"Optimism for Gay Marriage in Maryland"

It's hopeful to see another state hopefully allowing same-sex marriage state-wide. As a third generation Californian, I remain hopeful that we'll see the same here some day.

A member of the Maryland House of Delegates has expressed optimism that the state legislature will pass marriage equality into law early next year. 

"Last time the Senate passed the bill but it was defeated by just a few votes in the house of delegates," Doyle L. Neimann, D-District 47 told this scribe Sunday morning at the Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist church in Hyattsville. 

Neimann said Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley is personally promoting the bill. "The leaders in the house are supporting it. We are going to pass marriage equality into law." 

But he said he is not happy to learn that the right wing has mobilized its troops to petition and put the issue for a referendum even when the general assembly passes the marriage equality law. 

On the liberal front, Marylanders for Marriage Equality coalition will launch Campaign Run Down and set up its first phone bank to contact the legislators at the Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist church in Hyattsville Tuesday. 

The coalition includes the NAACPBaltimore Chapter, SEIU, ACLU-Maryland, Progressive Maryland, Equality Maryland, Human Rights Campaign, National Black Justice Coalition, Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Family Equality Council, Catholics for Equality, Maryland Faith for Equality, PFLAG and Maryland NOW.

David A.C. Turley of the Human Rights Campaign will speak about Campaign Run Down and then give training on phone banking. 

"David Turley, the new director of Marylanders for Marriage Equality, previously worked for passage of marriage equality in New York," Nancy Boardman, chairperson of the Social Action Committee, said, sounding delighted. "We will all be singing the same song," she said about the phone training to call Maryland state parliament members. 

As many as 25 Maryland senators voted for gay marriage and 22 voted against it, but in the house it was just two votes short of the 71 votes required for passage. 

"Work needs to be done on at least 15 members who are very rigid on this issue," said Neimann. 

The coalition will provide training, scripts and contact lists for the phone banking. Those interested in helping are requested to bring their cell phones. 

The dates are Tuesday November 29, Wednesday December 7 and Tuesday December 13. The timing on all three days are 6.00 p..m. to 9 p.m.

Source:  http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/9191135/optimism_for_gay_marriage_in_maryland.html?cat=7

"Anti-bully legislation sparks controversy"

Some more information about that bill that was created in Michigan that included a "protection of free speech" that in all actuality would give bullies a legal license to bully.

IRON MOUNTAIN -- Michigan is just one of three states in the nation without an anti-bullying law, however, recent efforts to create a law has created controversy.

Some Michigan lawmakers have been the subject of national criticism following the Senate passing of anti-bullying legislation earlier this month. Opponents say it's a 'pro-bullying' bill, giving students a license to bully.

Matt Oslund is 17 years old. He's been openly gay since his freshman year at Iron Mountain High School, and he says that's been a challenge.

"I've gotten death threats in my locker, text messages, prank phone calls," said Oslund.

He says the bullying got so bad, his grades suffered. After completing his junior year at Iron Mountain, he made the decision to leave the school system and pursue his GED.

"For me, it was just so unbearable, the threats and everything," Oslund said.

Iron Mountain High School says they do have regulations and reporting procedures in place, but bullying will continue to be a problem.

"Can we prevent it? Never 100 percent," says Iron Mountain Public School Superintendent Tom Jayne, "because kids are kids, and we can't be everywhere at every time."

Superintendent Jayne was not at the school at the time of the alleged incidents and was not able to comment on Matt's story.

Matt says he's much more comfortable in his academics now, but something he saw in the news raised his concerns for other students who are bullied.

The Michigan Senate passed anti-bullying legislation with a provision stating policies against bullying could not prohibit "a statement of a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction of a school employee, school volunteer, pupil, or a pupil's parent or guardian."

Sponsors say the bill was created to protect freedom of speech. Others say it's pro-bullying legislation.

"Under this bill, you could justify tormenting a child who's overweight, has divorced parents, bi-racial or wears a Yakima or even a cross, for that matter," says Democratic Michigan Senator Gretchen Witmer. "This is not the message to be sending to our students."

Witmer is part of a movement to stop the bill; so far it's been successful. The anti-bullying bill that passed in the House of Representatives did not include the exemption. The new bill, without the exemption, will now go back to the Senate.

