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Grand Marshal Caleb Laieski


Caleb Laieski is a 16 year old activist from Surprise, Arizona who, since coming out in the 8th grade, experienced almost daily bullying and harassment from his classmates because of his sexual orientation. Caleb has been fighting ever since to make school districts and state and national authorities respond to the problem of bullying of LGBT students with measures to prevent it as well as support the needs of victims.


When a freshman in high school, an older boy, shouting homophobic slurs, threatened to stab Caleb, and when he complained to school administrators, nothing was done. Later, the same bully drove his car onto the sidewalk where Caleb and his friends were standing. That was the last straw for Caleb. He dropped out of high school and earned his GED.


Caleb founded Gays and Lesbians United Against Discrimination at age 13. He emailed more than 5,000 school administrators, city council members and state law makers demanding improved measures to fight discrimination. He let officials know that LGBT youth face more bullying than their heterosexual peers and offered to refer officials to organizations and experts that would help them combat the problem. He further warned that policies must be instituted specifically prohibiting LGBT harassment or schools will face legal consequences. His activism was successful at his own school, where policies were changed in his own district as the result of his experiences with bullying.


Caleb took the cause to Washington to promote a safe schools bill. He worked on Capitol Hill visiting almost 200 congressional offices in 22 days and met with Secretary of Human and Health Services Kathleen Sebelius to discuss the issue of bullying and it’s impact. A few days later, he was included in the Secretary’s speech at the first- ever Federal LGBT Youth Summit that was held by the Department of Education.


Caleb was invited to the White House inaugural Conference on Bullying Prevention and met with President Obama to share his experiences and propose that the president appoint a gay youth advisor to help with decisions pertaining to LGBT youth.


Caleb has stated: “My hope is to prevent people from experiencing the same type of harassment, threats and bullying that I had to endure during my teen years. My mission is for LGBT people to have the same rights, goals and dreams of every other person in this country; to have somewhere to go, and someone to turn to when the world turns its back on them!”


Greater Palm Springs Pride is honored to feature this outstanding young champion for human rights as Grand Marshal of this year’s Pride parade.


GREATER PALM SPRINGS PRIDE 2 0 1 1


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PHOTO COURTESY THE WHITE HOUSE


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