-LGBT harassment in schools has been self-evident to those of us who are LGBT. In 2000, PFY surveyed Nassau County students and found that 1 in 10 had been physically harassed due to their perceived sexual orientation. Nearly all of them reported that derogatory words like “faggot” and “dyke” get spouted from the mouths of classmates (and even teachers) on a regular basis. So it’s great progress that Governor Patterson recently signed into law the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA). Advocacy groups have been pushing for this legislation for ten years, and PFY has been a critical part of the effort. In annual trips to Albany, in-district meetings with elected officials, and through personal letters, young people and staff have kept the issue alive year in, year out. Many times, we wonder if our voices make a difference. DASA is evidence that the answer most definitely is YES! DASA establishes a consistent set of standards for preventing discrimination and harassment in schools—those motivated by anti-LGBT attitudes or other prejudices—and, quite significantly the law includes gender identity/expression as a protected category. Here’s a summary of the law from Empire State Pride Agenda. After ten years of hard work, the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) will prohibit harassment against students in school, including harassment based on real or perceived race, Color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and expression and sex. 40 states have anti-bullying laws and now New York will join those states. New York is also one of the 14 states that include sexual orientation and gender identity/expression in its anti-bullying protections. DASA makes history marking the first time that gender identity and expression are explicitly protected under New York State law. This is an incredible victory for our community and was made possible by the tireless advocacy of so many organizations statewide including Pride For Youth. DASA will specifically require schools to: -Adopt policies to make schools harassment- and discrimination-free environments; -Inform students and parents of anti-discrimination and harassment policies; -Develop guidelines to be used in school training programs for teachers, administrators and other school employees to discourage the development of discrimination and harassment among staff and students; -Create guidelines relating to the development of nondiscriminatory instruction and counseling’ -Incorporate discrimination and harassment awareness and sensitivity into civility, citizenship and character education curricula; -Provide a staff member trained in human-relations counseling; and -Report on incidents of discrimination and bias harassment to the State Education Department.

Our Academy Awards Prom by Andrea Fogel

Pride for Youth’s Academy Award themed Prom was nothing less than magical. As early as 7:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time movie stars, singers, paparazzi and even Joan Rivers began to arrive on the red carpet. The night was filled with nothing but elegance including Pizza from a Five Star restaurant, “Joes Pizzeria” in Merrick and a sheet cake from the very prestigious BJ’s wholesale Club. The biggest hit of the night was the chocolate fountain that marshmallows, pretzels, fruits and graham crackers were dipped into creating long lasting chocolate covered smiles. The Rich, Famous and Beautiful enjoyed a night of dancing under the stars and no one left empty handed, all receiving their very own academy award. August 27th, 2010 will sure be a night to remember. -Andrea Fogel, LMSW LGBT Program Supervisor

Production of Dog Sees God at Coffeehouse

On Friday, August 13th, 2010 at the PFY Coffeehouse a group of dedicated participants premiered their own production of the off Broadway hit Dog Sees God. They spent many weeks in preparation, working hard to make the play come together for opening night. Our participants are very adept at producing entertainment for Coffeehouse that is emotionally impacting, educational and entertaining for their peers. This play was a hit and everyone in attendance loved it . Brittney, a dedicated participant took on the huge role of director where her strong background in theater was obvious. Brittney was involved in many productions in her high school and at SUNY Fredonia including Suessical the musical, Footloose, and Terror In The Trees. She was also in choir, often as a soloist, for many years and directed the Rent Showcase here at Pride for Youth last year. Rebecca, who played the role of CB’s sister has also been involved in theatre for many years. Rebecca’s first role was Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz when she was just seven years old at her summer camp. She continued going to sleep away theater camp for five years participating in ten more shows. Quoted from Rebecca, “each show has taught me something new that I carry with me everywhere. But the most important and recurring theme I’ve gotten from each show is definitely that working with those you love doing a thing you love is something you keep with you forever.” In the matter of a few weeks the show was put together. The youth rehearsed a few times per week putting in a lot of hard work to make this play possible. One participant, Sam, that played the part of CB, the main character, was very convincing in his role captivating the audience with true emotion. All of the roles played in this show were alluring and entertaining, making a wonderful play. The play focuses on many issues that hit close to home for many of our participants here at Pride for Youth. Dog Sees God is set in a high school setting and addresses issues such as coming out, homophobia, social stigma, social isolation and suicide. With an emotionally gripping yet humorous twist the play gives everyone something they can relate to. It is also quite the eye opener for how the seemingly less impacting issues can escalate into more severe crises. The cast: CB: Sam CB’s sister: Rebecca Beethoven: Thomas Matt: Katerine Tricia: Sarah Marcy: Yelena Van: Mary Van’s sister: Lisa Special thanks to Lisa for putting in extra hard work and helping direct and build sets. Stage Crew: Jeff Amanda Mike

