MI House passes bill to prohibit state university providing domestic partner benefits
This week on Thursday the MI House in a vote of 66-44 pass House Bill 4770 a little after 1pm the opening of the House session, that is to prohibit state universities from providing domestic partner benefits. The bill introduce by Rep. Agema of Grandville in West Michigan, who is the Speaker of the House as the Chair of the Majority Republicans claims its about looking at the cost to provide the benefits that cost $8M a year.
The Democrats in the House stood against the HB 4770 and HB 4771 on the Floor, and throughout the process preceding the floor vote as did the lobbying staff of EPICA Consulting and organizations such as ACLU MI, Equality Michigan, National Organization of Women of MI, NAACP to name some organizations. Additionally individuals including in the House Ethics and Oversight Committee who work at the university and are affect testified with photos of their family that are affected. Lastly it was advised this is not good policy by the MI Department of Civil Rights. Read the rest of this entry
Talk To Me – National Suicide Prevention Week
Every year over 33,000 Americans are lost to us from completed suicide, and countless more attempt, struggle, think about it.
HalfofUS.com reports that 1 in 2 people struggle with substance abuse, addictions, depression, anxiety, ADHD, autism, showing us temporary, lose of control, to born and life long challenges to address in mental health in our overall wellness of living.
From LBGT youth coming out, to bullying that affects us all in various ways, to PSD for our veterans, and morning lose of a loved one, economic stress in our current times, and more.
For several years now I have spoken out during this week, with the Trevor Project’s slogan as it real for me
”I am proud I failed at Suicide because my life is amazing today”
as I shared my own struggle w/ suicide at coming out several years ago now and then years heading a organization for LBGT youth mental health Project Light – to work with American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Walks www.afsp.org – anti bullying efforts that I am still to this day appearing in MI capital to talk with legislaturs about passing our states anti bullying bill, and talking with communities. All of this came from and only because of one thing, TALKING about it.
Talking to friends to come out,
Talking to a peers,
Talking to counselors,
Talking on national TV, radio, blogs, and event MTV-U as part of a PSA last years that aired nationally due to the work I did with Jed Foundation and partnered message with the Trevor Project to talk about that Half of Us campaign, as 1 in 2 people in their lifetime will struggle with mental health. Talking was all that was done and all that was needed so LETS TALK ABOUT IT.
http://www.halfofus.com/tags/Adam Taylor/Discrimination and Depression: Taking Control
Talking about it to this day helps me, and has helped my friends know to come to me and talk about it. Talking in the process of life to work with my life having ADHD, and anxiety challenges in day to day living happens to this day in fact just an hour before this blog post was written.
So please join me and countless others in TALK TO ME campaign and hers is the how:
14th Congressional MI District Dems 3rd Annual Dinner
Detroit Dems gathering for Dinner on a Friday night along the river front and investing in leaders to serve the people in fairness, equality, jobs, opportunies.
Join the Campaign to Delete Cyberbullying from your Living Room on Sunday
Join me, on Sunday July 17th 2011 at 8pm EST or 7pm CST at my home viewing or by going to your living room, bedroom, friends house, where ever you like to watch TV and put on the ABC Family Network to see the national premier of Cyberbullying and join the campaign to delete cyberbullying and digital drama! On the commercial breaks visit the website http://abcfamily.go.com/movies/cyberbully learn about cyberbullying, other forms of bullying and how you can take actions today to save lives, improve lives, and put an end to put downs, while making it better now!
Join the campaign to delete cyberbullying and digital drama and continue the support so critically needed to counter bullying in all forms, as we get near the start of a new school year in the fall where students in the transition are affected heavily from bullying. Together we are making it better now for the youth and for each others communities.
1- If you see cyberbullying online don’t add to it, delete, ignore or engage with information of how this is harmful.
2- Contact your legislators and tell them you support comprehensive anti bullying legislation/policy.
