Editorial/Opinion ....................Pages 12,13 Education

‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill makes school even less safe for Black students

By STEPHON JOHNSON

Amsterdam News Staff

In her “Intro to Black LGBTQ Studies” class at Howard University, Dr. Jennifer Williamsnotices a difference in students now compared to when she was a student on the campus in the ’90s.

Back then, in the era of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Williams described the LGBTQ culture as “pretty silent.” While there were some “out” students, there wasn’t a queer presence on campus, nor were there LGBTQ organizations or courses.

But now, students in her class, which had a waitlist this semester, are enthusiastic about the topic and eager to engage in discussions.

“Our culture has made a shift,” Williams, an assistant professor of English, says, of attitudes toward and treatment of LGBTQ people. But if we needed proof that more change is needed, look no further than Florida’s widely criticized “Don’t Say Gay” bill (which goes into effect on July 1.

The bill, which is officially titled “Parental Rights in Education” and was signed into law by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on March 28, bans discussions of gender and sexual orientation with younger students. Opponents believe the bill will further stigmatize LGBTQ students and their families, and lead to increased bullying.

New York members of the LGBTQIA community weren’t happy about the bill either. Taking a ‘one of us affects all of us’ mentality, The Center (The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center) in New York City said that loving who you are shouldn’t be the source of abuse of righteous indignation.

“This is a painful, scary moment for many of us, but it also reminds us why we do the work that we do at The Center, including providing mental health support, youth programming, and statewide advocacy—all of which are critical to ensuring that New York can be a place that celebrates and affirms everyone in our community,” read part of the group’s statement.

Williams called the bill a “series of gaslighting and political violence against minoritized populations,” Williams says, because, unlike the college students in her class, elementary school-age “kids aren’t having complicated conversations about queer theory.”

Williams questions how much exposure young students would even have in school to teacher-led classroom discussions about sexual orientation or activity of any kind. “This bill is talking about protecting kids,” Williams says. “You protect kids by making them feel like they belong, that they are OK, and that their feel-

ings are valid—not by shaming them into silence.”

How Florida’s legislation harms Black LGBTQ students

A school is a place where children are supposed to learn and open their minds, says Sage Dolan-Sandrino, the National Black Justice Coalition Monica Roberts Fellow and member of theYouth & Young Adults Action Council. The only thing this bill is teaching children is to “silence, vilify, and erase” queer students, which would directly lead to harm against them everywhere.

“These kinds of bills set extremely dystopian and violent standards and norms that ultimately encourage and excuse cultures of violence against Black and Brown trans folks and queer folks,” Dolan-Sandrino says.

Black students at school deal with the intersectionality of racism, sexism, and anti-LGBTQ ideology and behavior. So on top of the anti-trans legislation in Texas and critical race theory bans nationwide, the Don’t Say Gay bill adds to the messaging that crucial aspects of Black LGBTQ students’ identities are taboo subjects. “Too often, we are taught that our existences are political and that our existences are something that is up for debate,” Dolan-Sandrino says. “The message that sends to young Black students is that there’s something about our existence that we must defend.”

More than half of LGBTQ youths do not find school ‘affirming’

Even before these many pieces of legislation started targeting Black students, fewer of them were finding school to be a safe or affirming space.

A 2020 report by GLSEN and NBJC focused on Black LGBTQ high school students found that among the reasons they didn’t feel safe at school, sexual orientation was the top reason, with more than 50% of respondents reporting this. Race or ethnicity ranked fourth, with around 31% reporting it. In fact, 30% said they missed at least one day of school in the past month because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable. Further, around 40% of Black LGBTQ students reported being harassed or assaulted at school due to both their sexual orientation and race or ethnicity.

More than half of Black LGBTQ students who were harassed or assaulted did not report these experiences to staff, mostly because they didn’t think anyone would do anything about it.

“There are faculty and administrators who are not equipped with bias training or sensitivity training,” Dolan-Sandrino says. “Students don’t feel that there is any support system that they have.”

Indeed, less than half of these students told family members about the bullying and victimization they faced at school.

Schools not having proper support systems in place shows up in a variety of ways. Black students are already disproportionately targeted by school discipline policies, and LGBTQ intersectionality adds to that. About half of Black LGBTQ students faced disciplinary actions at school—like detention, out-of-school suspension, or expulsion—and, with increased social exclusion and victimization that comes with not identifying with any singular group, the rate was even higher for students who identify as multiracial Black.

The Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey found LGBTQ youths were split on whether school was an affirming space, with 50% saying it wasn’t. Only 21%, or less than a quarter, of Black LGBTQ students were taught positive representations of LGBTQ people, history, or events through their school curriculum, according to the GLSEN and NBJC report.

“It’s no secret that many of us spend much more time at school than we do in our own homes and with our own families,” Dolan-Sandrino says. “The effect of being criminalized by identifying freely and authentically undoubtedly will cause irreparable harm.

So where do members of the community go? According to a report by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law released this month, over 700,000 “LGBT” people (706,000) live in the New York metropolitan area. They, like LGBT people in other parts of the country, tend to live in or near big cities. New York’s metropolitan area (including Newark and Jersey City) has the highest population of LGBT adults of any metropolitan area.

“More than half of LGBT adults in the U.S. live in 55 urban areas that share economic and social ties between one or more cities and adjacent communities,” stated Kerith J. Conron, research director at the Williams Institute, in the briefing. “Policy-makers in areas covered by each metropolitan statistical area should keep in mind that a large group of LGBT people live, work, or play in their cities and towns.”

But there hasn’t been strength in numbers. Bullying and worse continue to affect the community in many ways.

Nearly 50% of Black LGBTQ youth considered suicide in 2020

All of these factors have an impact. More than 10% of LGBTQ youths attempted suicide in 2020, but the number that “seriously considered” it was considerably higher, with Black youths only behind native and indigenous youths, according to the Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey.

White youths attempted suicide at a 12% rate, compared to 21% of Black youths and 18% of Latinx youths.

On top of that, 65% of Black LGBTQ youths reported experiencing symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder. More than half of them wanted mental health care but did not receive it.

“I don’t think that Black communities are necessarily more homophobic than any other community,” Williams says, “but there are stigmas around sexuality and masculinity. The

New legislation could make the school experience even harder for members of the Black LGBTQ community. (Photo courtesy of Anele Lusina/Pexels)

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By ARIAMA C. LONG

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

The shift away from a purely punitive criminal justice system to one that focuses on rehabilitation and mental health, in order to reduce the chances of recidivism, is a fairly recent concept. Assemblymember Eddie Gibbs, who was incarcerated, along with reentry facilitators say that “not enough” is being done to help this underserved population as they reintegrate back into society.

According to Data Collaborative for Justice (DCJ), there are “nearly 750,000 people who carry criminal conviction records” in New York City in 2019, with Black and Latinx people making up about 80% of that group in their most recent findings.

Gibbs made his first unannounced visit to Coxsackie Prison in upstate New York. He said the experience of being back inside of a prison at all was entirely emotional and overwhelming, but his mission was to speak with staff and inmates about the best ways to expedite services for people as they come out.

“Segregated populations for those who fight or don’t get along, they put you in this little box area and let you sit there for 23 hours a day,” said Gibbs about his tour of the facility. “So I went there to talk to them and I reminded them, not their friends, not their girlfriends, but their parents are hurting because their kids are in prison and they have to come home and do better.”

Gibbs said most of the men he spoke with who were violent offenders wanted to be heard or supported but didn’t feel like they were. He emphasized that changing the narrative and one’s mindset is imperative to gaining respect and a life after prison.

Gibbs is currently pushing legislation that will provide former prisoners with state identification as they get released, and making sure they are educated about opportunities to clear up their record once they complete their parole with no incidents.

Some laws in the works have already made a huge impact.

The Less Is More Act deals with helping people who get locked up again for technical violations of their parole as opposed to actually committing a crime. It was passed, signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul, and went into effect March 1, 2022. Hochul and other electeds have also demonstrated huge support for the Clean Slate Act, which fights to end discrimination against people with conviction records. They want it to be passed and added to the state’s budget.

Meanwhile organizations such as Project Renewal and Fortune Society have been doing the groundwork of addressing the individual needs of former prisoners for years with robust and structured programs and facilities. Dr. Ronald Day is the vice president of programs and research at the Fortune Society, and Director Barry Campbell helps run the Fortune Society’s Freedom House. Freedom House is a 38-bed facility located in East Harlem for men over the age of 18 who are currently or likely to be detained and have behavioral health needs.

