Hamilton Ontario Catholic School Board Prohibits Any Student Group To Be Called Gay-Straight Alliance, Tennessee’s Infamous “Don’t Say Gay” Bill Back For Debate, Los Angeles City Council Approves Ordinance Requiring Porn Actors To Wear Condoms During Filming, First LGBT License Plate To Go On Sale In Indiana In February, Elmhurst College Admission Application Reveals 5-Percent Of Perspective Students Identify As Gay

In Hamilton, Ontario, the city’s Catholic School Board announced that they will not allow any and all anti-bullying group to be called a gay-straight alliance. “We commend any initiatives and efforts to reduce bullying,” said Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board chair Pat Daly. “But would we have clubs in our schools called ‘gay-straight alliances?’ No.” The Spectator reports that Daly’s comments come just weeks after the province introduced new legislation that will compel school boards to take a harder line on bullying. The legislation will also require boards to support student-led activities that promote respect for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, including Gay-Straight alliances or similarly named groups. Despite its opposition to the term “gay-straight alliance,” Daly said his board supports the proposed changes and is committed to reaching out to gay students through dialogue with chaplains, guidance counsellors and staff. It will also back gay students who want to assemble under the broader banner of anti-bullying awareness groups. “Saying that, any club or curriculum that takes place within our schools has to be in keeping with the teachings of our faith,” Daly said. “That’s essential for us.” The Catholic Church’s general teaching is that while being a homosexual is not sinful, acting on it is. Although Bill 13 — tabled Nov. 30 and going through second reading — doesn’t speak to what the clubs are called, Minister of Education Laurel Broten insists they be “issue specific.” That means boards won’t be able to lump them into broader “equity” groups, as some Catholic schools have done. In an interview with The Spectator, she said there is an expectation that schools will facilitate groups that allow students to discuss topics that promote awareness and understanding of issues specific to sexual orientation. Moreover, Broten said, students should be involved in naming the groups. She expects there will be a range of names for gay-straight alliances coming out of both the Catholic and public school systems, “but let me tell you, it will be absolutely clear what that group is about.” For local activist Deirdre Pike, the Catholic board’s stance signals a “continued ignorance around the urgency of this issue,” adding, “The message is we still don’t truly acknowledge that you exist or that you need support. This kind of move just reinforces isolation and that is the key concern of LGBTQ youth.” Though Pike called the proposed legislation a “success in this province,” she also noted the province’s use of the term gay-straight alliance is “very narrow,” saying she’d prefer the groups be LGTBQ-identified. While the Catholic board’s stance has drawn criticism, it isn’t alone in its tack. Last spring, a Mississauga high school cracked down on a student who tried to form a LGBTQ club. Officials at St. Joseph eventually relented, as long as it didn’t reference “gay-straight alliance,” rainbows or anything related to LGBTQ or questioning in the name. Halton’s Catholic school board, too, came under fire in early 2011, when the media found out it had quietly passed a blanket ban on gay-straight alliances. Trustees later overturned the controversial policy, yet students are still not permitted to assemble under the banner of “gay-straight alliance.” In December, meanwhile, the head of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association said the term “gay-straight alliance” has become controversial and is “associated with the homosexual act,” OCSTA president Nancy Kirby adding, “We want to avoid the controversy and get on with setting up groups to support these kids who sometimes get bullied so badly, they see no option but to commit suicide.” Contacted late last week, the OCSTA said its position to support the formation of gay-straight alliance groups under alternate names stands. The decision by Hamilton’s Catholic board doesn’t surprise Mitch Burke, though he says it is disappointing. As an openly gay student at Bishop Tonnos, the 16-year-old has endured his share of bullying. In particular, it’s the homophobic slurs — shouts of “fag” hurled in the hallways of the Ancaster high school — that have left the deepest impression. Burke says the verbal attacks have let up since he came out about his sexuality a year ago. But he’s far from the only target. “Anybody who people identify as a closet gay or someone who they think is gay, they will pick on you,” he explains. He said the creation of gay-straight alliance groups would help combat bullying, but identifying them as such is important. “The objective of the gay-straight alliance was to make people comfortable talking about themselves, coming to terms with themselves,” he said. Both the Hamilton public school board and the province’s Catholic teachers union said they’re open to students forming gay-straight alliances under any banner. “What the students call it is not an issue,” said Kevin O’Dwyer, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association.

