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WHEREAS, during the last four years, students involved in the Gay-Straight Alliance at Pittsburgh Brashear High School have educated more than 1,500 freshman students and numerous teachers in their home school as well as health and physical education teachers, counselors, social workers, and nurses across the district; and,
WHEREAS, seeing this success, the students have chosen to expand their efforts to be more inclusive of transgender and gender-expansive students, creating stronger policy to support these students, and making Pittsburgh Brashear a safer place to learn for all students regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression; and,
WHEREAS, beginning in the 2015-2016 school year, activities will include district-wide training for all physical education teachers and coaches to discuss how they can support transgender students in class and on the athletic fields. Further, the entire staff at Pittsburgh Brashear will go through a series of trainings on transgender awareness issues and on the creation of gender-inclusive curriculum; and,
WHEREAS, Pittsburgh Brashear has developed a policy for transgender students with the help of strong leaders in the school and community, including the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (or GLSEN); and,
WHEREAS, Vanessa Davis, Chapter Director of GLSEN Pittsburgh, with a mission to "create safe school environments for LGBT students by providing effective programming aimed at changing the school environment with the help of educators, administrators, students, and parents," has supported the Gay-Straight Alliance and administration at Pittsburgh Brashear in writing the policy for transgender students and provided the training on transgender issues for teachers; and,
WHEREAS, Kimberly Safran, principal of Pittsburgh Brashear, has shown exceptional leadership in her advocacy on behalf of the students involved in the Gay-Straight Alliance and the develo...
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