The Courage of Youth - Part… I’ve lost count

I’ve talked so much about the “courage of youth” on my blog. Being young myself I can totally relate to high school and college students who are taking a stand to fight for equality and acceptance. After all, my own journey into activism, advocacy and politics started when I was 14 and took that youthful step into starting a gay-straight alliance at my high school.

Here, again, is another story, from a columnist at The Mercury News, of youth taking a stand and making a difference:

Gay teens hope victory will alter attitudes
By Patty Fisher
Mercury News, July 29, 2006

There are no rainbow “Gay Pride” banners flying in downtown Los Altos this week. Life in this manicured town hasn’t changed dramatically. But there’s no denying that the balance of municipal power shifted ever so slightly Tuesday night, when the Los Altos City Council abandoned its controversial ban on gay-rights proclamations.

Local gay teens have won a significant victory, and they have taught their elders a lesson.

“People say you can’t fight City Hall, but we did,” said Ruth Gibbs, adviser for the Los Altos High School Gay-Straight Alliance. “These kids fought City Hall — and won. I’m so proud of them.”

It all began on Valentine’s Day. Council members, weary of their annual heated debate over whether to proclaim a local Gay Pride Day, wanted to escape “divisive” national social issues and stick to safe topics like potholes and zoning variances. So they voted 3-2 to ban all proclamations “promoting” religious, racial, ethnic or sexual discrimination, as well as those “pertaining to” sexual orientation. Apparently just mentioning sexual orientation amounts to promoting it.

Read the full column at The Mercury News website.

Posted in Anti-LGBT, High School, LGBT, LGBT Youth, Politics |