Letter From GLSEN Richmond
GLSEN Richmond is a chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) which works to ensure safe schools for ALL students in the greater Richmond metropolitan area and Central Virginia.Our chapter is most proud of the support we provide to Gay Straight Alliance clubs (GSAs) in our schools. GSA clubs have been shown to be particularly effective in reducing harassment and bullying through student-led peer-to-peer interactions. There are currently GSA clubs in 10 schools in Central Virginia. Our chapter has also been involved in local policy change issues and state-wide legislative efforts. Working with other community and religious groups through the Richmond Safe Schools Coalition, we seek the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in the anti-harassment or anti-bullying policies of local school districts. Currently, only Henrico County includes sexual orientation in its anti-harassment policy. Our chapter has also worked with Equality Virginia, the Richmond Safe Schools Coalition, Commonwealth Education Equality Virginia (CEEVA) and others to help defeat legislation proposed in the Virginia Legislature which would permit banning of GSA clubs by local school districts. HB-1308 in the 2006 legislative session and HB-2868 in the 2005 legislative session both passed the House of Delegates but were defeated in the Senate Education Committee. Individuals involved in our Public Education Committee have conducted presentations and trainings for local school personnel and other community groups. This Committee also sponsors informational booths at various community events to increase awareness of issues facing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth in our schools. We are an all-volunteer organization without paid staff, and rely upon volunteers to help us carry out the programs, services, and activities to further GLSEN’s Mission in Central Virginia. We hope you’ll explore some of the ideas for becoming involved with the work of our chapter presented in the “Resources” section of this web page. If you have an idea of what you’d like to do, but don’t see it listed – let us know about it and we’ll see what is possible. Please consider a donation to our chapter by clicking on the “donate” button on our chapter’s web page. We are entirely funded through local donations and various fundraising activities and projects that we undertake. Thank you for your interest, and we’re looking forward to hearing from you.
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