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2008 Events
Upcoming Regional Leadership Training
Led by GSA youth for GSA youth, Regional Leadership Trainings are being scheduled for Farmington and Las Vegas. If you're interested in scheduling a training in your area, please contact Cooper at (505)983-6158 ext. 33 or by email to schedule a training for your school or region.
All Colors Youth Summit (ACYS)
April 18, Open Mic Night and GSA Youth Art Show
April 19, Workshops and Dance Party.
Call for Proposals:
Contact us if you have workshop ideas or want to lead a workshop. Past workshop topics have included political activism, queer history, drag queen/king, gender identity, coming out forums, spoken word, self-defense, etc.
Santa Fe Pride Youth Event
June 2008 during Santa Fe Pride Week. Details to be announced.
Lots of events are hosted the two weeks before Santa Fe Pride, but let's make something great happen for New Mexico Youth! We will be creating a youth event! What do you want? A pride float, BBQ, camping trip, queer prom, dance party, spoken word workshop/event? Contact us and vote! Currently an LGBTQ and Friends Prom has been the favorite idea. What are your ideas? Email cooper@santafemc.org and let us know!
For dates, times and locations of all events, check Event Listings page.
PFLAG Scholarship Announcement
PFLAG Santa Fe is pleased to announce that this year the Santa Fe chapter of PFLAG will offer a minimum of $15,000.00 in scholarships for the 2008/09 academic year. The deadline for students to apply is April 5th, 2008.
The purpose of these scholarships is to recognize outstanding lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth; to encourage continuing education for self-identified LGBT youth; and to foster a positive image of LGBT people in society.
Please note the following eligibility requirements:
- Priority is given to LGBT youth, however LGBT students of all ages are eligible to apply.
- Must be 17 years of age or older as of May 1st, 2008.
- Currently attending or registering to attend a post-secondary educational institution.
- Resident of the state of New Mexico.
- Must submit an application with required supporting materials by the application deadline.
- Awards will be paid by check jointly to the student and the institution.
Applications will be considered only if the following is postmarked by April 5th, 2008:
- Completed Application — original and three copies;
- Your high school or GED transcript (sent by your school) or your most recent post-secondary transcripts (if applicable); and
- Two letters of recommendation (sent by your references)
The application is available online at pflagsantafe.org or from this website's downloads page. We can also email or snail mail you a copy of the application.
If you have any questions, please contact us at scholarship@pflagsantafe.org or by calling Jenn at 660-3288, or Alicia or Eduardo (habla español) at 424-8951.
Thank you for supporting the PFLAG Scholarship Program. Please pass the word along!
Yours,
Jenn Jevertson & Niki Kearby
PFLAG Scholarship Co-Chairs
Letter from Cooper
Hello, Everyone! My name is Cooper and I am the new New Mexico GSA Network Coordinator. I just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself, and to welcome all former GSA Members back again. And to all new GSA Members this year, welcome!
I am looking forward to working with you all this year to make New Mexico schools safe for ALL students — regardless of their orientation or gender presentation! I love New Mexico and I believe it is a place where the amazing diversity of all of us who live here can coexist peacefully. We live in a time where there is so much hatred, violence and unrest in this world, but we have a unique opportunity to change the very communities we live in. We CAN put an end to hatred and violence toward gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth (as well as youth who may just be perceived as such) in our schools and in our towns. Often critics of GSA's seem to forget a very important part of what we are about: the "S" in our acronym. Our straight allies join us for many reasons: perhaps a parent, family member or friend is a member of the LGBT community, or they simply want to take a stand against discrimination and harassment towards LGBT people. Or perhaps they themselves, although straight, are victims of harassment or violence because they do not conform to standards of gender expression narrowly attributed to heterosexual people.
Whatever the reason, we welcome our straight allies to our clubs and thank them for speaking up and walking with us! It is important for heterosexual people to fight to end harassment and violence against LGBT people just as it is important for white-skinned people to speak out against racism and prejudice, or for people of different religious beliefs to stand up for people being discriminated against for their spiritual faith. GSA clubs do not "promote" a sexual preference, they ACCEPT.
We offer GSA's as a safe haven for youth who run the gauntlet of terror, harassment and often violence every day in the corridors of their schools. LGBT and Questioning youth are much more at risk than non-queer youth to be victims of violence, drug and alcohol abuse and suicide.
"65% of teens have been verbally or physically harassed or assaulted during the past year because of their perceived or actual appearance, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, race/ethnicity, disability or religion. The reason most frequently cited for being harassed is a student's appearance — the way they look or their body size.
"The next most common reason for frequent harassment is sexual orientation. In fact, nine in ten LGBT students have been verbally or physically harassed in the past year because of their physical appearance, race/ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation or gender expression, compared to only four in ten non-LGBT identified teens. Furthermore, LGBT students are over three times more likely than non-LGBT students to report that they feel unsafe at school (20% vs. 6%)."
(GLSEN: From Teasing To Torment, National School Climate Survey)
We want every child in New Mexico to be able to receive an education and graduate from high school, safely, regardless of how they identify!
I am proud and excited to work with our youth leaders (the GSA Network is Youth Driven!) and their school sponsors to make this a positive, productive and fun year!