U.P. Republican Senator Tom Casperson voted in support of the initial anti-bullying bill with the provision. He could not be reached for comment.

Source: http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/news/story.aspx?list=~%5Chome%5Clists%5Csearch&id=691387#.TtZofWMk67s

It Goes Get Better

"Marine chief: DADT repeal is working"

Gen. James F. Amos, the top officer in the U.S. Marines, says he is “pleased” at how smoothly the military branch has adapted to the repeal of don’t ask, don’t tell - and top gay rights advocates agree.

Amos, who had publicly opposed the repeal of the ban on gays serving openly in the military, spent the past week in Afghanistan holding more than a dozen town-hall meetings with Marines, reports the AP, which had an exclusive interview with the Marine commander.

Not once during the sessions was he asked about the repeal, according to the wire service.

“I’m very pleased with how it has gone,” Amos said.

The general told a story to illustrate his point — during the Marine Corps’ annual ball in Washington, D.C., earlier this month, a female Marine had approached his wife and introduced herself and her lesbian partner.

“Bonnie just looked at them and said, ‘Happy birthday ball. This is great. Nice to meet you,’” Amos said, reports the AP. “That is happening throughout the Marine Corps.”

Last December, Amos testified to Congress that he opposed the repeal of don’t ask, don’t tell, arguing that it would have disruptive effects on unit cohesion.

“I think I did exactly what I should have done,” he says now, of his decision to testify against repeal.

Fred Sainz of the Human Rights Campaign, one of the advocacy groups that long called for the end of DADT, told POLITICO the general’s comments back up what those who had been opposed to DADT said before the repeal.

“For Gen. Amos, who was perhaps one of the most hardened opponents at the time, to validate now that the implementation has gone well is obviously very heartening to see and he has truly embraced this in a way that should be an example to all Americans,” Sainz said.

“We oftentimes in the gay rights movement have made the most progress when people that are kind of an unexpected ally or advocate come out, so to speak, and affirm that it is not the big deal they thought it would be,” Sainz added. “This is one of those moments.”

And Servicemembers Legal Defense Network spokesperson Zeke Stokes said his organization — formed in 1993 to offer legal assistance to those affected by the policy — has heard no reports of harassment, discrimination or negative experiences connected with the repeal from gay and lesbian servicemembers.

“We believe his comments very accurately reflect what is happening in the field,” Stokes told POLITICO. “From our perspective, Gen. Amos’s comments reflect exactly what we are hearing from all services, including the Marines, that repeal is going smoothly.”

With the repeal implementation proceeding as planned, gay rights advocates are turning their attention to a more pressing concern: fighting for equal benefits for gay and lesbian servicemembers and their families, who do not qualify for the same benefits as their straight, married colleagues.

“I think that where the story is going to continue to evolve is in securing additional benefits for gay and lesbian servicemembers and their families,” Sainz said.

After that hurdle, Sainz added, groups will likely push to end the ban on open transgendered service.

“Over time, certainly not immediately, you are going to see a push for open service by transgendered members of the military,” he said.

Source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/69194.html

Bullying in the Workplace

This is a bit outside of what is normally posted here on The Acceptivity Project, but bullying is still bullying even when it happens among adults. And let's face it, sometimes adults act very childish.

As if they did not already have enough to worry about, from finding jobs to keeping the ones they have, employees are confronting a new phenomenon lately: bullying in the workplace.

While there is no precise definition of what constitutes workplace bullying, it generally consists of supervisors hassling, even harassing, subordinates. Bullying comes in many forms. It may include verbal abuse, such as use of derogatory remarks, insults and epithets; inconsistent and contradictory directives; poor performance evaluations, and freezing out employees from participating in important workplace or social activities.

A 2010 survey by an organization called the Workplace Bully Institute found that more than one-third of workers in this country have experienced workplace bullying. The majority of the reported bullying was same-gender harassment, with a large, and growing, portion citing female managers bullying subordinate females and, occasionally, male underlings.

These findings come at a time when retaliation against employees, another form of bullying, is reaching record heights. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency that oversees discrimination and harassment laws, reports that retaliation has become the leading category of complaints filed by workers.

Last year, more than 36,000 of about 100,000 complaints filed with the EEOC alleged retaliation against employees who had raised issues about perceived improprieties in the workplace. The increase in retaliation claims has been spurred by favorable court rulings making it easier for employees to pursue these allegations.

