University of Toledo President Dan Johnson accepted a rainbow ribbon from a student and pinned it to his suit, a symbol that showed support for instituting domestic-partner benefits at the school—and that brought him a standing ovation from a crowd at a university board of trustees meeting, according to the Toledo Blade.
Ending a two-decade-old battle between Boston University students and administrators, the school's president ad interim Aram Chobanian announced Dec. 3 that the university would amend its nondiscrimination clause to include sexual orientation, Bay Windows reported. Attempts to add sexual orientation to the nondiscrimination policy occurred in 1981, 1989, 1992, 1999, 2001, and 2002.
Many young people are hesitant to buy condoms because they say they are 'too embarrassed' by the experience, according to a study published in the Social Science Journal and reported in The New York Times. Kimberly Brackett of Alabama's Auburn University asked about 250 University of Florida students to buy condoms and then write a paper about the experience. If students did not purchase condoms, they had to write about why they chose not to purchase them. According to the study, 25 students said they were unable to buy condoms, including one woman who suffered 'too much embarrassment.' Many of the 78 men and 176 women who did buy condoms said they were purchasing them for the first time—and many students said they were embarrassed, although men reported less embarrassment.
Trinity Christian Academy in Dallas expelled a student for being gay, according to an item in the Houston Voice. The student, James Barrett, claims that he was called into the principal's office after a fellow student outed him and after Barrett started a Web site called My-Boi.com . After revealing Barrett's homosexuality to his parents, the school ousted him after six days, citing 'immoral behavior and supporting an immoral cause' as the reasons.
Starting next month, the University of Wisconsin at Madison will be the only Big Ten university that does not offer health insurance for the partners of its gay and lesbian staff, the Wisconsin State Journal reported. It is a distinction school officials say will hurt the university's ability to recruit and retain employees. Penn State University, the only other holdout, will add it as an official benefit, likely in January.
In Utah, it appears that Copper Hills High School principal Tom Worlton has rethought his earlier decision that requires same-sex couples to obtain a parent's permission to attend dances, the Deseret Morning News reported. Worlton's original decision came after Atwood had expressed concern to school officials that he and his boyfriend be protected at the Sadie Hawkins dance. In a Dec. 15 statement in response to an inquiry to the Jordan Board of Education, Superintendent Barry L. Newbold said that permission slips were 'well-intentioned by the principal ... verbal notice to parents of potentially harmful situations will be sufficient in the future.'
A 15-year-old girl described how other students allegedly tried to force her into a sexual threesome and trapped her in a bathroom at a school in the University City area of Philadelphia, NBC10.com reported. The victim said that at one point during her entrapment in the bathroom she was fondled by members of a gang of gay girls known as the Rainbow Club. The girl alleges the gang has also preyed on other girls at her school to get sex.