Fighting For Our Next Generation at the Massachusetts State House

By: Allison Wright 

Tuesday was a momentous day for unaccompanied homeless LGBTQ and HIV positive youth in Massachusetts. As I finagled my way to a corner of an over-crowded and sweltering room located in the basement of the State House, where over 50 people waited to offer testimony for one of the 15 bills listed, I was pleased to see many familiar faces.

Youth workers from Youth on Fire and Boston GLASS waited patiently in the back of the hearing room fanning themselves in an attempt to deal with the almost unbearable heat. Current and formerly homeless LGBTQ youth I’ve worked with at BAGLY or spoken with during my many trips to Boston GLASS slowly began to creep their way through the masses.

We were all there for the same reason – to show our support for “An Act Providing Housing and Supportive Services for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth.”

“An Act Providing Housing and Supportive Services for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth” is a key step to improving housing and residential stability, reducing the risk of harm and improving educational, physical and mental health outcomes for unaccompanied homeless youth.

With recent reports suggesting that up to 40% of unaccompanied homeless youth in the United States identify as LGBT, this bill will particularly benefit unaccompanied homeless LGBTQ youth in Massachusetts.
The lack of youth-specific resources in Massachusetts is alarming. As one youth testified, “there is only 1 shower for 16 guests” at Bridge Over Troubled Waters – one of the few youth specific shelters in Massachusetts.

Youth, particularly LGBTQ youth, avoid adult shelters due to fear of violence, harassment, and lack competency on LGBTQ issues. As a result, youth opt to sleep on the street and resort to survival crimes, exposing them to increased violence, incarceration, and HIV transmission.

Homelessness has also been linked to school drop-out rates. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education estimates that nearly 6,000 high school students are experiencing homelessness and are out on their own.

The need for greater resources for LGBTQ youth in the out-of-home care setting as well as stronger anti-bullying laws for LGBTQ students are two of the many priorities for GLAD’s Youth Initiative Project.
On May 30, Senior Staff Attorney and leader of GLAD’s Youth Initiative, Vickie Henry, testified in support of “An Act Relative to Bullying in Schools.” The proposed legislation would make much needed improvements to the state’s anti-bullying law by adding important provisions for enumerating protected classes - including LGBTQ students; for tracking and reporting bullying behavior; and for conducting a student school climate survey.

Bullying harms academic performance and, sometimes, leads to the ending of a young life. Through GLAD’s extensive outreach in the LGBTQ and HIV positive youth community, we have heard the stories of numerous students who report being bullied because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression.

GLAD joins in supporting the passage of “An Act Providing Housing and Support Services for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth” and “An Act Relative to Bullying in Schools.”  Both bills will greatly improve the everyday lives our next generation.

If it ain’t broke…

Yesterday, GLAD attorney Ben Klein testified at the State House in favor of “An Act relative to abusive practices to change sexual orientation and gender identity in minors,” legislation to outlaw so-called “reparative therapy” – the dangerous and discredited practice which purports to change people from gay to straight and transgender to non-transgender – for people under the age of 18.

“So-called conversion therapy is a disgraceful chapter in our society’s mistreatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people,” Ben told members of the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities. “It’s been proven ineffective, it defies modern medicine, and it inflicts serious psychological harm on young people.”

Sponsored by state Rep. Carl Sciortino, an openly gay legislator, the bill prevents healthcare professionals licensed in Massachusetts from using “reparative therapy” techniques on young people. GLAD is among a coalition of LGBT, mental health and child welfare organizations supporting the legislation.

The Day DOMA Died

It’s not every day you get to stand at the foot of the marble stairs (quarried from Vermont!) of the U.S. Supreme Court on the day a blockbuster decision related to LGBT rights is handed down. But there I was in the sweltering heat at about 8:00 a.m. yesterday, waiting on two decisions. Though rulings in the Windsor DOMA case and the Perry Prop. 8 case were at least two hours from being handed down, the media was already out in full force, with dozing cameramen seated in folding beach chairs, all shaded by umbrellas. The line of folks hoping to get inside for a front row seat to history was already growing.

GLAD Civil Rights Project Director
Mary L. Bonauto arriving at the Court 

It wasn’t long before I caught up with my colleague Mary Bonauto, who laid so much of the foundation on which the Windsor victory was built, as Justin Peters described so well in this piece on Slate yesterday.  As the sun rose higher over the courthouse, we continually moved around in a mostly useless attempt to keep cool.

