Source: trash-mosh

26 October 9498 projectqueer Permalink

Young Scottish politicians in campaign for same-sex marriages

Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) donned wedding dresses and morning suits in a bid to urge the Scottish Government to allow same-sex couples to get married.

Their Love Equally campaign, launched on Monday, follows research by the Equality and Rights Commission which shows that the majority of Scottish people support marriage equality.

While civil partnerships have been allowed between couples of the same sex in the UK since 2005, marriage is not legal.

In 2009, the Scottish Government rejected a 1317-signature petition by NUS Scotland calling for the amendment of legislation to allow same-sex marriage and mixed-sex civil partnerships in Scotland on the basis that legalisation of same-sex marriage would require changes on a national level, concerning matters such as pensions and inheritance law.

In February of this year, however, members of the UK Government announced their intention to conduct a consultation on marriage laws.

Grant Costello, 18, chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament said: “Our hope is that the Scottish Government will legislate on equal marriage rights. They have promised to do it at some point during their five year term but I don’t see a reason why they can’t do it now.

“It shouldn’t be something that even needs debated in my opinion; it’s something that quite obviously should be passed into law. Hopefully we’ll convince them that young people want this.”

The SYP voted for the national campaign after consulting with 42,804 young people across Scotland and conducting a debate amongst its 150 elected members.

The group, which involves people aged 14 to 25, now aim to spread their message through a series of events, including festivals, youth group meetings and street activities.

Grant added: “We’ll be doing some really unique and fun things. We are a youth organisation and we do recognise that while people are extremely passionate about politics, it can be a bit boring sometimes, so we like to spice it up a bit and we like to make it entertaining.”

Source: local.stv.tv

1 August 10 Permalink

New York Times interactive piece about Coming Out launched this morning. The featured stories are well done and love that they have the option for people to submit their own story. 

New stories will be launched throughout the week, so bookmark it and return.

23 May 7 Permalink

LGBT Bullying in School Linked to Long-Term Health Effects in New Report

“That’s so gay.”

Phrases such as this one, used dismissively by teenagers in what is often a casual, offhand way, can impair the health of LGBT youth long after classes end, a new study shows. The term is so pervasive, in fact, that an earlier survey found that 90% of American youth have heard “gay” used in a negative way.

A new report by the Family Acceptance Project at San Francisco State University traced the effects of LGBT-victimizing bullying in school — including unintentional epithets like “that’s so gay,” more direct verbal harassment, and physical violence — beyond their initial sting in school hallways. Using data from the project’s survey of 245 LGBT young adults, the paper links such bullying to long-term health and developmental problems.

It found that LGBT-targeted bullying related to gender expression or sexual orientation during school years led to increased young adult depression, suicidal thoughts, social adjustment issues and risky sexual behavior. LGBT young adults that reported high levels of anti-LGBT victimization as teens were 5.6 times more likely to report suicide attempts than those victimized less frequently. They were more than twice as likely to report being clinically depressed, and they were more than twice as likely to report having been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease by young adulthood.

The report also found that young adult GBT males are targeted more frequently than their female counterparts, and that the amount of bullying a boy receives in school can help predict the health issues he will face later in life.

The report, titled “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Adolescent School Victimization: Implications for Young Adult Health and Adjustment” and published in the Journal of School Health, comes as both popular culture and policy hone in on the topic. The plot of last week’s episode of the ever-popular Fox hit show Glee, for example, revolved around quiet, biting homophobic bullying: an openly gay male was (spoiler alert!) crowned Prom Queen.

“I don’t know if these issues are getting easier to talk about, but a lot of people are willing to have the conversation,” said Jeff Krehely, director of the LGBT Research & Communications Project at the Center for American Progress. “That has to do with the fact that a lot more people are out as L, G, B, or T than they were 10 or 15 years ago.”

Source: The Huffington Post

16 May 146 Permalink

This sounds like a really interesting new project and its done by another Smith Alum.  Check it out!

“We Are the Youth” is a photographic journalism project chronicling the individual stories of queer teenagers in the United States. “We Are the Youth” aims to capture the incredible diversity and uniqueness among LGBTQ youth.

We want to give you a chance to tell your story.

By taking your picture and interviewing you, we hope to capture the subtle moments in your lives.

“We Are the Youth” is a collaborative endeavor and something we want you to feel ownership of. We’ll take your picture where you want, in whatever way you feel comfortable, and when we interview you, the story will be in your words.

All the details are HERE

25 June Permalink