Oh those wacky Polish children's rights watchers .... always a day behind and a dollar short.  Remeber back in 1999 when Jerry Falwell deemed Teletubbie Tinky Winky a homo because he carried a purse (TW is the purple one)?  Now Ewa Sowinski is on the same bandwagon.  Well, she way until apparently someone reminder her of 1999 so she's off again.

"I noticed that he has a purse, but I didn't realize he's a boy. At first I thought that must be a bother for him," Sowinska told the magazine in an interview her office approved before publication. "Later I learned that there could be some hidden homosexual undertones."

Sowinska is a member of the League of Polish Families party, which is militantly anti-gay rights and anti-abortion. The party is a junior member in the coalition government led by Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

Spokespeople from Sowinska's office have confirmed that they will not ask psychologists to examine the character.

Kacszynski has famously said, ""It's not in the interests of any society to increase the number of homosexuals, that's obvious."

I have a recurring dream that my father and I are on a long highway and we see a bridge that says "This way to Poland" and another exit that says "This way to France."  For some reason, I always want to go to Poland.  My father goes to France anyway.  For the record, as a lesbian and a woman, I'd much rather go to France.  Thank goodness for my Dad.

April 18 is the 11th Annual Day of Silence.

The Day of Silence is an annual event held to bring attention to anti-LGBT bullying, harassment and discrimination in schools. Students and teachers nationwide will observe the day in silence to echo the silence that LGBT and ally students face everyday. In it's 11th year, the Day of Silence is one of the largest student-led actions in the country.

Pittsburgh's chapter of GLSEN leads the charge on the student-driven effort to educate and empower their fellow students around LGBT bias in America's schools and the school systems. 

So what happens?  Essentially, participants remain silent that day in solidarity with those who are "silenced" because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or alliance with the LGBT students.  According to the national website, more than half a million students have participated over the past ten years.

Why do we need a Day of Silence?GLSEN’s 2005 National School Climate Survey found that 4 out of 5 LGBT students report verbal, sexual or physical harassment at school and more than 30% report missing at least a day of school in the past month out of fear for their personal safety. The Day of Silence helps bring us closer to making anti-LGBT bullying, harassment and name-calling unacceptable in America’s schools.

The Day of Silence is a call to action. Students can use this day, as well as other GLSEN Days of Action, as a means of achieving an “ask.” An ask is a very specific action that calls for a change in school policies, climate, and culture to achieve a larger goal of safe schools for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. Some examples of an ask include: adding sexual orientation and gender identity/expression in your school’s non-discrimination or anti-harassment policy, or training teachers to respond effectively to anti-LGBT bullying, harassment, and name-calling.

Here's a good example of why this day is so important.  Christian-opponents have begun organizing "Days of Truth" to spread their message of gay-intolerance in the schools.  They believe that the learning environment should not respect or protect the rights of all students to pursue an education without harassment or discrimination.  They twist this into a Christianity versus homosexuality situation and have gone to court to force school districts to recognize their free speech and freedom of religion in this context.  The schools are backing down because its a fine line.

What's interesting is the Christo arguement that a Day of Silence impedes their free speech.  Ironic, no? 

Check out the GLSEN website and take a moment on April 18 to contemplate all the ways in which you are silenced. 

The Post-Gazette has a thoughtful piece on Dreams of Hope, a local drama troupe for LGBTQ teens and their allies.  Their performance theme this year is "Gay Youth in Good Faith."

"One of the biggest themes is the personal issue of sin, of how something that is so natural and doesn't seem like a bad thing, can be seen as horrible and people reject them for it. That is a big issue that most of them are dealing with," said [founder]Ms. [Susan] Haugh.

One need only read back posts on this blog to verify that the intersection of faith and sexual orientation can be treacherous. It can also be uplifting and magnificent as our own local Reverend Janet Edwards has demonstrated. 

The youth themselves have different experiences of faith -- in some cases, acceptance by their faith community while others have been cast out by their very own clergy-parents.  What's cool about these young people is that they channel those individual experiences of faith into a constructive dialogue for the larger LGBTQ community. 

