Did You Know....?

That 40% of homeless teens are part of the LGBT community? And the reason why...family rejection. Don't let that be your child.

IMPACT Program (Resource)

Over the past few years, national headlines have been dominated by stories of school bullying, especially of LGBT youth. The Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) recently published a research brief on the experiences of LGBT students in school athletics. GLSEN’s analysis of data taken from the 2011 National School Climate Survey of 8,584 LGBT students suggests that bullying is of particular concern during physical education (P.E.) classes and on school sports teams. More than half of LGBT students who took a P.E. class reported being bullied or harassed during the class because of their sexual orientation (52.8%) or gender expression (50.9%). Over a quarter of LGBT student athletes reported being harassed or assaulted while participating on a school sports team due to their sexual orientation (27.8%) or gender expression (29.4%). These experiences of victimization may help explain why approximately one third (32.5%) of LGBT students reported not attending their P.E. classes and almost a quarter (22.8%) avoided school athletics fields and facilities. LGBT students were also half as less likely than their heterosexual peers to be a part of school sports teams. The missed benefits to LGBT youth who avoided P.E. and school sports was also highlighted in the GLSEN brief. LGBT students who played on a school sports team reported higher self-esteem, greater sense of belonging, and better academic performance when compared to non-athlete LGBT students. The benefits of participating in school athletics were even more marked for LGBT team leaders. Figure 3 from: GLSEN (2013). The Experiences of LGBT Students in School Athletics (Research Brief). New York: GLSEN. In addition to the benefits conferred to mental well-being, greater involvement in P.E. classes and school athletics could positively impact LGBT students’ physical health. In a report on health disparities of LGBT youth created by the IMPACT Program, one key finding was higher rates of disordered eating among LGB students. LGB students were more than twice as likely as their heterosexual peers to report vomiting in the past 30 days in order to lose weight. The disparity was especially striking among males with 27.4% of LGB males reporting vomiting in the past 30 days to lose weight in comparison to 6.1% of heterosexual males. Participation in P.E. classes and school sports are a healthy alternative to purging as a means to lose weight. P.E. classes and school athletics are also often a source to learn about nutrition and the importance of a healthy diet and regular exercise. Similarly, increased participation in school athletics may help combat the obesity epidemic that affects LGBT youth just as much as their heterosexual peers and reduce their future risk of obesity during adulthood. Breaking down barriers to participation in school athletics faced by many LGBT students will require greater support to help these youth feel safe from victimization. The GLSEN brief found that LGBT students at schools with anti-bullying and harassment policies were less likely than those without these policies to experience bullying and harassment during P.E. class and school sports. From: http://www.impactprogram.org/researchers/research-blog-new-report-shows-high-rates-of-bullying-of-lgbt-students-in-school-athletics/?gclid=CK3oxeSpqb0CFRFp7Aodyw8AIg

NEWS On A Anti-Gay Extremist

The preacher of Westboro Baptist Church as died yesterday. I can't say it makes me sad. Why? Because he made his whole church like a cult of evil people. They protested at funerals of military men and women and the LGBT people. It makes me so mad! And now his daughter, Margie, is taking his place. Great.

Adele & A Stupid Doctor

In the news there was a story about how Adele's music is "turning" people gay. A freaking doctor said that. Some doctor! Can you believe that??? JUST because she's for the LGBT rights she's being judged. Shows you why I have never liked doctors.

