The L Project: Quand des chanteuses lesbiennes s’unissent pour lutter contre le harcèlement homophobe

Lorsque des artistes s’unissent pour soutenir une cause, le résultat peut être mitigé mais l’objectif – faire parler de cette cause – est généralement atteint. La cause sur laquelle The L Project veut attirer l’attention, c’est la lutte contre le harcèlement homophobe, à l’origine d’une majorité des suicides de jeunes LGBT.

Dans la foulée (et avec le soutien) du projet It Gets Better, The L Project réunit notamment une quinzaine de chanteuses britanniques ouvertement lesbiennes. Elles ne sont pas forcément toutes très connues du grand public, sans doute encore moins en France, mais leur notoriété sur la scène lesbienne est indéniable.

Un week-end d’octobre dernier, Horse, Georgey Payne et Emma Kavanagh du groupe Greymatter, Sofia Antonia Milone (GeEkgiRL), Sandra MacBeth, Amber Taylor-Groves (HeadsHearts), Mel Sanson (Kenelis), Nina McCann, O’Hooley & Tidow, Lorna Thomas, Leanna Goring, Juey, Jess Gardham, Amy Sutton (Neon Choir), Nicky Mitchell, et Ella Chambers se sont retrouvées à Londres pour enregistrer la chanson It Does Get Better.

Les bénéfices du single, en vente le 11 février prochain, seront intégralement reversés aux associations Stonewall et Diversity Role Models, qui travaillent toutes deux à la prévention des brimades LGBTphobes (les frais d’enregistrement et autres sont pris en charge par des sponsors comme les Dean Street Studios, où a eu lieu l’enregistrement, ou la chaîne de sandwiches Pret a manger).

«Un soir, Georgey Payne est rentrée chez elle et a écrit une chanson pour aider son ami George à rester fort face au harcèlement homophobe dont il était victime à l’école, explique Sofia Antonia Milone (ci-contre), qui coordonne le projet avec Georgey. Elle s’est dit que George ne serait peut-être pas le seul à qui cela ferait du bien d’entendre la chanson, et elle a commencé à mettre le projet en place.»


Très vite, les artistes qu’elle a approchées ont donné leur accord, les rares refus étant essentiellement liés à des conflits d’emploi du temps. Mais les chanteuses n’ont pas signé dans le vide, comme le raconte l’Écossaise Horse McDonald: «J’ai d’abord voulu entendre la chanson. Dans mon travail et ma musique, je veux toujours maintenir une certaine qualité, une certaine intégrité, je veux être reconnue pour cela et pas en tant que «Horse, la chanteuse lesbienne». Et c’est une super chanson! Avec It Does Get Better, j’ai eu le sentiment de m’impliquer non seulement en raison de ce que j’ai vécu pour être reconnue au niveau national et international, en tant que lesbienne out, mais aussi pour la gamine en moi dont on s’est moqué, qui a été insultée, agressée…»

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Le hasard a voulu que seules des lesbiennes répondent à l’appel. «Comme nombre de chanteuses du L Project, Georgey et son groupe ont pas mal tourné dans les lieux homos ou gay-friendly et les festivals britanniques, souligne Sofia. Elle a rencontré pas mal d’artistes homos, surtout des femmes. Quand on se lance dans un projet comme celui-ci, avec seulement des bénévoles et sans financement, il faut avoir la confiance immédiate des personnes auxquelles on s’adresse. Nous demandions aux gens de donner de leur temps et de l’énergie, et c’est plus facile à faire quand on a une connexion directe avec eux. Et nous voulions aussi des artistes qui comprennent immédiatement pourquoi nous voulions produire cette chanson.» «Et d’une certaine façon, cela rééquilibre un peu les choses, puisque les femmes sont souvent laissées de côté, renchérit Horse. Les gens penseront peut-être que c’est fait exprès, mais au final je suis ravie que cette distribution 100% féminine se soit faite naturellement. C’est même assez cool!».

http://yagg.com

http://www.thel-project.com/

Feds: CA school district failed to help gay teen

A Central California school district did not adequately investigate or respond to complaints of bullying endured by a 13-year-old boy who later committed suicide after being harassed by classmates because he was gay, federal officials said in a letter to administrators released Friday.