- Michigan needs your help, as MI is 1 of 4 states without a state legislation/bill passed to counter bullying in K-12. MI has been in dialogue on it since 2001, and lost many youth and students.
- MI House Bill 4163 as intro by Rep. Philip Potvin is moving and needs support to be made enumerated, to have reporting and includes currently tele-communication/cyber. Once made inclusive and comprehensive it needs to be passed. Call the Legislators and tell them you support comprehensive anti bullying legislation with enumeration to be added, (517) 373-1747 for Rep. Philip Potvin
- MI Senate Bill 137 as intro by Senator Rick Jones of Grand Ledge. Call Senator Rick Jones (517) 373-3447
to tell him you support the efforts SB137 but to be inclusive it needs to have the high risk populations to be addressed and acknowledged the problem so we can work on it, thus we must have enumeration added. - Federally, tell your legislators you support Safe Schools Improvement Act and Student Non Discrimination Act as intro by GLSEN and recommended by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Find your legislator and how to contact them – http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
3- Get educated, and support legislative advocacy efforts to pass anti bullying legislation in MI -
At EPICA Consulting LLC, we are a filed lobbyist agent working heavily in getting legislation in Michigan to pass that will make inclusive safer schools for all our students, and delete cyberbullying we need your support. Staying up on legislation, traveling to Lansing often and meeting with legislators, giving testimony in committees, and reporting back to the non profits, people in evening meetings, media, and rallying efforts such as todays message is not free. It costs $200+ a day to operate lobbying, travel, messaging to help the well over 1 million students in schools in Michigan, and no price can be put on our youth/students well being and growth.
Your supportive program related investments are critical to keeping the updates coming out, and taking your voices to the testimony, legislators, and building the base to make it better now to delete bullying in all its forms. Please invest in our most precious resource the safety of our youth and send $10, $25, $50 or more made out to EPICA Consulting with anti bullying on the memo line, and mailed to EPICA Consulting LLC Atten: Adam Taylor, PO Box 93005, Wixom, MI, 48393.
Key information sources that are engaged on anti bullying around the nation:
- Safe Schools Action Network - http://safeschoolsNOW.org/
- BullyPolice, - http://www.bullypolice.org/
- The Trevor Project- LBGT Crisis 24/7 Hotline nationally – http://www.thetrevorproject.org/
- Gay Lesbian Student Education Network, publishing the national report on bullying and recommendations for countering – www.glsen.org
- The National Effort put out by the White House Conference to Stop Bullying and report bullying issues - http://www.stopbullying.gov/
MI Governor Synder calls for anti bullying legislation this year
Currently Michigan is 1 of 5 states that do not have any anti bullying policies on the state books and last fall had the issue of the cyber bullying that hit the national news with Mr. Shirvell who happened to be an employee of the states Attorney General office. This year Michigan has so far lost 4 students to bullycides which is suicide that comes from the effects of bullying.
Michigan in May will be marking 10 years since the introduction of anti bullying legislation by then Rep. Buzz Thomas and is still working to get it passed with two bills in the Senate Judiciary Committee currently. With the current budget talks the weeks meeting to vote in committee on the bills was postpone until next week and could be repeated until the budget is balanced by the end of May. These delays, loses and issues have left many advocates for inclusive safe schools wanting enumerated SB 45 intro by Senator Anderson getting worn out and frustrated but keeping pressure to vote for all our youth and do it now.
Governor Synder yesterday publicly stated during the Education Address the issue of bullying must be addressed in Michigan, but did not say which piece of legislation to support and stood by the statements that the schools locally must form the policy to the guidelines of the state requesting they have something. Linking that the Dept of Edcuation of Michigan already has policies ready for schools to take up and modify.
His statements in the address:
The harm caused by bullying is not under debate. Studies have long shown that it leads to low self-esteem, depression, poor academic achievement, truancy, and even suicide. School is not a house of learning for a bullying victim; it is a house of pain. A bullied student is not only being tormented; he or she is being denied an equal opportunity to a quality education.
