Wanted to take a moment to congratulate all the members of the Class of 2011 since the school year is almost over. Hope that you had a wonderful senior year, and that your next steps to college life if you're a high school senior or to adulthood if you're leaving college are filled with blessings for your future endeavors.
Definitely wanted to give a special shout out to the trans high school seniors out there whose stories I chronicled this school year such as Oak Reed, Andy Moreno and Niko Walker. It's been an interesting road for some of you and hope that you were able to enjoy the rest of your senior year and this special time in your lives.
And hope I don't have to write about any discriminatory practices at proms by administrators gone wild either like I've had to do over the last several years..
To those trans students whose stories didn't make the headlines but you persevered and got your paper, congratulations. Know that your trans elders are happy for you, glad you did so, thinking about and praying for you as well.
Congrats Class of 2011. May you have abundant success and less drama in your lives.
In a few hours HISD and other school districts in the Houston metro area will begin the 2010-2011 school year. I remember having mixed emotions about it.
While I was sad to have my summer vacation come to an end, on the other hand even with the drama I experienced at times during elementary and sometimes junior high, I was excited to begin a new school year and wonder who my new classmates would be.
But for many TBLG kids, the imminent start of the school year is something they dread due to harassment, bullying or other issues that crop up.
We have other incidents that start because of people pushing their faith based hate at LGBT students. It ends up generating national news involving GLBT students with depressing regularity on many issues.
One of the pieces of new Congressional legislation I was happy to see introduced was the Student Non-Discrimination Act. It was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) and in the House by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) and offers remedies for discrimination “based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity” in public elementary and secondary schools.
Based on what we've seen over the last few years and the recurring lawsuits that TBLG kids have had to file with the help of the ACLU and Lambda Legal just to stand up for their constitutional rights, the SNDA is sorely needed.
Here's hoping that the 2010-2011 school year is a relatively drama free one for LGBT students. Somehow, I doubt it will be.
TransGriot Note: It's August and that means in the States many school districts such as HISD will be starting school in a few weeks.
So for my latest song rewrite Renee actually gave me the idea for it. There's a Staples commercial that originally aired in Canada that puts a little twist on the classic Andy Williams Christmas song. Many parents think that Back To School time is actually the most wonderful time of the year ;)
So TransGriot readers and parents, download that Andy Williams song, fire up your iPods and sing this one with Moni's fresh for the 2k10 remixed lyrics. Might as well annoy your kids as you're out and about shopping for school clothes and supplies.
Parents Most Wonderful Time Of The Year (sung to the tune of 'The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year' by Andy Williams
It's parents most wonderful time of the year Kids vacation time shrinking And every adult thinking 'it's time to cheer' It's the most wonderful time of the year It's the hap-happiest season of all There'll be back to school greetings and PTA meetings And it's almost fall It's the hap-happiest season of all
One last barbecue roasting While the parents are toasting How fast the summer did go There'll be school days stories And tales of the glories of Your school days from long, long ago
It's the most wonderful time of the year To the mall we are going Shopping carts overflowing That first school day is near It's the most wonderful time of the year
One last barbecue roasting While the parents are toasting How fast the summer did go There'll be school days stories And tales of the glories of Your school days from long, long ago
It's the most wonderful time of the year To the mall we are going Shopping carts overflowing That first school day is near It's the most wonderful time It's the most wonderful time It's the most wonderful time It's the most wonderful time of the year
There were several school districts in Texas and at least five other states didn't show President Obama's education speech to schoolchildren last week.
Arlington ISD was among the North Texas school districts who opted out. They cited not wanting to disrupt already prepared teacher lesson plans as their excuse for not doing so.
So when word leaked out the AISD was planning to bus approximately 600 fifth graders on September 21 to a 2011 Super Bowl kickoff event at Cowboys Stadium featuring George W. Bush, the reaction in the Metroplex and nationally was swift and immediate.
In the wake of the developing media firestorm, the AISD canceled the field trip to see former President George W. Bush.
"In retrospect, I can see how the district’s decisions concerning these two events could be seen as favoring one event over another," AISD Superintendent McCullough said. "I sincerely regret that this chain of events has occurred and brought negative attention to our district. I apologize that my decisions on behalf of the district have disappointed or hurt people."
We native Texans all know that North Texas is mostly right wing territory.
The initial action of not showing the Obama speech was wrapped in the foul stench of partisan GOP politics. Then you prepare to bus AISD kids to another event for the previous (white) president.
It not only appears hypocritical, but injects the problematic element of race into the situation. It also smacks of unfairness in addition to giving the impression that AISD was politically partisan.
An urban school district such as AISD, especially one with significant POC enrollment can't afford that perception,
Glad Superintendent McCullough recognized the PR mess and corrected the mistakes.