Numerous federal, state and some municipal laws protect employees against such treatment only if they fall within one of about a dozen "protected" classifications, such as gender, race, age, disability or religion.

The Minnesota Supreme Court, for instance, earlier this year ruled that sexual harassment claims do not apply to adverse treatment of one gender against the other unless there is some sexual connotation. Since most bullying is gender-neutral, it generally falls outside the scope of existing laws.

In Minnesota, most of the legislative attention has been directed to the harassment of students. An anti-bullying measure was passed by the Legislature during the waning days of the administration of Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who vetoed the measure, claiming erroneously that it was redundant with existing harassment laws.

Legislation directed against bullying in the workplace has not advanced in Minnesota. Given the current complexion of the Legislature; it is unlikely to surface soon.

But these issues have been confronted and addressed internationally. Nearly 20 years ago, Sweden became the first nation to enact explicit anti-bullying legislation. The measure, known as the Ordinance on Victimization at Work, bars bullying and levies fines and even imprisonment upon abusive employers. But the law does not allow civil lawsuits by abused employees.

Other European nations, including Great Britain and France, have similar measures, but permit civil suits. The British law, for example, recently yielded a $1 million award of damages to an abused employee.

Bad business

These laws are no panacea. They also raise the potential of a torrent of merit-less litigation that could be viewed as a "shakedown" of management. But bullying does not easily fit into these laws.

Most would agree that bullying is bad for business. The practice causes morale problems and leads to turmoil, turnover and lower productivity. Even without legislation, an employer should take steps to prevent workplace bullying. These could include:

•Adopting protocols that prohibit abusive conduct, even going beyond existing discrimination and harassment laws.

•Communicating the policies to all employees, particularly supervisors.

•Training managers on how to spot bullying, respond to complaints and avoid retaliation.

•Encouraging employees to report bullying and assure them that no retaliation will not be taken against them if they do so.

Employers and employees have a stake in preventing bullying. They need not wait for legislation to act appropriately in battling back against bullies in the workplace.

Source: http://www.startribune.com/business/134507163.html

Recently in the News

I comb through a lot of news resources every day to find articles fitting for The Acceptivity Project. Sometimes I come across a few things that perhaps don't align perfectly with the goal of TAP, but are worth posting because they're helpful in some other way.

• Teens Use 16th B-day Party to Raise Awareness for Teen Suicide
• Teen Singer Commits to Fighting Bullies
• Study Shows 40% of Suicidal Kids Make First Attempt Before H.S.

Ben Lewis' Family Speak Up About Bullying

Another article where the family of a teen who committed suicide as a result of bullying are speaking up about the way schools handle bullying. I hope they're listening.

LINCOLN, Neb. - The family of a boy who committed suicide after being teased by his peers says schools need to adopt strong anti-bullying measures.

Ben Lewis' family told the Lincoln Journal Star that the 15-year-old with Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism, had always been picked on for being different. But the teasing got worse after the family moved to Lincoln from Omaha in October.

The family doesn't blame Lincoln schools for Ben's death last week. But one of his uncles, Dan Green, said schools need to have strong anti-bullying policies and back them up.

"Schools preach about their commitment to strict anti-bullying policies, but what goes into the policies? What should parents do?" Green said. "There's got to be someone who parents can reach out to."

Green said schools should suggest steps parents can take to combat bullying, including referrals to outside counselors.

Lincoln High School Principal Mike Wortman said school officials weren't aware Ben was having problems.

Wortman said when officials do learn about bullying, they talk to the students involved and work to find a solution. The school also spends time trying to teach all students how they should treat one another.

Family members said Ben had trouble communicating because of his Asperger's syndrome, so even though he'd mentioned some problems, they didn't realize how severe they were. Ben would quickly change the subject when asked about the bullying.

But soon before his death, Ben mentioned to his family several times that he was being picked on and that students in Lincoln seemed meaner than in Omaha.

Read more: http://azstarnet.com/news/national/suicide-victim-s-kin-speak-up-on-bullying/article_c24821ab-0ebe-5659-9282-ce3505b7b7c2.html#ixzz1f7MBQ39j

Source: http://azstarnet.com/news/national/suicide-victim-s-kin-speak-up-on-bullying/article_c24821ab-0ebe-5659-9282-ce3505b7b7c2.html