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gaywrites:

Next week North Carolina will vote on Amendment One, the measure that would ban recognition of same-sex relationships, be they marriage or other kinds of unions.

Recent numbers from Public Policy Polling show that 55 percent of respondents favor the ban on marriage equality, whereas 41 percent oppose it. These results are pretty consistent with other polls - in April, a poll found that 40 percent of people opposed the measure.

However, when respondents were asked specifically about whether they agreed with outlawing civil unions, only 38 percent said yes and 46 percent said no. According to Public Policy Polling, this could mean not everyone is totally aware of what the amendment will actually do, and therefore some educational outreach efforts are in order.

North Carolina friends, please start talking this up as much as possible. We do not need another state taking away our right to love. 

gaywrites:

It’s well-known (and quite unfortunate) that some universities, namely private religious schools, aren’t exceptionally friendly to their LGBT students. But Shane Windmeyer of nationally recognized Campus Pride says it’s time for these schools to shed their discriminatory policies and welcome all their students with open arms. 

The central news story here is that Pepperdine University, a school affiliated with the Churches of Christ, this week denied the creation of an LGBT support group - the fourth time they’ve rejected such an idea. Likewise, the University of Notre Dame has refused to allow the formation of gay-straight alliances since 2007.

The schools say LGBT organizations conflict with religious teachings and ideas of sexual morality. Pepperdine claims students involved in LGBT organizations cannot stay neutral, and Notre Dame goes as far as to say it “cannot distinguish between sexual orientation and behavior.” I wish I were kidding.

But Windmeyer steps in with the argument that seems obvious to most of us: love thy neighbor. LGBT kids come from all walks of life, including religious backgrounds, that lead them to attend schools like Pepperdine and Notre Dame. Because these schools are private, they have the right to enact such policies, but they have a greater responsibility to provide a safe and supportive campus for students.

With visibility comes a moral responsibility for administrators to create a safe learning environment, regardless of sexual or gender identity. Public and private colleges are held responsible for the safety of all their students. It is not a surprise that the LGBT and ally students at both Pepperdine and Notre Dame give their negative experiences of bias and prejudice as reasons for forming a student group on campus. Ignoring these anti-LGBT incidents will only hurt the university and its students.

Windmeyer rocks it in this column - activists at these schools should really take note and pass it along. 

I’ll seriously never attend a religious university, and this is just one of the reasons. It’s unfortunate that institutions that are supposed to promote good will, spirituality, and uphold the morality (whatever that means) can’t even allow for diversity amongst their students, can’t see that sexuality is a part of human nature. I wish every lgbt student could just transfer, and every Ally with them. Then maybe these places would see that they’re hurting real people, not just “protecting moral sex” or whateverthefuck.

gaywrites:

A new study by the Family Acceptance Project found students who go to high schools with gay-straight alliances (GSAs) reap several benefits from the club’s presence at their school. 

According to the study, LGBT teenagers who attended a school with a GSA were less likely to have depression, had higher self esteem, were less likely to drop out and were more likely to succeed in higher education. These effects were apparent even in LGBT students who weren’t involved with the GSA. 

However, the Huffington Post pointed out an interesting side note:

GSA clubs can have a significant impact on students’ lives — both in the classroom and outside of school — but bullying against LGBT students remains a problem in many schools that the GSA is not equipped to handle alone. GSAs can only do so much: at schools with higher levels of victimization of LGBT students, the harassment, bullying, and violence that these students experienced cancelled out many of the GSAs’ positive effects.

I totally buy all of this. As LGBT youth make headlines more frequently for reasons good and bad, GSAs are becoming a staple in high schools and controversy breaks out when something stands in the way of a GSA developing. Having a safe space at school can’t be a bad thing, whether or not you’re involved.