Village Green/Town²

  I can’t remember the last time I posted a HoCo Holler! but surely this deserves one:  ‘This is a really big step’: Howard County schools hold a first-ever ‘Pride Prom’ Photo essay by Kaitlin Newman and Heather Diehl, Baltimore Banner Today’s HoCo Holler! goes out to CARY HoCo for advocating for, organizing, planning, and putting on Howard County’s first ever Pride Prom for LGBTQ+ youth in the Howard County schools. From the Banner article: The Community Allies of Rainbow Youth, or CARY, works within the schools to advocate for a safe and affirming learning environment, raise awareness of LGBTQ+ issues, increase understanding of youth experiences across the community, and provide resources and support for allies. Pride Prom wasn’t just for dancing. Students had many other choices for a good time including an Escape Room Challenge, a movie room, a Low-Fi room and a game room. There was also a “cocoa and conversation room,” which was low-lit with offered relaxing vibes with tea...

In Monday’s post I took a look at the timeline of local LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations. Today I’ll focus on CARY and their BOE Candidate Survey.   Since CARY was founded specifically to address the needs of LGBTQ+ students, it makes sense that they would place a high value on finding out the knowledge and commitment of potential board members on issues that directly impact those students. I invite you to read all of the responses , or, at the very least, the ones that apply to the candidates you will be choosing from. I’ll be blunt here. Issues that impact LGBTQ+ students are life and death issues . Bullying, the experience of minority stress in school situations, and elevated risk for homelessness due to parental rejection all contribute to an increased risk for suicide. Incidents of suicide and attempted suicide for Transgender students are linked with whether or not young people are supported by the use of their correct name and pronouns. Numerous scientific studies bear ...

On Saturday a local organization called CARY (Community Allies of Rainbow Youth) released responses to a set of questions they had posed to candidates for the Board of Education. The reaction from the public has been, shall we say, varied. In addition, many people aren’t familiar with the group itself. Before I write about the BOE Survey I want to address what CARY is and where it comes from: a genealogy of sorts. In the beginning there was PFLAG , whose roots trace back to 1972 and whose first meeting was held in 1973. From their website: In the next years, through word of mouth and community need, similar groups sprang up around the country, offering "safe havens" and mutual support for parents with gay and lesbian children.  In Howard County, the first meetings of a group with similar goals were held in 1995. The resultant group became a local chapter of the national PFLAG organization:   PFLAG Howard County.  Here is the PFLAG Columbia-Howard County Mission ...

  On Thursday I wrote about how Zach Koung, an HCPSS graduate, is using his voice to advocate for LGBTQ+ students. Today I want to share what others in Columbia/HoCo are doing to support the LGTBQ+ students in our schools.  On December 4th, community members turned out at the Lakefront to take a stand against suppression of student reading materials* in our schools. I wrote about this in “ Love Gets Loud ”. Attacks on teachers and schools staff have promoted us to stand united and drown out the noise.  We stand for LGBTQ+ students and educational professionals  Teaching accurate history to our students  Supporting equitable practices in our schools Providing students with relevant LGBTQ+ reading materials through their school libraries  Here are some of the messages shared by those in attendance. All photos are shared with permission. CARY, (Community Allies of Rainbow Youth) was one of the groups who sponsored the rally. CARY is a grass-roots, volunteer-b...

  Some corrections today. “ In HoCo Holler: CARY HoCo and the Pride Prom ” I gave credit to CARY HoCo for the County’s first ever Pride Prom. Today’s HoCo Holler! goes out to CARY HoCo for advocating for, organizing, planning, and putting on Howard County’s first ever Pride Prom for LGBTQ+ youth in the Howard County schools. Upon reading the Sun’s coverage of the event I realized I had gotten it wrong. I thought I was right, and I was kinda, sorta right. But I was wrong nonetheless. ‘I can look around and see kids like me’: Howard County school system hosts inaugural ‘Pride Prom’ , Ethan Ehrenhaft, Baltimore Sun The Pride Prom was an initiative of the Howard County School System, under the leadership of Danielle DuPuis, HCPSS’s first LGBTQIA+ initiatives specialist. DuPuis worked with CARY HoCo and the Howard County Office of Human Rights and Equity to make the Pride Prom happen.  My apologies to DuPuis for not completing the kind of double-checking I should have done to get m...

What would it look like? Continuing on from yesterday’s post about the recent statement from the Board of Education, what would it look like to: .....denounce any bias and racism towards any groups who have been ignored, marginalized, discriminated against and/or oppressed,   .....and allocate resources in accordance with these values as a school system and a Board. A reader suggested that this might be a way to approach renaming schools named after slave-holders and plantations. I wondered if it might somehow be used to fortify an “improve, don’t move” narrative. It depends on how you look at it. The folks at CARY ( Community Allies of Rainbow Youth) saw those words and made a connection of their own. They wrote a letter to Superintendent Martirano addressing the hiring of central office staff in the area of diversity and inclusion. I’m sharing the letter in its entirety here, with permission from CARY. (It’s that good.) Dear Dr. Martirano,   We understand that the hiring pro...