What a great gift for those of who aren't so much youth any longer.  These kids are creatively exploring these intersections of identity that perplex the hell out of most adults, particularly gay people of faith in non-affirming communities. 

Kudos to Dreams of Hope for being a few steps ahead of the rest of us, but inviting us along for the journey. 

One scene re-creates a bus ride two actors took during which another rider condemned them by reciting Bible verses.

"That really hurt me, because I believe in God," said Renee Ballard, 20, a pastor's daughter from the North Side, who was on the bus.

Ms Ballard said that when she came out as a lesbian, her relatives rejected her, asking how she could still call herself a Christian. But there has since been reconciliation, she said.

"I told them I believe in God and God is in my life no matter what I'm doing. God loves me, no matter what. My sister came and said that she would also love me, no matter what," she said.

Check out Dreams of Hope at their website.

The woman who loves to hate us dykes and faggots is at it again.  Diane Gramley, the high priestess of Pennsylvania family values, has snagged herself a story in the Beaver County Times outlining her "concerns" about recent outreach from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) to the Ambridge Area School District.

The Ambridge School District caught our attention late last year when School Board member William Scherfel referred to the high school's GSA as a "sex club" and its members as "fags."  Scherfel later "apologized" by claiming he didn't remember making the comments while acknowleding that he may have used the word fag since he grew up in that era.

In the meantime, GLSEN has stepped up and offered to work with the school district to raise awareness of LGBTQ issues, a move that could actually improve the learning environment for gay students and possibly assist the school district in avoiding lawsuits.

"We just want to help schools understand, so they can deal appropriately and develop some sensitivity to that particular minority," [Network co-chair Tom]Wyse said.

Ambridge Area High School Principal Alan Fritz has said he'd be receptive to having a professional development workshop for teachers, but it was something he would have to discuss with the superintendent."

Aghast at the thought of tolerance in Darryl Metcalfe country, the AFA of PA is riding to the rescue.

But Gramley said such sensitivity workshops overstep the boundaries of proper public education because she said it pushes acceptance of homosexuality and threatens the First Amendment rights of those who believe homosexuality is a sin.

"Unfortunately, a school board member made a disparaging remark. That was not called for at all, but if the principal accepts an invitation from GLSEN, that's going in the wrong direction," Gramley said.

What direction would that be?  Why straight to hell, of course, with a pit stop in San Francisco to pick up some kicky thigh highs and a pink feather boa. 

Note Gramley's subtle reference to Christian persecution with the First Amendment argument. That insidious tact seems to work very well if the minds of my colleagues are reflective of general sentiments.  They do feel like they are under attack for being Christian, rather than for trying to shove their brand of Christianity down our throats <insert obvious gay joke here>.

It is heartening that Principal Fritz is willing to consider training for the faculty and staff.  And Ambridge still has a Gay-Straight Alliance club with the goal of fostering understanding and creating bridges between gay and straight students.  However, as recently as mid-December, the GSA founder described an environment of increasing intolerance among the student body especially since Scherbel's comments.

Well, duh.  When an elected official sets the bar low, can you be surprised that weak minded adults as well as their spawn scurry underneath it?  The ignorance of the common heterosexual is sometimes truly astounding.  These desperate little people truly seem to believe that their way of life, their identity will be destoyed if their children even associate with a known homosexual much less have a conversation or <gasp> actual dialogue. 

Ambridge - breeding homophobes, one salvation at a time.

Kudos to the District 2 School Board Coalition for endorsing Heather Arnet to run for the school board seat being vacated by Highland Park resident Patrick Dowd.   Arnet, also a Highland Park resident, is the Executive Director of the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwestern Pennsylvania. 

The Correspondents (and the Lesbians) are long-time fans of Arnet for her great work on behalf of women and girls throughout the region, including women and girls in the queer community.  As we are city residents, we are especially pleased that Arnet is turning her tremendous talent to the oversight of one of our most important resources - the public schools.

Go Heather!