 
But soon there was nowhere left to move, as the sidewalk by the court was quickly clogged with LGBT people and allies from around the country, singing and chanting and keeping their hopes high. I was surprised there wasn’t a more visible presence of people who oppose LGBT rights. Maybe they were all in a bunker somewhere, bracing themselves for the end of the world. I did glimpse Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage strolling along the edge of the crowd, where no one seemed to notice him. He was still smiling at that point, but I’m guessing his day went a little south after the big news got out.

The Most Important Thing

Kelly, Nicole, Jonas and Wayne Maines, with GLAD attorneys Jennifer Levi and

Ben Klein, outside the Maine Law Court after oral argument June 12, 2013

“I hope [the justices] understand how important it is for students to be able to go to school and get an education, have fun, make friends and not have to worry about being bullied by students or the administration and to be accepted for who they are. That’s the most important thing.” - Nicole Maines

Not long into yesterday’s Maine Supreme Court arguments in our case Doe v. Clenchy, our client Nicole Maines leaned in a little closer to her mother, bringing her head to rest on Kelly Maines’ shoulder. 

It’s good to have a supportive and loving parent around when things get tough, and listening to a cadre of lawyers and judges debating the difficult, discriminatory experiences of your life and your rights as a transgender girl can make for a tough day for a 15-year-old. Her dad Wayne and her twin brother Jonas were also by her side at the arguments.

The family has stuck together and supported each other through the stress of more than four years of legal proceedings and media attention related to the discrimination Nicole experienced as a 5^th grader at her Orono middle school, where administrators rescinded her access to the girls’ restroom after a male classmate followed her into the facility to make trouble. Nicole was forced to use a staff bathroom and separated from the other girls, in violation of Maine’s trans-inclusive non-discrimination law. The reversal forced Wayne and Kelly to withdraw their children from the Orono school system and move to another part of the state so they could attend school quietly and safely.

How to Be a Great LGBT Family

Jonas, Wayne, Nicole and Kelly Maines in D.C. last year. Wayne, Jonas and Nicole were guests at President Obama's annual LGBT Pride reception.

 Editor’s Note: June 3 is the 8^th Annual Blogging for LGBT Families Day, a tradition aimed at showing support for our families in the blogosphere brought to you by Mombian.com, one of our favorite LGBT parenting blogs. We hope you enjoy this post about a loving and courageous family with which GLAD has had the privilege to work.

If you think your family is being discriminated against based on a member’s gender identity or sexual orientation, contact GLAD’s Legal InfoLine for help.

When we think of LGBT families, we primarily think of those headed by LGBT parents.  But really, any family that includes an LGBT person is an LGBT family since so often, that person’s experience as a member of our community impacts their entire family. When these families stand up and share their stories, they help educate the world about our community and serve as powerful examples about the importance of loving and supporting LGBT family members – particularly our youth.

I can’t think of a better example than the family behind our case Doe v. Clenchy, which will be heard before Maine’s highest court this month. GLAD is representing a transgender teen girl, identified in court records as “Susan Doe,” whose elementary and middle schools removed her from the girls’ restroom because she is transgender and forced her to use a staff-only restroom in isolation from her peers. Eventually, her parents were forced to withdraw their daughter and her twin brother from the Orono school system and move to another part of the state so they could attend school quietly and safely.

School’s Out – But You Still Have Rights!

Congratulations students on finishing up another school year!

The year may be winding down, but GLAD still wants you to know your rights.

Below is a summary of some of the more important rights you need to know. But remember, you can always contact GLAD’s Legal InfoLine with any questions, and you can check out our detailed information for each New England state.

Happy Anniversary! 9 Years of Marriage Equality Today

Post by Laura Kiritsy, Manager of Public Education

It’s been fascinating and fun to watch as legislators in Rhode Island, Delaware and Minnesota passed marriage equality bills that their respective governors enthusiastically signed into law in the past few weeks.

Things have changed dramatically from 10 years ago, when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling in our Goodridge marriage lawsuit pitched Beacon Hill -- along with our usual opponents in the Catholic Church hierarchy and the religious right -- into a state of hysteria.

“Opposition set in in about one nano-second,” Mary Bonauto recalled in the documentary film Saving Marriage. That sounds about right.