FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JASMYN, Inc. Sponsors All-Day Seminar for School Administrators

JACKSONVILLE, FLA., October 24, 2008 – The Teaching Respect for All Seminar included more than 80 participants from area elementary, middle, and high schools to create safe space for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students.

Sponsors included the Jacksonville Area Sexual Minority Youth Network (JASMYN, Inc.), the University of North Florida LGBT Resource Center, the Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Education Network (GLSEN), and Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).

With representatives from more than sixteen Jacksonville-area schools and eleven organizations, participants were given the opportunity to learn from each other while learning how to create a safe space for LGBT students.

“I want everybody to look around,” Josephine Jackson, Executive Director of Office of Equity and Inclusion said. “There are people here who are trying to make schools a safe and accepting place for teachers as well as students.”

Alain Raymond, North Florida Field Organizer for Equality Florida spoke about the Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Acts in Florida. Raymond stated that the intent of the law is to protect LGBT students.

“Working with Equality Florida has been a learning experience for me, but the most important issue is creating safe schools for all students,” Raymond said. “When I was in school I was bullied, I was bullied before I even knew what ‘gay’ meant. Whether students are gay, or perceived to be gay, it is important that we show all of them the dignity that they deserve.”

Raymond continued to explain that under the Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act, “all Florida school districts must adopt anti-bullying policies by December first of this year. Any school district found breaking this law will not receive safe school funding.”

Current and former high school students then spoke during a youth panel and recounted their personal experiences, both positive and negative. Students also spoke about what did and did not work for their schools in creating a safe space. According to a 2007 GLSEN study, more than 28% of LGBT students dropped out of school and almost one-third of students skipped classes because they did not feel safe.

“I went to a lot of middle and high schools where I was not accepted and students would physically harass me,” 16-year old student Jeremiah Mormon said. “When I tried to report the harassment to administrators the teachers or faculty would just try to sweep it under the rug.”

When asked by workshop participants about what the youth hoped for area schools, the students agreed that finding a teacher, coach, or administrator who was open and accepting to all students made them feel safer, accepted, and more likely to stay in school.

“We are starting to connect on how to make schools safe for LGBT students,” Executive Director Cindy Watson of JASMYN, Inc. said. “We are building a collective power. One person is not going to make it all happen here. It is going to take all of us working collectively in order to move forward.”

Contact: Cindy Watson or Natalie Nguyen                                                      Phone: (904) 389-3857 ext. 205 or 207