Silence = Death

[judecorp]

(Besides my work with queer youth, I earned my M.Ed. at BU, so this is particularly important to me.)

~//~

THE LIST
September 24, 2002

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1. ACTION ALERT: BOSTON UNIV. TAKES SWIPE AT GAY YOUTH

This is a rather disturbing story from Boston. At the end of this story, I'm going to ask you to please take action to help these kids.

The chancellor of Boston University (BU) has ordered a local school (grades 8-12) run under the university's auspices, the prestigious BU Academy, to disband its two-year-old gay-straight alliance. BU Chancellor John Silber's apparently thinks gay-straight alliances "get involved in the sexuality" of young students, when in fact, gay-straight alliances are about promoting tolerance in high schools so that gay kids don't face violence, either at their own hands or at the hands of their fellow students. According to one press report, Silber is so upset at the alliance's existence that he allegedly threatened to cut funding to the academy if it did not drop the gay tolerance group.

40% OF MASS GAY AND BI YOUTH ATTEMPTED SUICIDE

According to the Boston Globe, "gay-straight alliances started in Massachusetts nine years ago as an antidote to the exceptionally high suicide rate among gay and bisexual high school students. According to a Massachusetts Department of Public Health report released in May 2001, about 40 percent of that student population have attempted suicide. Since the 1993-94 school year, Massachusetts has helped pay for gay-straight alliances at schools that want them. It is the only state that does so. Last year, the Department of Education handed out a total of $285,725 in grants of between $500 and $3,000 to 156 schools. Today, more than 800 schools in 47 states have similar alliances on campus and the number of groups has more than tripled in the last three years, according to the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network."

MILITANT FUNDAMENTALISTS LAUD BU'S ANTI-GAY MOVE

Not surprisingly, militant fundamentalist lobbyists are crowing over BU's decision to kill the gay-straight alliance. One Massachusetts anti-gay activist responded to Silber's decision: "This is a behavior that is medically and psychologically extremely self-destructive, and they are telling kids that they should feel good about doing it."

No, ma'am. What's extremely self-destructive is telling kids who have a 40% record of attempting suicide that in fact they are sick and not deserving of acceptance or tolerance.

This is an important issue folks, one that involves gay and questioning youth who need our support. I've done some research and gotten contact information for Boston University, including Chancellor Silber and a number of the university trustees. The trustees are particularly important as they recently replaced the university president, fearing that he wasn't up to the task of raising an additional $1 billion for BU over the next decade. Well, I don't think the new guy is up to the task either, and we need to let the trustees know that.

PLEASE CONTACT BU ON BEHALF OF GAY KIDS

So, please contact BU Chancellor John Silber and the other contacts I provide you below, including the BU alumni association, and the various trustees. Also, among the university's trustees is Jeffrey Katzenberg, who launched Dreamworks SKG along with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen. If anyone out there has contacts with Katzenberg, Spielberg or Geffen - or any of the other BU trustees - can you please let them know about this issue.

MESSAGE:

Boston University should stop bashing gay youth and reinstate the gay-straight alliance at BU Academy (and if you're an alum of BU, tell the school if their decision is affecting your desire to make future donations to the school or to send your kids to Boston College instead).

PEOPLE TO CONTACT (please contact everyone below):

BU Chancellor John Silber - phone: 617-353-4300

BU Alumni & Development Office - email: alumweb@bu.edu - phone: 617-353-9500 - Fax: 617-353-5838

BU Board of Trustees:
- Elaine Kirshenbaum, director of health policy for the Massachusetts Medical Society - ekirshenbaum@mms.org - call toll-free, 1-800-322-2303, and ask for extension 7223 or dial direct: (781) 434 7223

- Richard DeWolfe, chairman of the board of trustees, and chairman and CEO of DeWolfe Companies, Inc - phone: 781-863-5858 - info@dewolfe.com

- Frederick Bertino, president and creative director of McCarthy Mambro Bertino LLC - phone: 617-670-9700 - fax: 617-670-9711

- Dexter Dodge, president and chief executive officer of Freedom Capital Management - phone 617-725-2300

- Jeffrey Katzenberg, Dreamworks (again, if anyone has a contact to Katzenberg or Dreamworks, please pass the word to them).

For more background on this issue:
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/249/metro/BU_tells_Academy_to_drop_gay_group+.shtml

Boston Globe editorial on this issue:
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/250/editorials/Sex_miseducation_at_BU+.shtml


(Copyright 2002 John Aravosis)

Comments

[thatpatti.livejournal.com]

it's too bad they weren't able to offer any statistics regarding a change in attempted suicide rates since the inception of gay-straight alliances.

which is not to say that i think a gay-straight alliance is useless if it's not lowering suicide attempt rates. i'm just curious, mostly because i think it's really fucked up that mr. chancellor cares more about being involved in the sexuality of his students than keeping them alive.

this is a behavior that is medically and psychologically extremely self-destructive

uh, yeah. and suicide's NOT?

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Somewhere in my myriad of school things, I have some statistics on support groups for LGBT youth, and the positive effects on suicide, substance use, and other negative consequences. I don't have anything specific to Massachusetts, though.

John Silber is pretty much a twit, though. And your last comment is spot on. You are amazing, Ms. Patti.

[kat-chan.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, this is par for the course where Silber is concerned. :(

I'm so very glad I decided against BU (although more because it would have cost way more than my parents could afford).

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I ended up getting my M.Ed. there because I'd only applied to BC and BU (I wanted to move back to Boston big time), and BU coughed up half the tuition for me. In the knick of time, too, because I'd just sent my deposit to BC.

Bleh.