October is shaping up to be a BIG month for the LGBT community and its allies. Not only is October LGBT History Month, we recently celebrated National Coming Out Day and more than 200,000 people journeyed to Washington, D.C. to support the National Equality March. Oh, and it’s Out Front’s birthday! Did you send us a gift?
What you may not know is that this week is the fifth-annual Ally Week. Run by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Ally Week consists of a week-long list of activities to stimulate conversation about LGBT issues, rally straight supporters and to persuade people to join as allies against anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools. Students and teachers are encouraged to sign the Ally Week pledge, which reads:
I believe all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression deserve to feel safe and supported.
That means I pledge to:
• Not use anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) language or slurs.
• Intervene, if I safely can, in situations where students are being harassed.
• Support efforts to end bullying and harassment.
LGBT youth face numerous unique challenges – homelessness, violence, alienation and often, sexual abuse. According to the GLSEN’s National School Climate Study, a terrifyingly large percentage (nearly 9 out of 10) of LGBT students experience verbal harassment at school. Article like this claim that things are no different more than 10 years after the death of Matthew Shephard, yet events like Ally Week and the recent passage of the North Carolina School Violence Act (the first in the South!) provide a huge step forward in creating safe, supportive school environments for LGBT youth.
SUBSCRIBE