Both Day and Campbell are formerly incarcerated themselves. Stable housing, wrap-around services for mental health, and education, as well as adequate legislation from lawmakers, plays a major role in rehabilitating a person upon their release from prison or jail, they said.

But, there are little things that can

See REHABILITATION on page 32

Education

Continued from page 24

demands placed upon boys, specifically, to be certain kinds of masculine, and hold on [to] and perform this Black masculinity have an effect on mental health.”

One can look no further than the recent controversy surrounding comedian Chris Rock being smacked on stage by an actor Will Smith during the 94th Academy Awards this past Sunday. Social media discussion revolved around “If I was Chris Rock…” followed by a declaration of violent behavior. “If I was Will Smith…” was followed by even more declarations of violence. Young LGBTQ Black boys and men are surrounded by fake or real machismo and having to hide who they are takes a toll.

The best thing you can do is listen—and take action against injustice

For many, the natural reaction is to want to help Black LGBTQ youths. But it’s important to make sure your actions are actually helping instead of inadvertently causing harm. The best things to do are listen, ask, and research the public needs in your community, Dolan-Sandrino says.

“Something that is very harmful is when we make assumptions of what queer people need—or we make assumptions of what to do in situations instead of asking queer people what they need,” she says.

There are many local mutual aid foundations all over the country that can help with rent and medical assistance. Or sometimes someone will need a ride to the doctor’s office, or money for groceries. This, Dolan-Sandrino says, often falls upon deaf ears because that’s not how people want or feel best equipped to help. But she reiterates that it’s important to listen. Listen when the LGBTQ community speaks out against legislation like this, and stand up and fight against it. Vote against the legislation when you have a chance to. Start conversations to educate people in your family and community.

“Start conversations—and have them—because these conversations change lives and save lives,” Dolan-Sandrino says.

Education, Williams says, doesn’t stop at reading and arithmetic; it extends to civic and social education to be a better citizen and “fully actualized human being.” Adults, she says, should be able to model what it’s like to treat everyone with kindness and compassion.

In this regard, it’s adults who have a lot to learn from younger generations. Williams recalls the positive way a friend’s daughter interacts with other kids at school who have two mommies—and how normal it is for a classmate to use gender affirming pronouns such as “they” instead of “she.”

“They seem to be really mature about it,” Williams says. “I’m going to have kids like her as my students in the next few years, where they come in armed with a lot more security and feelings of safety and feelings of belonging than they would otherwise if they were shamed into silence.” WOODYSUN WAITING LIST OPENING

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Mayor to expand city’s doula, midwives programs to address maternal death disparities

By ARIAMA C. LONG

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

Last week, Mayor Eric Adams announced the citywide expansion of the doula program, a Midwifery Initiative, and maternal health care services in an effort to address maternal and infant health inequities and mortality rates rooted in generations of structural racism and disinvestment.

In New York City, Black women are nine times more likely to die of a pregnancyrelated cause than white women, and their rate of infant mortality is more than three times higher. For Puerto Ricans, the mayor’s office said, the infant mortality rate is twice that of white women.

“The root causes of racial disparities in maternal health are real, so it’s time we do right by every mother and every baby, no matter the color of their skin or the language they speak,” said Adams in a statement.

Under the Midwifery Initiative, there will be more training and licensure opportunities. There will also be 23 new birthing hospitals and centers opened. The Citywide Doula Initiative will aim to train 50 doulas and reach 500 families by the end of June, and provide free access to doulas for birthing families and focus on 33 neighborhoods with the greatest social needs. Families will receive at home and clinical care as well as prenatal home and postpartum visits.

A doula is essentially an emotional support system and coach for the birthing parent. Cynthia Travieso is a certified doula. She believes that “cultural competency” is a key component for patient care because many women and women of color aren’t empowered to ask questions about their care, or aren’t listened to about their symptoms.

“There’s something that’s specifically happening in the medical field and how they treat women of color, specifically Black women,” said Travieso, “I’m Latina, and I had pre-cancer stage one for endometrium, and for the longest time I was just told that my health, my pain that it was because I was overweight.”

“Having a child should be a cause for celebration of the gift of life, not a cause for concern for the lives of the mother and her infant,” said U.S. Rep Yvette Clarke. Last year, Clarke and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pushed for Black maternal health in the Build Back Better bill under the ‘Momnibus’ Act. Clarke said she was deeply appreciative of Adams’ new doula and midwifery initiatives.