Annual camping trip!

We were very fortunate this summer to be able to take 16 of our youth on a wonderful five-day camping trip to the Boston/Cape Cod area. This trip was not only fun but also very meaningful. Our youth get a chance to interact with staff and build friendships with their peers on a weekly basis here at Pride for Youth. But a trip like this really deepens these relationships and creates lifelong memories.

We packed up the vans to leave bright and early Monday morning and set off. Arriving at the campgrounds was quite exciting after the five hour ride. We immediately unpacked and ran off to the pool. The campgrounds were packed full of fun. The jumping pillow was a favorite among our kids, and some staff as well! We cooked up dinner barbecue style and all enjoyed each other’s company. Following dinner that night we did some fun team building activities. Everyone enjoyed “knee-tag” and a good old-fashioned game of Manhunt.

On Tuesday we packed ourselves in the vans again to head off to Salem! We started off at the Witch Museum. They gave us a lovely tour and a greater understanding of what happened during the Salem Witch Trials. We also took a tour of a horror movie museum. We spent the rest of the day shopping around the cute old fashioned town.

Wednesday we spent in Boston. We started off touring the famous Boston aquarium. I’ll never forget how excited one of the kids, an aspiring marine biologist, was to have that experience. After the aquarium we hopped on a boat for a five hour whale watching tour. They brought us way out into the open sea at an exhilarating speed to see the whales. The perfect weather held out for us right until the very end of our boat ride. Then back to camp for dinner and activities we went. With a little struggle we managed to get our fire started. We made smores and played improv acting games right up until bed time.

Thursday morning came quite quickly and we departed for Provincetown. Once again the weather was perfect for the two hour ferry ride. We all enjoyed our time out on the water. The kids were so excited to shop around Provincetown and enjoy the beach. The kids were very excited to be in such a LGBT friendly town. When we arrived back at camp it was time for our last camp fire together before departing home the next morning.

The end of the trip came quickly for all of us. Friday we found ourselves back on the road heading home. We asked the kids to each name their three favorite parts of the trip. The majority said their favorite parts were the day in Salem, the jumping pillow at the campgrounds, and the opportunity to get to know their counselors and peers so much better.

Expanded Partnership with Planned Parenthood

We are very excited to announce that once monthly at the Coffeehouse, beginning July 16th, Planned Parenthood of Nassau County will provide clinicians to perform STD screenings and birth control counseling. This is additional to the monthly in-house HIV testing and counseling they have been providing at the Coffeehouse since 2008. Services will be provided confidentially and free of charge. No physical exam is required. STD screening is done through urine samples, and HIV testing involves a pin prick blood sample. No appointment is necessary. Youth are seen on a first come, first served basis between 7:30 and 11:00pm. Services will be available on the third Friday of each month. For further information contact Galo Cunto at Pride for Youth. Galo Cunto 516-679-9000 extension 23 gcunto@longislandcrisiscenter.org

Chili's giveback night!

Pride for Youth is very grateful to Chili’s in Bethpage for giving us this wonderful fundraising opportunity. Pride for Youth is receiving 10% of the sales from Chili’s when our guests dine-in and present this voucher on Tuesday July 13th. So come down and get some great food with us! If anyone has any problems printing out this voucher please email me and I will send it to you! Jill Estes Jestes@longislandcrisiscenter.org