  Today is National Coming Out Day. Begun in 1988, it’s an LGTBQ awareness day started by Robert Eichberg and Jean O’Leary. From Wikipedia: The foundational belief is that  homophobia  thrives in an atmosphere of silence and  ignorance , and that once people know that they have loved ones who are lesbian or gay, they are far less likely to maintain homophobic or oppressive views. National Coming Out Day is meant to be a positive and celebratory event. Since 1988 it has spread to all fifty states and seven other countries besides the U.S. 1990, NCOD became a part of the initiatives sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign. This quote from co-founder Robert Eichberg speaks to the heart of the purpose of National Coming Out Day: Most people think they don't know anyone gay or lesbian, and in fact, everybody does. It is imperative that we come out and let people know who we are and disabuse them of their fears and stereotypes . (1993) Over the past week I learned that a gr...

Looking for something to do?  Columbia/HoCo is hopping this week! Today at 2 pm on OMO: Monday, 5/11 2pm: Languages/Cultures “Supporting LGBTQ+ Students w/CARY (Community Allies of Rainbow Youth)” with Members of CARY, community activists and allies of rainbow youth (moderator- Amy Brooks ) https://zoom.us/j/517581959 Tuesday, 5/12 11 am to 11:10 am The Howard County Library presents: Calming and Meditation for Children and Families Online. Learn more and register:  http://host.evanced.info/hclibrary/lib/eventsignup.asp?ID=145057&ret=http://host.evanced.info/hclibrary/lib/eventcalendar.asp?ln=ALL 6 - 8 pm The Ellicott City Partnership along with Visit Howard County will be holding a pre-show livestream event for the Gordon Ramsey “24 Hours to Hell and Back: Save Our Town” episode. The livestream will feature “special guests, entertainment, and a few surprises.” Interested? Check it out here:  https://facebook.com/events/s/pre-show-event-livest...

  In April of this year I wrote two back-to-back posts about CARY and their survey of Board of Education candidates centering around LGBTQIA+ issues in the Howard County Schools.  Roots  http://villagegreentownsquared.blogspot.com/2020/04/roots.html Wings  http://villagegreentownsquared.blogspot.com/2020/04/wings.html The overarching theme of both pieces is that these issues are life-or-death issues for our students. We have ample, varied, and consistently accurate research that shows that appropriate boundaries, supports, and interventions can be the difference in outright survival for our LGBTQIA+ students. And that should be the bare minimum, I should think, of what we require of ourselves.  That’s why I treat this issue as a core topic and not as some would prefer, as a so called “identity” issue or something relevant only to a fringe subset of a larger whole. That’s why it’s important that the school system continues to work on this and make progress even w...

  The numbers tell me that the blog went up late yesterday and a lot of you missed it. It’s about the Board of Education race and how the winners will be in a position either: to support intellectual freedom and inclusion or: to weaken and damage it. Assertive me : go read it now. Polite me: I hope you’ll find some time to catch up on it this morning. Free People Read Freely , Village Green/Town², April 30, 2024 The Baltimore Banner took a swing at addressing what they call the “book ban debates” but in my opinion the article missed some important information. Where Howard County school board candidates stand on book ban debates , Jess Nocera, Baltimore Banner The article lists the following candidates as having stated they are against book bans: Pravin Ponnuri (District 1) Meg Ricks (District 1) Hiruy Hadgu (District 4) Julie Kaplan (District 4) Jen Mallo, current school board chair (District 4) Catherine Carter (District 5) Andrea Chamblee (District 5) I’d advise community member...

  This is the kid. The kid in an elementary grade reading group. The kid in an after school ballet class. The kid playing catch at recess. The kid picking books at the library. The kid in Saturday soccer. If you have children you see and even know this kid. They don’t mysteriously appear in high school or college. They have been there all along. They ate snack in kindergarten, went to birthday parties, enjoyed countless playdates with your kid. They are classmates, neighbors, friends. They might be your kid.  Protect this kid. Image from Protect This Kid campaign* GLAAD and Ogilvy Launch “Protect This Kid” Campaign in Support of LGBTQ Youth , Allison Bloom, GLAAD This quote from GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis jumped out at me: For too long, anti-LGBTQ activists have not only spouted lies by falsely claiming that LGBTQ people are threats to children, but they have erased the existence of LGBTQ youth and their need for content that they can relate to and be inspired by. Ogil...

  Saturday was my first Pride. Not Howard County’s first, that was at Centennial Park in 2019, but it was my first time attending a Pride event. It meant a lot to me seeing Columbia/HoCo open one of its most central public spaces for this celebration. It was a day I’ll be remembering for a long time to come. County Executive Calvin Ball’s opening remarks were both reasoned and impassioned. When Howard County Pride director Jumel Howard read the names of LGBTQ+ people who have died this year due to targeted violence the silence was heavy with sadness and horror.  It was a day to celebrate but also to remember. To party, yes, but also continue the work to make our communities safer and more accepting. Naturally I have souvenirs. Some of them are photographs, like this beautiful shot taken of the booths lined up around the new Chrysalis pervious pathway. Photo credit Matt Braddock (used with permission) Some are snippets of information, like the flier for a new group called Unmat...