For the Self-Injured

Hate Murder In Russia

Crisis in Russia: two brutal murders for being gay within weeks. One man was stabbed to death by neighbours, and a younger man was beaten to death with rocks after coming out. The rise in attacks is happening as President Putin wages war on gays and lesbians. His government has banned Pride marches and is trying to bring in a new anti-gay law. And tomorrow, a major Russian gay organisation will go on trial to fight closure. Putin is getting away with the crackdown because there’s little international media attention and no real pressure from other world leaders. But if we start with a massive petition, we can work to get the crisis on the to do list of every world leader and onto the front pages of newspapers. Can you sign before the trial starts tomorrow? http://www.allout.org/russia-attacks Putin has shown he’s sensitive to international pressure about his treatment of gay and lesbians. When he visited the Netherlands recently, he was greeted by a big protest and media coverage. He was later forced to claim publicly that he doesn’t support discrimination. Russian human rights workers told the All Out office team that this led directly to their finally being given a meeting with the Ombudsman for Human Rights - a big boost to their work. Sign now and share the petition with friends and family: http://www.allout.org/russia-attacks President Putin thinks gays and lesbians are an easy target to help him crackdown on human rights and democracy, in his quest to hold on to power. He sees them as a tiny minority who can't fight back. But what if instead of facing only the handful of people in Russia brave enough to stand up to terrifying violence and state power, he faced a movement of millions of us? We’ve spoken up together about Russia before, but All Out has grown fast in the last two years. There are now 1.6 million of us in every country in the world - and there’s nothing we can’t do together for love. Please sign now: http://www.allout.org/russia-attacks

JUSTICE - For Now

Wow – after just 24 hours the gay 'cure' app has disappeared from iTunes! Only Google is left with the harmful app still available in their online store. This amazing response came after more than 37,000 of us asked Apple and Google to pull the dangerous app "Setting Captives Free" from their online stores. Google has a great reputation for doing what's right, and if even more of us speak out they'll pull the app. Will you forward the email below to your friends and ask them to join us? If we all pitch in right now, we can get "Setting Captives Free" off of the two most popular places to download apps within 48-hours. Help set a powerful precedent for others who want to push their harmful practices and make people think being gay is a disease or a sin. Forward the email below to your friends and family now: Less than 24 hours ago I joined a campaign to get Apple and Google to drop a dangerous app from their stores that thinks it can 'cure' people of being gay. The 60-day course tells gay people they are not "born this way" and offers to help find "freedom from the bondage of homosexuality." And, after just 24 hours the app has disappeared from the iTunes store! Only Google is left with the harmful app still available in their online store. Tell Google to pull the app now: www.allout.org/gaycureapp This amazing response came after 37,000 All Out members asked Apple and Google to pull the dangerous gay 'cure' app "Setting Captives Free" from their online stores. Google has a great reputation for doing what's right, if even more of us speak out they'll pull the app. Will you sign the petition to ask Google to join Apple and drop the gay 'cure' app? www.allout.org/gaycureapp If we all pitch in right now, we can get "Setting Captives Free" off of the two most popular places to download apps within 48-hours. Help set a powerful precedent for others who want to push their harmful practices and make people think being gay is a disease or a sin. Sign now: www.allout.org/gaycureapp Google has yanked apps like this before for violating their user agreement, which bans hate speech. If thousands of us sign right now, it will generate massive media buzz and pressure this major global company, who is proud of its pro-equality brand, to act quickly. Tell Google – drop "Setting Captives Free" now before anyone else gets hurt: www.allout.org/gaycureapp Major health organizations like American Psychiatric Association and Pan-American Health Organization, as well as many governments, have denounced all gay 'cure' practices as dangerous and discriminatory. There's overwhelming evidence that these so-called treatments can cause terrible harm to lesbian, gay, bi, and trans people, or anyone forced to try to change who they are or who they love. Google should be stopping hate like this at their gates. If "Setting Captives Free" gets away with it, soon others will be pushing their dangerous 'pray away the gay' practices further. We need to make it clear to these powerful global companies that they have to act fast and to pull this dangerous app and others like it from their stores immediately. Ask Google to stop the hate and drop the app today: www.allout.org/gaycureapp All Out members are known for standing against dangerous gay cures all over the world. Because we've spoken out, officials in Argentina, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and beyond have denounced gay cures. It's getting harder for anti-gay opponents to push their 'cure' agenda through governments, so now they're resorting to corporate channels. Will you join in sending Google a clear message that they can't allow "Send Captives Free" to use their stores to spread the wrong-headed and dangerous message that being gay is a curable disease. Sign now: www.allout.org/gaycureapp