'OK to Say Gay' rally set for Sunday in Knoxville
By News Sentinel staff
Friday, May 20, 2011
KNOXVILLE - Every student - whether straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender - has the right to feel safe and supported at school, said Devon Hicks.
That's why Hicks, interim chair of the Tennessee Equality Project Foundation's Safe Schools Committee, has organized an "It's OK to Say Gay" rally from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. Sunday at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike.
High-school students who have faced bullying and harassment will speak at the rally, and Hicks will share the details of an academic study that links community support with suicide rates among GLBT teens. "No student should feel unsafe going to school," Hicks said. "They shouldn't have to worry about who's going to be bullying and harassing them."
Larry Kitchen, president of the Knoxville chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, said the group regularly hears of the bullying - physical, mental or verbal - of GLBT teens in Knox County schools, even after legislation and awareness campaigns have sought to curb the problem.
That's one reason for the rally, which Hicks said will kick off several Tennessee-specific events aimed at supporting and empowering GLBT teens, and educating their parents, teachers and communities. "This isn't just a one-time effort" to address Senate Bill 165 (Sen. Stacey Campfield's "Don't Say Gay" bill)," Hicks said, nor it is a "liberal or gay agenda. ... We just want to make sure our schools are safe for all students."
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/may/20/ok-say-gay-rally-set-sunday-knoxville/
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