My whole goal is to change attitudes and give people the knowledge and skills
so they are prepared and ready on day one with research-based information, a support system, contacts and a guide to create change. What is the quickest way to create change in a school? Most of the time the biggest problem is schools have not created a climate that
makes it safe to report bullying. There is a pervasive myth that bullying is just a part of growing up. Boys are told
SAFE
SCHOOLS NOW!
STEP-OUT AND SUPPORT OUR LGBTQ STUDENTS AND ALLIED STUDENTS, TEACHERS AND COUNSELORS. by lisa lipsey
Vinnie and Chaz Bono The Center for Excellence in School Counseling and
Leadership (CESCaL) presents their 2012 Conference: Supporting Students—Saving Lives. This National Confer- ence on LGBT students and school bullying is being held here, in San Diego, Friday, February 17 through Sunday, February 19. There is quite a lot we can do to support this worthy cause and a million reasons why we should. Starting with Vincent “Vinnie” Pompei, the 2012 conference chair, and his story. Vinnie has worked in public education for ten years as a middle school teacher
and high school counselor, has two masters degrees in education and helped start and co-advise his district’s first Gay/Straight Alliance Club at the middle school level. He then developed a comprehensive staff development program on LGBT youth, which has been enthusiastically received in several districts. As the former President of PFLAG in Temecula, one of the most conservative areas of California, Vinnie developed and ran a monthly LGBT youth support group for several years. Currently he volunteers with CESCaL and is an ambassador with the Trevor Project. Vinnie, how did you first become involved in advocating for LGBT and allied youth in and outside the classroom? I was labeled as gay and bullied way before I was ready to tell the world. One day
I came home from school and attempted suicide. I was in high school. Luckily, I didn’t succeed and I came to terms with myself. I knew I needed to dedicate my life to children—at risk, bullied children.
14 RAGE monthly | FEBRUARY 2012
it is inevitable, so man-up. If you are a girl you’re told to tell the person bullying you how it makes you feel. Educators are essentially telling a kid to handle it them- selves. They release their obligation to keep students safe back onto the student. These young people don’t have the skills and necessary emotional confidence
to handle it alone. Schools need to make sure that they have a policy so that students and staff know the policy and that they encourage reporting. Language about not bullying or tolerating bullying must also be included in the reporting policy. The second biggest problem is not talking about it. Bullying, cyberbullying,
etc. needs to be discussed openly with students and parents. There needs to be training on school policy—training that is not just for teachers and staff. Typically bullying has been addressed one to one, versus taking a proactive school-wide stance against the issue. What continues to motivate you? Great things have come from this project. We received so much love and respect from amazing national organizations: GLSEN, Trevor Project, PFLAG, NCLR, The Point Foundation. People have gone above and beyond in being supportive. We’re all volunteers and we have some wonderful, engaged sponsors like AT&T, Wells Fargo and Southwest Airlines. E-mails also keep us going—notes from counselors,
teachers and parents saying, “I got all these tools and training and as a result we have a new comprehensive anti-bullying plan at the district level,” “our district
formed eight new gay/straight alliance clubs,” or “we placed safe space and reporting posters all over campus.” For people in the San Diego gayborhood who want to support the cause, but can’t participate the full weekend. How can they help? If you’re a local and can’t join the full conference, purchase tickets for Friday night’s events! (February 17th). There will be fabulous appetizers and we will be giving out our 2012 CESCaL Advocate
Awards to MTV (Chris Linn, Executive Vice President, Programming and Head of Production at MTV is accepting the award) and to Don Lemon, CNN Anchor (Don will be accepting this award by video). And listen up, our special guest speaker of the evening is Gautam Raghavan,
an Associate Director in the Office of Public Engagement at The White House. He functions as the White House’s liaison to the LGBT community. Previously, he served as Deputy White House Liaison for the Department of Defense, where he served as outreach lead for DoD’s, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Working Group. After that, catch an excerpt from the incredible new play“8.”The play chronicles
the historic trial in the federal legal challenge to California’s Proposition 8, written by American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) Founding Board Member and Academy-Award winning writer Dustin Lance Black. During the evening, you have the opportunity to get your NOH8 photo taken by
celebrity photographer and NOH8 campaign creator Adam Bouska. Plus you can volunteer to create an “It Gets Better” film segment. Look for more of our interview online at
ragemonthly.com.
You can register online for the complete conference or show you support by attending the Friday night celebration
atlgbtqia2012.org.
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