Dear Safe Schools Coalition Members and Friends:
Thank you to the Gay-Straight Alliance Network's Make It Better Project for the following message ...
Last week, 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer died by suicide. He was part of the LGBT community, he had been bullied and harassed because of his sexual orientation, and he had even created an It Gets Better video.
We've been through this before. We cannot go through this again.
We can and must Make It Better.
There are plenty of ways for you to participate in
Make
It Better Semester, and we hope you
write
letters,
put
up posters, and
create
videos. But this fall, we're not acting alone. In response to Jamey's death, Lady Gaga tweeted: "Bullying must become illegal."
Criminalizing bullying is
not
the answer. There are proven, positive ways - from starting and supporting Gay-Straight Alliance clubs to intervening when slurs occur - to Make It Better. Today, GSA Network youth activists are in Sacramento talking to legislators, after successfully
passing the FAIR Education Act and a comprehensive anti-bullying policy in California. It's important now more than ever to stick to these concrete steps, and not turn to punitive, reactionary measures -- like "zero tolerance" -- that cause more harm than good.
Lady Gaga means the best, and we love her activism. So let's help her fight for social justice by telling her how we are already making it better right now, every day, in our communities through positive measures.
Let's tell her this is how we can Make It
Better.
Are you in a Gay-Straight Alliance club? Did you advocate for anti-bullying policies in your community's school that spell out that nobody can discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity and expression? Did you make sure those policies were
posted in the hallways and on your school's website? Did you train your teachers to intervene when slurs occur?
Then film a Make It Better video and thank Lady Gaga but tell her: this is how we can Make It Better.
In solidarity,
Make It Better Project
http://www.makeitbetterproject.org
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/makeitbetterproject
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/makeitbettergsa
qqqqqqqqqq
Or mail this
form with your check made to "Safe Schools Coalition":
Safe Schools Coalition
c/o Rosehedge
1401 East Jefferson Street, Suite 401
Seattle, WA 98122
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The Safe Schools Coalition is a public-private partnership of 60+ organizations (government agencies, schools, community agencies, churches, youth/student groups, gay/lesbian groups, human rights groups) and 100+ individuals working to help schools
become safe places where every family can belong, where every educator can teach, and where every child can learn, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.
Safe Schools' website: http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org
Got a problem at school with anti-gay harassment?
In Washington State:
1-877-SAFE-SAFE (1-877-723-3723) 24 hours a day - the phone line is answered at the Sexual Assault Hotline and they will have a Safe Schools Coalition Intervention Specialist volunteer get back to you within 24 hours. Or contact us by email (click here:
Intervention)
http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org/contact/?id=10and we will respond within 24 hours.
For non-emergencies: 206-451-SAFE (7233).
Or email us:
Co-Chairs:
Beth Reis, Public Health - Seattle & King County, 206-296-4970
Mo Lewis, King County Sexual Assault Resource Center
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