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The Equality Herald - East Tennessee's source for LGBT community news |
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February 19, 2007Mama’s boy comes to Knoxville Founder of GLSEN raises money for ACF
Editor and Publisher
The trauma he endured provided the impetus for another aspect of Jennings’ work. In 1990, 70 gay and lesbian educators founded a local New York group, Gay and Lesbian Independent School Teachers Network (GLSTN.) At that time, there were only two Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) groups for LGBTQ students in the nation. By 1995, GLSTN moved on to become a national organization and hired its first professional staffer, founder and Executive Director Kevin Jennings. Two years later, the name was changed to the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) as it is known today. Today they have 30 full time professionals on staff with a registry that boasts more than 2500 GSAs nationwide. They sponsor the familiar National Day of Silence and the newer National No Name Calling Week as they work toward reducing bullying and harassment in our nation’s schools. As part of his recent visit to Knoxville, Jennings presented a slide show depicting 500 years of gay and lesbian history. Held on UT-K campus in conjunction with UT-K’s Lambda Student Union and the recently formed (and as yet unannounced) UT Commission for LGBT People as well as the Appalachian Community Fund (ACF.)
Jennings’ recent visit to our area also
included an
A well-attended house party held
locally at the home of Marsha and Terry Uzelton drew progressives from
across the community to gather in support of this wonderful
cause. Jennings livened up the evening See the photos of the house party
here. Beacon Press is offering free shipping & a 10% discount on GLSEN Founder and Executive Director Kevin Jennings’ new memoir, Mama’s Boy, Preacher’s Son. A portion of the proceeds from this offer will be donated to support GLSEN’s safe schools work.To take advantage of this offer and support GLSEN: 1. visit the Beacon Press website 2. click on “Add to Cart.” 3. In the checkout page, simply enter “GLSEN” as the discount code and you’ll receive free shipping and a 10% discount on Mama’s Boy, Preacher’s Son and any other book on the site. Best of all, a portion of the proceeds generated through this offer will benefit GLSEN’s work to ensure safe schools for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. See all the photos from the ACF fundraiser here. |
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effort to raise funds for ACF, an organization dedicated to progressive
change in Central Appalachia. ACF funds projects that seek to create
positive change around issues such as “poverty, racism, and social
inequity in Appalachia.” This group supports not only grassroots
organizations, but also low-income individuals who work for change in
their own communities. The group has contributed more than $3.6 million to
over 300 community organizations in the course of its 19-year history.