Even the home is no longer a refuge for the bullying victim. Much of bullying today takes place on the internet, cell phone text services and by other electronic means. Such ―cyber bullying‖ may not always take place on school property or during school hours, but when it is between students it must be recognized as a school issue. And because bullying is a school issue, it must be dealt with in school – before it becomes a law enforcement issue.
Many Michigan schools already have good anti-bullying policies in place and we need to ensure that every school has one. School policies cannot be designed to only cover some students – every school must protect every student. And, as adults, we need to be clear in both word and deed – bullying is always wrong.
I am asking the legislature to pass a comprehensive anti-bullying bill that will be in place for the next school year. The bill need not tell each school how to deal with bullying, but it must require that they have clear policies do so. The State Board of Education already has developed a model policy that every district can look to as they develop their own.
Michigan students should not suffer because we fail to act.
http://media.mlive.com/elections_impact/other/SpecialMessageonEducationReform_351586_7.pdf
Call the Governors Office (517) 373-3400 today and tell him we have the bill and its SB 45 as introduce by Senator Anderson and then call Senator Rick Jones 517-373-3447 the Chair of the Senate Judicracy Committee which holds the bill and tell him to vote the bill to the Senate Floor where it can be passed. The time is now and the Governor is ready for making it better now, our youth are ready and this is a simple matter of values. Youth should be free from fear, have equal opporutnities of education, and we must as Michigians let the elected officals know this at the capital and be workign in our communities to make this better now as well.
To learn more information visit: www.stopmichiganbullying.org get information, sign the petition and share it with your friends.
Detroit Youth Roundtable gives issues w/ solutions to White House
Youth talking at Detroit Roundtable on issues to the Whitehouse
Today, Detroit youth round table gathered at the Detroit High Technology Community Center of Detroit, where youth from the Detroit area gather to discuss the issues they see in the community and what their solutions are. Their issues ranged from their opportunities for college, higher education, technology access for students to have equal learning opportunities, employment, feeling safe in their schools, anti bullying. Then matched with talking about how to work with make sure issues have solutions, to have technology for every student in America, to have inclusive safe schools, better means for all students to aim at attending and making it to college, to those who get a college education to pay off their student loans. Ranging from having students learning how to fix the school computers for programs, having small business tax breaks for community business working with schools on services, and values of fairness and equity in opportunities.
Inclusive Safe schools NOW! www.stopmichiganbullying.org
Technology and innovation now, talk to the Michigan Education Association www.michigan.gov/education
Talking about how to cut back on student loans, and combat on fraud into the bills at the schools, and the book stores in how much the books are costing, housing on college campuses, and spending money responsible.
Day of Silence 2011, Breaking the Silence on Bullying needs your voice
Today is the annual National Day of Silence, in which hundreds of thousands of students nationwide take a vow of silence to bring attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in their schools.
Today is the Day of Silence 2011 (http://www.dayofsilence.org/) and an estimated 400,000 or more students from all identities, will show support to Lesbian Bisexual Gay Transgender, Queer, Questioning, students who are subject daily to bullying, harassement, lack of support, rejection, and so much more. Students and their supportive teachers, and community members will see in large numbers today a simple message, their silence is their protest today from 8am to 5pm, ending the day with Breaking the Silence where in locations throughout the nation, students will make nose, gather, and discuss in venues the needs for Gay Striaght Alliances in schools, for safe places, dialouge, education, acceptance of diversity, and communities/schools to step up and join them in saying no to bullying.
SILENCE IS OUR PROTEST, was the black letters on a plain white shirt I wore this day in 2006 as the founder and President of the Marysville, Michigan Gay Straight Alliance. As a 17 year old recently out gay youth, I had filed my first hate crime, had been physically and verbally targeted and subject to property damage already. Allies, and not out youth formed and we fundraised our shirts by collecting bottles and can from people in the community, turning them in and getting the money to pay for our shirts, and meetings that we could not have on the school. The administration pulled me into offices to say I could not wear the shirt, hand out GLSEN.org information quarter sheets and I would be subject to teachers who did not support this punishing me and any supporter I “pushed” into the event.
