By the Numbers
Some national statistics on sexual orientation ...


* 97 percent of students in public high schools report regularly hearing homophobic remarks from their peers.

* 45 percent of the gay men and 20 percent of the lesbians surveyed were victims of verbal and physical assaults in secondary schools.

* Gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (a person whose gender is not readily characterized, for example a transsexual or hermaphrodite) youth are two to four times more likely than their heterosexual peers to have been threatened or injured with a weapon at school.

* Twice as many gay students reported having been in physical fights.

* 34 percent of lesbian, gay and bisexual students surveyed had been the target of verbal assaults at school, or en route to or from classes.

* Two to three times as many GLBT youth said they had been forced or pressured into having sexual intercourse as their heterosexual peers.

* GLBT students are twice as likely to report bingeing on alcohol (five or more drinks at one time) at least once in the past month.

* GLBT students are twice as likely to report using marijuana in the past month.

* GLBT students are three to 10 times as likely to report having ever tried cocaine.

* GLBT students are twice as likely to report having seriously considered suicide in the past year.

* GLBT students are three to four times as likely to report having attempted suicide in the past year.

* Students who describe themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender are five times more likely to miss school because of feeling unsafe; 28 percent drop out.

* 85 percent of teachers oppose integrating lesbian, gay and bisexual themes in their curricula.

* Due to sexual-orientation discrimination, lesbians earn up to 14 percent less than their heterosexual female peers with similar jobs, education, age and residence, according to a study by the University of Maryland.

* A survey of 191 employers revealed that 18 percent would fire, 27 percent would refuse to hire and 26 percent would refuse to promote a person they perceived to be lesbian, gay or bisexual.


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Group Working to End Homophobia
By CHRISTINE LIVENGOOD, Gazette Staff Writer
Indiana Cares Campaign to hold film festival


"We tried to put a gay on the moon."

That was Indiana University of Pennsylvania sociology professor Robert Heasley's tongue-in-cheek response when asked about the goals and projects of the Indiana Cares Campaign to End Homophobia(a fear and hatred of homosexuals and homosexuality). The group is a campus and community organization he co-founded about three years ago in an effort to make Indiana more gay-friendly.

But while getting a gay person on the moon may be a little far-fetched for ICC, one project that seemed just as unlikely three years ago is about to come to fruition.

In the ICC's first major undertaking, the group will be hosting a GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) Film Festival - Indiana's first ever - on four Sundays in October at the Indiana Theater along Philadelphia Street. Four feature films - a drama, comedy, foreign film and documentary - will be shown, and pre- and post-movie discussions will be held. Admission to the festival - co-sponsored by the President's Commission on GLBT Issues at IUP, the Pride Alliance and the First Unitarian-Universalist


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Some Schools Working To Protect Gay Students

 
Some Iowa school districts are changing their policies to protect openly gay students. About 17 school districts across the state including Ames, Des Moines, Urbandale and West Des Moines are protecting homosexual students by making changes to their anti-discrimination policies. Critics of the policy change say that all students should be protected against sexual harassment, but school officials say that gay students often get the brunt of the abuse.



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N.C. Anti-Gay Amendment Dies
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


(Raleigh, North Carolina)  The North Carolina Constitution has adjourned allowing a proposed amendment to the state Constitution to die.

Lawmakers stated a 19 hours final sitting to finish work on several bills, but attempts by Republicans to force through the amendment failed when the Democratic leadership refused to allow the legislation to come to a vote.

Gay civil rights group  Equality North Carolina proclaimed victory as the gavel came down on the final sitting of the legislature.

 "This victory sends a message that our community can effectively mobilize to stop discriminatory state constitutional amendments," said Ian Palmquist, Equality North Carolina's executive director of programs. 


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Campaign starts against ban on legal status for unmarried couples
CARRIE SPENCER
Associated Press


COLUMBUS, Ohio - Opponents of a constitutional amendment that would deny legal status to unmarried couples announced Monday that they're forming a political action committee and will try to raise millions of dollars to buy television ads.

Meanwhile, the amendment's supporters still are collecting signatures to get the proposal in the November election.

The proposal commonly called a gay marriage ban applies to all unmarried couples and would prohibit any legal status "that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage."


The two sides disagree on the implications of that phrase, calling each other misleading.