The official blog of New Mexico GLBTQ Centers and our regional gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer community centers. This blog is written by volunteer authors in addition to our Executive Director.
The Arizona house and senate are considering companion bills that would require school officials protect LGBT students from bullying.
Equality Arizona and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network are lobbying for passage of the bills.
"We are grateful that Senate Minority Leader David Schapira and Rep. Katie Hobbs, along with many of their colleagues in the legislature, are committed to giving every child in Arizona a fair chance to succeed in school," Equality Arizona board chair Tom Mann said in a press release.
There are currently nine states that offer specific bullying protections to school-age LGBT children.
The following is from HRC’s Online Content Manager, Dan Rafter:
Daniel Hernandez, the Congressional intern widely credited with saving the life of Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, visited HRC this morning to discuss acceptance and ongoing efforts to advance equality.
Hernandez, who is gay, had been on the job for just five days when Giffords and 18 others were shot at a “Congress on Your Corner” event outside of Tucson. He provided medical aid to the Congresswoman and other shooting victims, and accompanied Giffords to the hospital.
Occurring just weeks after the President signed legislation to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Hernandez said the shooting serves as a reminder that LGBT Americans make critical contributions and sacrifices on a daily basis.
“We are in every part of the American community,” said Hernandez. “The best thing we can do is to be extraordinary as we live ordinary lives – to live, love and learn.”
Hernandez cited the unity and toned-down political rhetoric seen after the shooting as a positive sign for acceptance. He will be sitting next to First Lady Michelle Obama during tomorrow night’s State of the Union address.
Last year, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) went around her Arizona district talking to constituents about health reform. Arizona State Rep. Steve Farley, also a Democrat, went with her, often sitting onstage looking out at seething audiences. Now that he's back and forth between his Tucson home and the hospital where Rep. Giffords lies gravely wounded after being shot in the head on Saturday, Rep. Farley draws a connection between the violent rhetoric and the literal violence.
"You'd go to these health-care town halls, where you get 2,000 screaming, hissing, booing, shouting-down-everybody people on the right, and you got the sense that there was this kind of primeval allure to being in a mob," Rep. Farley tells us. "It's driven by politics, and not rational politics at that."
The suspect, Jared Loughner, now stands accused of two counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder, the Arizona Republic reports. Six people were killed, and another 14 injured. Loughner, 22, shows signs of having been mentally unstable.
Rep. Farley says that it's unlikely Loughner acted out of political motivations, at least in the way that most folks understand politics. But he argues that violent political rhetoric has an effect on people like Loughner. "They're loners and they're looking for something to belong to, and those big angry mob things, they're a rush," Rep. Farley says. "It doesn't matter what we believe in -- we've got to tone it down. Because this is a democracy, and we can't govern if we don't respect each other."
The good news now, Mr. Farley reports, is that he sees signs in Tucson that people of all political stripes are pulling together and calling for peace.
In response to the recent increase in LGBT teen suicides and bullying reports Gays and Lesbians United Against Discrimination an organization founded by teen Caleb Laieski after being bullied in the Dysart Unified School District of Surprise, has reached out to every individual public school district and schools within the district this week within the State of Arizona “in providing opportunity for resource options in combating these issues on campus and if failing to intervene, facing legal issues” said Executive Director Caleb Laieski.
“The goal is to ensure all campuses in the State of Arizona are safe and to tackling these issues without legal action, but such will be promptly pursued if necessary.”
A copy of each letter has been distributed to local members of all Arizona city councils, county commissioners, legislators (state and federal), where the State Department Education, Attorney General’s Office, and Office of the Governor has received a general copy for their review and investigation.
Their letter, which has been sent to over 5,000 contacts, is “advising schools, teachers and administrators of their legal obligations in those positions to ensuring all students are sadly, and also go into several suggested remedial measures. The letter also mentioning that if they are acknowledged to any of the following “suicide attempts or success due to bullying on campus, inadequate action, or failure to intervene” that legal action will be promptly sought.
GLUAD has being working very abruptly in making Arizona’s campuses a safer place for all students of diversity and has future plans of reaching out to all fifty-states, as well as opening a homeless shelter for folks of the homeless population in need of assistance, primarily focusing on those of the LGBT community, but will not be limited to the LGBT population only.”
