Flour Bluff High School Student Fights Discrimination

by Shannon Cuttle

Bianca "Nikki" Peet, a senior at Flour Bluff High School in Corpus Christi, Texas, will head back to school today, but says she now feels afraid for her safety.

Last week Flour Bluff High School gained national attention after Peet, who has been fighting to get a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) approved on campus, was told by school administrators that she couldn't start the club. The school administration even went so far as to ban all extra-curricular activities in order to prevent the GSA from forming.

According to Peet, she wants to create a safe space not just for LGBT students and allies, but one that is  "open to all students to stop bullying for everyone and gives back to the community."

Peet says that she has been a victim of bullying and harassment at Flour Bluff High School, both for her disability and for standing up against bullying and harassment.

But even while some administrators and community members have opposed her plans to start a GSA, many others have expressed support.

"I have heard a lot of students say that they like the idea to start the GSA, that it is needed at our school, but the teachers tell me they are not allowed to talk to me about it," says Peet.

As of Monday, both the Flour Bluff Independent School District and the Flour Bluff High School website are no longer showing a listing of the student clubs for the high school, as the page now reads "error".

Paul Rodriguez, the President of the GSA at nearby Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, has been supporting Peet in her efforts to start the GSA at Flour Bluff High School. Rodriguez says that they have received support from the GetEQUAL Texas chapter and Equality Texas. The ACLU is now also in talks with Peet about next steps.

Tonight, Peet and the local Texas A&M GSA will host a community meeting open to students, parents and supporters about Flour Bluff ISD Superintendent Julie Carbajal's recent decision to ban all after-school clubs to prevent the GSA from forming. They hope to bring the community together against intolerance and discrimination.

"Other groups can disagree with the GSA or not like me because of it, but we need to respect each other and get along with each other and stand up to discrimination. Student clubs have a place at Flour Bluff High School", says Peet.

A peaceful protest has also been called for on Friday at 9am by local students outside Flour Bluff High School in support of having student clubs on campus to fight bullying.

We'll be updating this story all throughout the week as it moves along. Meanwhile, if you haven't added your name in support of Nikki Peet, urging Flour Bluff High School to allow a GSA on campus, please do so here.

Photo credit: basykes


ORIGINAL SOURCE

Update on lesbian TN couple who were victims of arson and hate crime

 We talked with Carol Ann Stutte on Saturday morning, learning more about the case and getting a sense of how the GetEQUAL community couple help out — I can’t tell you how wonderful these women are…they’re amazing. Here’s the situation:

Carol Ann and Laura Stutte owned a beautiful home on a beautiful piece of land in rural Tennessee — outside of Knoxville. Together for 16 years with a grown daughter, these women had developed a community for themselves in the heart of a very, very red state.

Their next-door neighbor began threatening them, repeatedly making direct threats that she would burn their home, poison their dog, and kill the couple. Shortly after each of the threats, those things came to pass — their dog suddenly died of poisoning and their beautiful home had been reduced to ashes.

It gets worse. The house was burned down while Carol Ann and Laura were out of town, celebrating their anniversary. When they returned, their home was burned to the ground and the word “QUEERS” was spray-painted on their free-standing garage.

It gets even worse. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation deployed staff to the scene…four days after the fire and following two rainstorms that destroyed much of the arson evidence. After the men drank coffee, cracked jokes, and kept their investigation dog in the truck, Carol Ann asked if they were going to investigate. The response? “I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but we have more important things to do right now.”

And, believe it or not, it gets even worse. The Stuttes immediately filed a claim with their insurance company and the insurance company didn’t send a team of investigators until a week and a half after the fire. After initially honoring their claim for living expenses while the Stuttes waited on the investigation to take place, the insurance company — American National Property & Casualty Company — kicked them out of their rental home and told them they were on their own.

It’s been almost six months since the fire, and American National Property & Casualty Company will now no longer return calls from the Stuttes — and have made clear that they will not honor their homeowners policy. Last week, the company offered to pay $610.18 — yes, $610.18 — toward the living expenses for the couple, which are now over $5,000 for the past 6 months. And it’s clearly nowhere close to the $206,000 property claim and the $155,000 claim for personal items.