The administration got a call from a lawyer, after one my friends an ally called her mother during lunch and told her mother mom I dont want you to be upset I might get sent home for supporting Adam and others in the schools in Day of Silence. Her family a strongly leaning republican family, and well respected in the town, said bullying was wrong no matter who it was against, and the school would not bullying students standing up for themselves. Right after lunch days before DOS I was pulled out of class to the administration office yet again. The principle wanted to know why I was causing such a issue over my sexual preference, and why parents were calling in, and showed up at the supers office with a information sheet from the ACLU of Michigan on Equal Rights Act.
My friend and ally call to her mother was heard loud and clear, in fact in 2 hours time her mother had contacted the ACLU, and
other parents who were allies, and parents to youth who were percieved to be different, queer but not out and for fear of being out. These parents knew my story of being 1 of 2 students out in a school of 600+ students. They were shocked at the school, and were requesting this be resolved or to call a public school board meeting to address this. The school not wanting the issues getting into local news agreed to talk to parents, and I was checked out of classes by the allies mother to walk over to the supers office and talk, and share my daily story of being bullied.
The Day of Silence was allowed but with no support from the administration, no teachers to publicly support it, and parents who could not enter the school during the day. For the day, nearly 25 students wore SILENCE IS OUR PROTEST in black letters on white shirts throughout the day, or parts of the day many of them being order to remove the shirt as it was not allowed in teh classroom. During lunch a fight broke out in which a freshmen student who had confined in me he had come out to his parents but his parents and him agreed it was not safe to be out at school. He was being pushed, and yelled at with terms of faggot, and homo lover take off the shirt. I put myself in between these two peer students and took hits to the chest, and broke it up.
The lunch period an ally and friend I found on the verge of tears as she was verbally bombarded with, fag hag, red head slut, and your a fag lover…..because she dared to be friends with me, and to support for the day. The day was hard, it was long and it made a difference as the first day of silence ever in the school!
Today Marysville will not have a formal DOS. It will have though a handful of out LBGTQ youth, because the door was opened to that closest and youth are coming out, and they are daily living their lifes and creating the change they NEED but need more support. Marysville 2006 Day of Silence is just a part of my story, and a singluar story of countless thousands around the nation today and every day.
Action is needed We Make It Better Now through action to combat bullying for all our students in all their identities. I was bullied for being a nerd, a metal mouth, skinny akward kid, and book worm before I was bullied the worst for being gay. Together we are one people and we must raise our voice against bullying, and here is how!
- If you see bullying, say something, and call the national bullying hotline 313.226.9151
- Check out the federal government resource and action page to combat bullying www.stopbullying.gov
- We need you to attend your schools public board meetings
- Michigan citizens, call your elected official and tell them you support enumerated anti bullying bill SB45, that works for inclusive safe schools. Call 517-373-1630 and tell them your town and they will direct you to the your MI house and senate elected official.
- If your in Michigan call 517-373-3447 and tell Senator Rick Jones, his vote is needed for enumerated anti bullying SB 45 that he has the power to move in the committee he chairs,
- Join Michigan Senate Judicary Committee on April 26th at 2:30pm in Lansing in Farnum Building Room 110 to show support and give public testimony for inclusive safe schools as the committee votes on anti bullying policies, that needs to include enumeration as in SB 45, education compoments, and community dialouges to pass and implement a policy that communities and can work with to address their youth safety and inclusion in their/our schools. To learn more, get copies of materials, give letters to share in the committee or even to carpool to the meeting please email me adamleben@gmail.com
SILENCE IS THE PROTEST today of nearly half a million youth today in our schools. They need more voices to join them in their communities, schools, and law makers offices address making schools inlcusiv and safe. No youth should lose the opportunties of their education, due to lack of safety and to daily being put down for being different.
