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StudentsFirst dubs “Don’t Say Gay” bill sponsor “reformer of the year”

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 21:19:00 +0000

Michelle Rhee's controversial education reform nonprofit StudentsFirst recently selected a virulently anti-gay lawmaker as the organization's "reformer of the year."

StudentsFirst's honoree, Tennessee state Rep. John Ragan, is the co-sponsor of the state's shameful (and, thankfully, failed) "Don't Say Gay" legislation, a measure that would have banned teachers from discussing sexuality that is not "related to natural human reproduction" in the classroom. The bill was a barely-concealed attempt to prevent teachers from talking about the existence of gays and lesbians with their students, and would have enshrined anti-gay discrimination in Tennessee law and educational policy. Additional language in Ragan's measure would have compelled educators and school therapists to "out" students they suspected of being gay to parents or guardians.

Tennessee bill would allow counselors to deny gay students mental health services

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:47:00 +0000

A bill being considered in the Tennessee state Legislature would allow graduate-student counselors to deny services to gay, lesbian and transgender students on religious grounds. The measure would also block a university's discretionary power to discipline student-therapists for failing to meet curriculum and program requirements.

Under the proposed legislation, a therapist would have to prove that the “goals, outcomes or behaviors" of the client "conflict with a sincerely held religious belief" to refuse them counseling.

As reported by the Tennessean, the measure was "inspired" by the case of a Christian student in Michigan who was expelled from her graduate program after refusing to counsel gay clients and clients who had premarital sex. Julea Ward then sued Eastern Michigan University for expelling her and received a $75,000 settlement. (Who knew being a bigot could help you pay down some of that student debt?)

Study: It gets better for gay teens, but by how much?

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 19:42:00 +0000

There is no shortage of headlines to remind us how gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender teens face far higher rates of bullying in school than their peers, and how that abuse can lead to depression, self-harm and suicide. But a new study that collected long-term data on gay and lesbian teens suggests that, per Dan Savage, things really do get better.

But how much better? That's a little more complicated.

Researchers analyzed data collected from 4,135 teens and young adults in England over seven years and found that more than half of those who self-identified as gay reported being bullied at the beginning of the study, with 57 percent of girls and 52 percent of boys reporting being harassed. But that number dropped to 9 percent for gay and bisexual boys and 6 percent for lesbian and bisexual girls by the study's end in 2010.

These numbers are a clear indicator that peer harassment lessens over time -- and that's really good news -- but the study also reveals that things are far from perfect after high school, particularly for gay males. Researchers found that gay men were still bullied four times as often as heterosexual males well into adulthood.