The Stuttes were hoping to follow the rules, resolve the situation peacefully, and just wait on this investigation to end — but it’s clear that American National Property & Casualty Company believe that lesbian lives are worth a small fraction of the value of straight lives. And the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation refuses to give any updates, preventing this from being designated as a hate crime…while their neighbor not only walks free, but has been sighted on the property repeatedly since the fire.

The Stuttes were recently forced to file a lawsuit against their neighbor while they live in hiding in another area of Tennessee, since this woman remains free. They’re suing the neighbor for damages — in the hopes that it forces the investigation to move forward and they can again return to their normal lives.

The Stuttes have reached out to GetEQUAL for help, and we’re determined to make it very difficult for American National Property & Casualty Company to conduct business until/unless they honor the Stuttes policy. We’re starting a campaign targeting the company, and we’ll periodically be asking you to take coordinated action in order to make things very difficult for this company. We don’t believe a lesbian home is worth less than a straight home — and we’ll make it clear to American National Property & Casualty Company that they have a lot of work ahead of them.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

If you’d like to make a donation to help the Stuttes out, please head here: http://knoxvillepridefest.com/2011/02/03/insulin/. They’ve raised enough money to live on for the past few months, but they’ve reached the end of that money — and their daughter is in need of a new insulin pump. This is clearly an immediate need.

Additionally, we’ll be hammering away at the insurance company in a variety of ways this week, both online and offline. For now, start the calls — their 24-hour customer service line is 1-800-333-2860. Word is that they have a prepared statement at the ready — be sure they read the whole thing, and feel free to ask questions. We’re completely happy with tying up their phone lines all day long!

When you call, add a comment on this Facebook post with the results, including any new information you learn. We’ll be setting up a way for folks to quickly send emails to all/most of their staff, actions at their offices in Missouri, etc. But, for right now, call their offices and prevent them from doing business!

Original Source

Poll: LGBT Students More Prone to Suicide

By Winston Gieseke

LGBT students are more likely to be suicidal and harassed than their straight peers, says a new report from the Des Moines–based Iowa Pride Network.

Yesterday, the eight-year-old group released the results of their first-ever College Climate Survey, which tracked comfort levels, harassment, and depression for students on college campuses. According to the data collected, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students are 25% more likely to have suicidal thoughts while 44% have experienced some form of harassment while in school.  Read more here...

Garnet Coleman files suicide prevention bill that would ban anti-LGBT bullying, discrimination

by John Wright

State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, has filed a bill that he says is designed to prevent future tragedies like the suicide of Asher Brown, a gay 13-year-old who took his own life last year in response to bullying at school.

Coleman’s HB 1386, filed today, calls on the state to develop a comprehensive suicide prevention program for middle, junior and high schools. The bill would also ban anti-LGBT bullying, harassment and discrimination in public schools.  Read more here...

When Was the Last Time a Christian's House Was Burned Down?

by: D Gregory Smith

I know. Provocative question.

But I can't help asking it when I see stories of deliberate arson evicting LGBT's from the safety of their homes. I also ask the question (appropriately modified) when I see anti-queer graffiti, read about harassment and beatings involving people who are too much like me to make me feel beyond it.

This house, owned by a gay couple in Clayton, North Carolina was destroyed early Friday morning. The story is here.

There was a history of anti-gay messages, graffiti, harassment and vandalism before the blaze. The couple is not identified for "fear of their safety." The neighbor who talked to the reporter also did so only anonymously. We are afraid.

And the Christianists call us a threat - among other nasty things.

So for the purposes of argument I will ask the following questions to those who believe equality only applies to white, heterosexual, cis-gendered, procreating, (&etc) Christians:

    * When was the last time a group of LGBTIQ persons beat up a straight person?
    * When did Graffiti with the word "breeders" adorn the house of a straight family?
    * When did a gay terrorist group burn down a Christian house just because they were Christian?
    * When did an LGBT pastor make the news for slandering and approving of violence against straights?

But the reverse? Happens all the time. And we take it. Mostly, we do.

Fucked, ain't it?

And I can't help but feeling if we don't get our act together and start acting like a community instead of picking little fights all over the place, squabbling over minutiae that, in the final analysis makes little difference (check the comments section of any LGBT blog), it's going to continue to get worse.

I am not advocating that we become terrorists or engage in any similar behavior, only that we be radically truthful. Self-defensive if you will.

I know. Go ahead. That's what the comments section is for.

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