Dr. Cyrus McCalla chairs the OB/ GYN wing at One Brooklyn Health at Brookdale Hospital. He said that most of the deliveries at his hospital are done by midwives while the physicians concentrate on Cesarean sections (C-sections) or are on call in case of emergencies. They deliver about 1,000 moms per year, but that number had decreased during the pandemic to about 700, he said. “There’s a tendency to ignore or not listen to Black mothers, so having an advocate like a doula or a midwife in the process will certainly help,” said McCalla.

McCalla agreed that the rates of Csections citywide have increased in the last decade. He said at his hospital about two-thirds of the women deliver vaginally or naturally.

Photo of labor and delivery room at One Brooklyn Health at Brookdale Hospital (Contributed photo)

Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about culture and politics in New York City for The Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting: https://tinyurl.com/fcszwj8w

Touro’s MedAchieve gets med-school dreams on track

This semester, 18-year-old Kylee Rivas has been able to hold a human heart and brain; maneuver an ultrasound machine to view kidneys, hearts and bladders; and practice saving a life with CPR techniques. She also presented a medical case to her high school peers “Grand Rounds” style— mimicking what medical students do while training on the hospital floors. A Bronx resident who attends the High School for Health Professions and Human Services in Manhattan, Rivas is one of about 100 high school students learning these skills and others at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine (TouroCOM) on 125th Street in Harlem, where they attend labs and lectures after school as part of TouroCOM’s MedAchieve STEM program.

MedAchieve is a two-year “mini medical school” for local students interested in pursuing careers in medicine and other health science professions. Most participants attend public schools nearby, come from low-income households and are the first in their families to aim for college. In keeping with TouroCOM’s mission to increase the number of underrepresented minorities (URM) in medicine, a majority of the students are URMs.

“I love the environment. I love how friendly people are and how we get to experience things in the medical field––how ‘hands-on’ it is,” says Rivas, who has her sights set on becoming a physician. “They make me feel super comfortable and have piqued my interest in the medical field.”

The students meet regularly during the academic year for two hours of lectures, labs and other activities and are mentored oneon-one by TouroCOM’s medical students, who manage the delivery of the curriculum and teach the foundations of medicine. Thirty-three NYC high schools are represented this school year, 19 of which are in Harlem.

Despite the pandemic, MedAchieve has been on a roll: enrollment is growing, the curriculum is evolving, and funding is coming in from outside sources to help support its growth. Recently, the Pinkerton Foundation, which supports science education for underserved youth, agreed to help support MedAchieve with a threeyear grant of $50,000. Additionally, Con Edison renewed its support for the second year in a row with a grant.

“I am excited about our newfound partnerships and grateful for their attention,” said Dr. Nadege Dady, dean of student affairs and assistant professor. “It is clear to me that these partners value the importance of student development and creating opportunities for URMs in medicine as much as we do. With their support, the best is yet to come for MedAchieve and its participants.”

Launched in 2012, the two-year program is split into two tracks. For the first year, “MedStart,” the content is focused on learning the foundations of medicine: human anatomy, physiology and genetics. For the second year, “MedExcel,” the emphasis is on how the body responds to stress, injury and disease.

Like Rivas, 15-year-old London Francis, who attends Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics in East Harlem, says the MedAchieve experience has increased her interest in the field of medicine and becoming a phy-

sician. She says the program has also made her more aware of the need for more URMs in medicine. “If there were more people of color in the medical field, people of color would be more prone to come in and be diagnosed,” says Francis. “MedAchieve has made me more aware I can be one of those people that other people can look up to and can feel comfortable with.” London’s TouroCOM DO student mentor Noelle OseiTutu volunteered to be a MedAchieve mentor as soon as she began medical school. “I jumped at the chance to help because a lot of us have gone (L-R) London Francis with mentor Noelle Osei-Tutu through the struggles that they may also face,” said Osei-Tutu. “It’s been a great experience. It’s given me an opportunity to inspire young minds and motivate them, and just keep pushing them towards where they want to go. The sky’s the limit. It’s hard. But with help, determination and persistence anything is possible.” For more information on TouroCOM visit https://tourocom.touro.edu/