The Tennessean reports that the first big controversy of the 2012 legislative session looks like it is going to be the one that wrapped up the last session — the so-called Don’t Say Gay bill that deals with discussions of homosexuality in middle and elementary schools. The measure –Senate Bill 49 and House Bill 229, passed the Senate late last session, but there was some doubt then whether its sponsor, state Representative Bill Dunn (R-Knoxville), would run it in the House of Representatives this year. Now the bill has a new sponsor, state Representative Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald), who says he stepped in because he believes the bill has the support to pass. “Rep. Dunn is carrying some other very important education legislation for the governor,” Hensley said. “We didn’t want people in the media and other people to get it mixed up … so we felt like it would be easier for me to run it.” The bill is slated to come up at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in the House Education subcommittee, which Hensley chairs. He says he will open debate on the measure Wednesday and hopes to vote it out to the full House Education Committee by the end of the meeting. Opponents of the measure are prepared. The Tennessee Equality Project says it will bring 100 people wearing purple to show their displeasure with the measure.

In a major defeat for porn studios, the Los Angeles City Council has given final approval to a city ordinance requiring porn actors to wear condoms during film shoots. According to The Los Angeles Times, the 9-to-1 vote Tuesday marks a significant victory for the L.A.-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which has been rallying for years to protect the health of porn performers by asking agencies in California to mandate condom use during film shoots. In the past decade, porn shoots have been suspended several times following high-profile cases where porn performers have been infected with HIV. “It’s a great day for the performers and safer sex in our society,” said Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which has been waging a largely lonely battle for mandatory condom use for years. “This is the first legislative body to take up the issue and the near-unanimous support is very gratifying.” For years, lawmakers have largely ignored or dismissed the calls to police porn filming in which condoms are not used. But last year, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation changed its tactics and gathered signatures to ask voters to pass an ordinance requiring adult film producers, when seeking a filming permit in the city of Los Angeles, to use condoms during filming, and pay a fee that would fund surprise inspections. The proposed requirement would have targeted the multibillion-dollar porn industry centered in the San Fernando Valley. Last week, City Council members signalled that they believed the porn condom measure would pass and decided to adopt the AIDS group’s proposed ordinance in order to avoid a costly $4-million special election this June. “Personally at every opportunity I have to do anything to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, I always take that opportunity,” said Councilman Paul Koretz. But he also added, “I think there’s no doubt: the voters would see this as a common sense issue and pass it.” Porn industry representatives were furious at the vote. Diane Duke of the lobbying group Free Speech Coalition said, “This is government overreach. It’s not about performer health and safety, it’s about government regulating what happens between consenting adults.”

The first license plate in the United States to feature the logo of a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender organization goes on sale next month in Indiana. Fox 59 reports that the plates feature the logo of the Indiana Youth Group, an organization that advocates tolerance and provides training for schools and service agencies. Low-number plates are will be given as thank you gifts for those who donate to the Indiana Youth Group.

About 5-percent of prospective Elmhurst College students identified themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender on the first set of applications received after the suburban college drew national attention as the first in the United States to ask about sexual orientation. "We didn't know what to expect, which is why we asked the question," Gary Rold, dean of admission, said Tuesday. Of the 109 prospective students who identified themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, 63 were accepted, Rold said. In all, 2,204 applied for admission. The results may not reflect the entire incoming student population because some may not have been comfortable answering the question truthfully, he said. "Many parents are highly engaged in their student's college application process. You have the phenomenon of an 18-year-old who may know who they are, but may not want family to (know)," Rold said. Elmhurst College announced it would add the question last year, after gay rights group Campus Pride encouraged colleges to so do. Colleges are more likely to ignore the need for substantive change if they don't collect data about its LGBT population, said Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride. "By putting the question (on the application form) it holds the college accountable," Windmeyer said. Elmhurst College estimates that 85 to 90-percent of potential students answered the question on this year's applications. "The real motivation here is to send a signal to gay and lesbian students that this is a gay- and lesbian-friendly environment," Rold said. The college received national attention after inclusion of the question was announced. While Campus Pride heralded the move, some social conservatives derided the school. "I did a couple talk radio (interviews) and found those to be more for entertainment value than anybody actually learning anything," Rold said. "Thoughtful people, in general, have examined this issue and have come away feeling better about it." He said the college was contacted by five "nationally known schools" considering a similar application question, though Rold declined to name them. About 10-percent of U.S. colleges have anti-discrimination policies to protect gays and lesbians, but that's not enough, Windmeyer said.