Local groups gather to support LGBT students
In a large white church on the corner of North Aurora Street, patrons shuffle about preparing for their big night. A tall 60-something woman at the front with peppered hair guides lost performers to Gillie, the head of the event.
“She’s wearing a silk blue shirt, she has blonde hair,” she says. “And she looks straight. But I guess they all do these days, we should really start marking lesbians.”
Times have changed.
On October 25, Gillie Waddington, president of Ithaca’s Out Loud Chorus, led “It Gets Better!,” an evening to celebrate the Dignity for All Students Act and support young LGBT students at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. The act, a bill that prohibits harassment and discrimination based on race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, disability, sexual orientation or gender, was passed by the state of New York this September. The event was inspired by recent LGBT deaths associated with bullying.
“We decided we needed to do this event last fall,” Waddington said. “It was right after Tyler Clementi and a couple other boys committed suicide, and that really lit the fire for us to do this.”
The evening featured performances by the Out Load Chorus, a local LGBT choir, two choruses from Lansing High School, Voices Multicultural Chorus and the New Roots Charter School mixed chorus. Between the vocal groups, speakers took to the mic to talk about tolerance education, videos of LGBT student’s stories and a slideshow in homage to kids who took their own lives after being bullied at school.
Lee Cutler, secretary-treasurer of New York State United Teachers, spoke at the event. Culter was a long-time teacher before he left the classroom to work as an advocate for social justice in education. He emphasized the need for citizens to work to encourage schools to create real change in their communities.
“This is a moment you can either squander or really celebrate,” he said. “We now have legislation that forces every school district in the state to implement meaningful training, and I emphasize meaningful, to staff.”
Courtney McGuire, a youth programs assistant at the Ithaca Youth Bureau, works to build inclusive communities in the bureau’s after-school programs and said tolerance education needs to begin at a young age.
“They leave our after-school program and they go home and they teach their parents things,” she said. “They stand up for the other kids.”
To watch a video of the performance, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQiEWC2-Xko
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