Federal education and justice department officials told the Tehachapi Unified School District that school officials failed in their legal duty to protect Seth Walsh from "persistent, pervasive and often severe sex-based harassment" at Jacobsen Middle School.

Seth hung himself from a tree in his backyard two weeks after starting eighth-grade year last September and died eight days later.

The government officials launched their investigation based on a civil-rights complaint filed by Seth's mother, Wendy Walsh. They reached their conclusion after interviewing teachers, administrators and more than 75 students.

Their report provided a detailed account of a sensitive boy who, for more than two years, was teased for looking like a girl, inappropriately touched, had food and water bottles thrown at him, became the subject of false sexual rumors and eventually stopped changing into his gym clothes because he felt threatened in the locker room.

"These sexual and gender-based acts of verbal and physical aggression, intimidation, and hostility directed toward the student-particularly in light of their cruel, relentless, and inescapable nature, in conjunction with the student's young and vulnerable age-were clearly sufficient to create a hostile environment that limited the student's ability to participate in and benefit from the school's education program," the investigators wrote.

Although the school disciplined at least one student who used an anti-gay slur against Seth, the federal investigators found several instances in which complaints brought to Jacobsen's principal or vice-principal by the boy or his mother went unanswered or were handled ineffectively, even though many adults knew that Seth was picked on.

The vice-principal, for example, told Walsh "that, in a perfect word, the student would be treated equally, but that the students were at a difficult age and he could not change attitudes originating in the students' homes."

On another occasion, the principal gave Seth a yearbook to identify the boys who had been taunting him, but let the matter drop because the boy could not name any of his alleged harassers.

"When administrators should have been actively communicating to students the importance of treating the student with respect and of intervening on his behalf when others did not do so, they instead engaged in passive, incomplete action or inaction, creating for some students the perception that the harassment was acceptable," the justice and education officials said.

To settle the case, the school district has agreed to be subjected to several years of monitoring on its anti-harassment efforts and to train school staff on how to properly handle complaints even though it disputed the government's findings, according to the report.

Superintendent Richard Swanson said in an interview that he looked forward to implementing the changes outlined in the district's agreement with the Department of Education's civil rights division, such as adopting lessons to combat bullying and conducting regular surveys on school environment.

"The conclusions are devastating really," Swanson said. "Things get by us, there are things we need to do to respond and to change, and I think we have the chance to be exemplary. We can either be resistant or stick our head in the sand, or we can move forward."

James Gilliam, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union who represented Walsh in the complaint, said he was ecstatic the federal officials had confirmed that the school had abandoned its responsibility to Seth.

"Every school in the country now has notice they have to protect these children," Gilliam said. "But I also know it sends a message to everybody in Tehachapi."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2015486143_apusgayteensuicide.html

http://www.itgetsbetter.org/

Cubs go to bat for LGBT youth Team becomes just 2nd in U.S. pro sports to align with 'It Gets Better' campaign

The Cubs are sending a message of support to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth, becoming only the second professional sports team in the country to join the anti-bullying "It Gets Better" campaign.

"Hatred, intolerance and bigotry have no place in this world," Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster says in a new video the team put together.

The Chicago Cubs organization celebrates you for exactly who you are, gay or straight," says manager Mike Quade.

The video joins thousands of others posted on the itgetsbetter.org website, launched in 2010 by syndicated columnist Dan Savage and his partner as a response to the high rate of suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) teens.

The San Francisco Giants were the first professional sports team to join the "It Gets Better" campaign, and several other Major League Baseball teams have signed up to produce similar videos.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-06-22/news/ct-talk-cubs-it-gets-better-0623-20110622_1_lgbt-lesbian-transgender-youth

http://www.itgetsbetter.org/