Church Fights On After Firing Gay Teacher

“Religious intolerance has generated more wars, misery and suffering than any other type of disorientation or bias. In the name of this or that deity, for the glory of a divine cause or in order to settle abstruse theological disputes, human blood has been shed for thousands of years.”

This was the opening quote of counsel for ousted gay music teacher, Johan Strydom, in final argument in his case against the Ned Geref Kerk, Moreleta Park.

Strydom is claiming a public apology from the church, as well as more than R200 000 in damages for being fired due to his sexual orientation.

You can read the rest of this story at iol.co.za, or find more on Johan Strydom here on gayagenda.com.

Lesbian Jumps into S.F. School Board Race

Citing her work with immigrant Latino parents, out Latina lesbian Barbara “Bobbi” Lopez jumped into the race for San Francisco school board last week, filing her candidate papers on Wednesday, August 13.

The elections department extended the candidate filing period until 5 p.m. Wednesday as incumbents Mark Sanchez and Eric Mar opted not to seek re-election. Both men are running for supervisor.

Lopez, 30, made an appearance at last week’s Democratic County Central Committee meeting to introduce herself. Because Lopez and another candidate – Jaynry Mak – filed on the last day, the DCCC decided to hold off on endorsing in the Board of Education race until its August 27 meeting.

Get the rest of the story from ebar.com.

Winston-Salem PFLAG Seeking Nominees

The Winston-Salem Chapter of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) is seeking nominations for its fourth annual Kaleidoscope Awards, which recognize the contributions of allies to the local gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) community.

Nominations are accepted in five categories: Business; Education (formerly School); Faith Community; Individual; and a new category, Community Organization. These awards focus on the changes being made by fair-minded allies, independently or within organizations, who recognize that moving equality forward is the key to achieving justice for GLBT people.

With the addition of the Community Organization Award, PFLAG recognizes that there are many civic and special-interest organizations that are inclusive and advocate for the civil rights of GLBT people but do not fit into one of the other categories. Additionally, the renamed Education Award has been expanded to recognize those who work for change within the system. Individuals (students, educators, counselors and administrators) as well as educational groups or schools can be nominated for making schools a safer place for GLBT students.

Applications are available at www.pflagwinstonsalem.org and will be accepted through Sept.15. Nominations can be submitted online via e-mail to info@pflagwinstonsalem.org, or by mail to PFLAG Winston-Salem, PO Box 15477, Winston-Salem, NC 27106.

You can also read more of this at 2journalnow.com.

Lesbian Families Happy Despite Homophobia

The 17-year-olds participating in the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS) “demonstrate significantly higher social competence” and “significantly lower total problem behavior [than the standard population]. This is a very high indication of mental health,” asserts Dr. Nanette Gartrell, principal investigator of the NLLFS and Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California-San Francisco. “They are performing much better than the enormous [overall] population of teens out there.”

She and her colleagues Heidi Peyser, the study’s executive director, and co-investigator Dr. Henny Bos of the University of Amsterdam have begun releasing preliminary results from the teen phase of this multi-year study of a group of lesbian families, the longest-running and largest investigation of its kind. To date, they have completed interviews (including questionnaires and standardized psychological tests) with about half of the families. They hope to have the rest by next spring. Their findings provide reassurance for lesbian parents and prospective parents, and offer evidence and guidance for educators and policy makers.
The primary goal of the study was to follow the first wave of lesbian families created through donor insemination. (Limited resources meant they did not also look at adoptive families.) Her team began interviewing the mothers in 1986, when they were inseminating or pregnant, then again when the children were a year and a half to two years old, five, and ten. They directly questioned the 10-year-olds, and now the 17-year-olds, as well. Of the initial 84 families, 79 are still participating, which Gartrell calls a “phenomenal” retention rate for studies of this type.

Read more at baywindows.com.

Catching up with Gay Former Senator Barrios

It’s been a little over a year since Jarrett Barrios, the first openly gay man to win election to the state Senate, left Beacon Hill to head the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, the healthcare philanthropy that was a driving force behind the enactment of the state’s landmark health insurance reform law. For those of you wondering what he’s been up to since he left the political stage, we recently did a quick catch-up with Barrios and got the scoop.

For one thing, the man who was a leader on LGBT issues in the legislature has managed to continue that advocacy in his new post by working with BCBSF board chair Phil Johnston to expand the criteria for the administration of the foundation’s grants so that healthcare disparities within the LGBT community can be researched and remedied. “It’s a lot less dramatic than gay marriage,” said Barrios, who served a total of nine years in the legislature, first as a state representative and later in the Senate.

Read the rest at baywindows.com.