Challenge Grant
Monday, July 18th, 2005 05:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rolanniShort form: The Hardy Girls Healthy Women, a local non-profit group dedicated to helping girls realize lives where being a girl is secondary to being a person (this is my spin; theirs is more elegant), has the opportunity to produce and tour "Ugly Ducklings," a play by Maine playwright Carolyn Gage, which looks at the tangled web of homophobia, bullying, and teen suicide. They intend not only to tour the show, but to produce a documentary film about the play which will then be submitted to HBO, the Sundance Festival, the American Educational Film and Video Festival, the Maine International Film Festival, and put to various good uses within the community.
The Hardy Girls website, which discusses the project in depth, is here
The letter, which is ...astonishingly eloquent... is
Dear Friend,
This letter comes to you with some degree of urgency. I am writing to you to let you know about a wonderful project that Hardy Girls Healthy Women (HGHW) and Greater Waterville Communities for Children and Youth have undertaken to ensure the safety of our community's children. HGHW, with the support of other Maine-based groups has initiated a statewide and national campaign to end bias-based bullying and harassment of gay and lesbian youth.
We are producing and touring the Maine premier of a nationally recognized play, Ugly Ducklings, which addresses homophobia, harassment, and youth suicide at a girls' summer camp. The play, written by Maine playwright, Carolyn Gage, casts 9 preteen and teen girls and we plan to create a documentary film that addresses the actors' experiences of coming to terms with their roles and the issues raised in the performance. Our goal is for the documentary to stand on its own as an educational film about the experiences of GLBTQ youth and the connection between youth suicide and lesbian/gay baiting. A DVD of the documentary will be distributed with a Community Action Kit that offers discussion guides, resources, and creative ways for community members to address the difficult realities of GLBTQ youth, as well as the impact of gender straightjackets and homophobia on all youth.
To date, more than 20 national studies have addressed the link between sexual orientation and youth suicide. Studies have found that the suicide risk among GLBTQ youth is two to three times higher than the average risk. While experts do not agree completely about the best way to measure reports of adolescent suicide in relation to sexual orientation, they do agree that efforts should focus on how to help GLBTQ youth grow up to be healthy and successful despite the obstacles that they face.
If recent events are any indication, these obstacles just got tougher. The warning letter from Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to PBS about the cartoon "Postcards from Buster," and the strong-arm tactics of the Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration remind us of just how urgent this issue is. The erasure of their experiences has a direct effect on the lives of GLBTQ youth. We desperately need a national conversation around this issue and we need to provide educational alternatives to governmental policies hostile to the queer community.
The total budget for this combined project is $134,000, and last week, we were offered a one-to-one challenge match from the River Rock Foundation to raise $30,000 by the end of August in order to receive their gift of $30,000. This gift, in addition to the previously awarded contributions from the Maine Community Foundation, The Bingham Program and the Maine Department of Education's HIV Program would bring us closer to our final goal.
Please find an entire summary of the project at [this website]. We would love your vocal support and welcome any contacts you might share. Please help us raise $30,000 so we can help keep our nation's children safe from bullying, harassment and suicide. Your contribution will be matched dollar for dollar, doubling your money. We welcome any support you can provide whether it's $10 or $10,000! Please pass this along to all of your friends and colleagues if only to enlighten them to the issue faced by our youth today.
All the best,
Lyn Mikel Brown, Karen Heck, Lauren Sterling and Megan Williams
................................................................
Hardy Girls Healthy Women
14 Common St.
P.O. Box 821
Waterville, ME 04903-0821
207.861.8131
info@hardygirlshealthywomen.org
Join us in creating a world where girls have no limits: www.hardygirlshealthywomen.org
All donations are tax-deductible and sure to make you feel good! Checks can be made payable to Hardy Girls and mailed to the above address. Charge your gift on your Visa, MasterCard or American Express by calling us or making a secure donation online at http://www.hardygirlshealthywomen.org/supportus.php.
The Hardy Girls website, which discusses the project in depth, is here
The letter, which is ...astonishingly eloquent... is
Dear Friend,
This letter comes to you with some degree of urgency. I am writing to you to let you know about a wonderful project that Hardy Girls Healthy Women (HGHW) and Greater Waterville Communities for Children and Youth have undertaken to ensure the safety of our community's children. HGHW, with the support of other Maine-based groups has initiated a statewide and national campaign to end bias-based bullying and harassment of gay and lesbian youth.
We are producing and touring the Maine premier of a nationally recognized play, Ugly Ducklings, which addresses homophobia, harassment, and youth suicide at a girls' summer camp. The play, written by Maine playwright, Carolyn Gage, casts 9 preteen and teen girls and we plan to create a documentary film that addresses the actors' experiences of coming to terms with their roles and the issues raised in the performance. Our goal is for the documentary to stand on its own as an educational film about the experiences of GLBTQ youth and the connection between youth suicide and lesbian/gay baiting. A DVD of the documentary will be distributed with a Community Action Kit that offers discussion guides, resources, and creative ways for community members to address the difficult realities of GLBTQ youth, as well as the impact of gender straightjackets and homophobia on all youth.
To date, more than 20 national studies have addressed the link between sexual orientation and youth suicide. Studies have found that the suicide risk among GLBTQ youth is two to three times higher than the average risk. While experts do not agree completely about the best way to measure reports of adolescent suicide in relation to sexual orientation, they do agree that efforts should focus on how to help GLBTQ youth grow up to be healthy and successful despite the obstacles that they face.
If recent events are any indication, these obstacles just got tougher. The warning letter from Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to PBS about the cartoon "Postcards from Buster," and the strong-arm tactics of the Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration remind us of just how urgent this issue is. The erasure of their experiences has a direct effect on the lives of GLBTQ youth. We desperately need a national conversation around this issue and we need to provide educational alternatives to governmental policies hostile to the queer community.
The total budget for this combined project is $134,000, and last week, we were offered a one-to-one challenge match from the River Rock Foundation to raise $30,000 by the end of August in order to receive their gift of $30,000. This gift, in addition to the previously awarded contributions from the Maine Community Foundation, The Bingham Program and the Maine Department of Education's HIV Program would bring us closer to our final goal.
Please find an entire summary of the project at [this website]. We would love your vocal support and welcome any contacts you might share. Please help us raise $30,000 so we can help keep our nation's children safe from bullying, harassment and suicide. Your contribution will be matched dollar for dollar, doubling your money. We welcome any support you can provide whether it's $10 or $10,000! Please pass this along to all of your friends and colleagues if only to enlighten them to the issue faced by our youth today.
All the best,
Lyn Mikel Brown, Karen Heck, Lauren Sterling and Megan Williams
................................................................
Hardy Girls Healthy Women
14 Common St.
P.O. Box 821
Waterville, ME 04903-0821
207.861.8131
info@hardygirlshealthywomen.org
Join us in creating a world where girls have no limits: www.hardygirlshealthywomen.org
All donations are tax-deductible and sure to make you feel good! Checks can be made payable to Hardy Girls and mailed to the above address. Charge your gift on your Visa, MasterCard or American Express by calling us or making a secure donation online at http://www.hardygirlshealthywomen.org/supportus.php.
