featured projects

Safe Schools Project

The Safe Schools Project strives, through education and advocacy, to create a culture of safety that will make Ohio schools free from harassment, bullying and other forms of violence against any student or group of students.

The Project aims to protect all students, including racial and religious minorities, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students, students with disabilities, and students who are targeted because of their appearance or expression, from violence and harassment. In spite of non-discrimination policies, LGBT youth and youth perceived to be LGBT continue to be routinely harassed and physically assaulted, and suffer property damage; school employees fear the loss of their employment and lack domestic partner benefits.

The Project founders investigated the issue of bullying based not only on LGBT status, but other real or perceived traits. The Project then initiated a program to address the serious problem of bullying and other forms of violence in our schools and to employ innovative methods to promote awareness and prevention of bullying. Many of the Projects founders and sponsors are members and/or board members of EqualityToledo.

Accomplishments include:

The Safe Schools Project received a $24,000 University of Toledo Program for Academic Excellent grant allowing it to become a state-wide anti-bullying program.
The NW Ohio and SE Michigan area now boasts 6 Gay-Straight Alliances in area high schools: Waite, Bowsher, Monroe, Whitmer, Bowling Green, and Maumee Country Day School.
The Safe Schools team presented at Springfield High School to over 400 teachers, administrators, and staff; to 5 teachers and staff at Maumee Valley Country Day School; to 50 future teachers and 7 Gay-Straight Alliance members at Whitmer High School; and to 15 GSA members at Monroe High School.
Our newest endorsements include Lucas County Board of Commissioners, Sen. Teresa Fedor, Rep. Peter Ujvagi, Rep. Matt Szollosi, Rep. Edna Bron, TPS School Board Member Steve Steel, Toledo City Councilman Joe McNamara, Toledo City Councilman Frank Szollosi, the Toledo Board of Community Relations and Owens Corning.

For more information visit http://www.utlaw.edu/safeschools/index.htm

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Youth at Risk

Nicholas Ray, Senior Policy Analyst at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and author of a comprehensive study on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender homeless youth in the U.S., lead a roundtable discussion on current homeless youth research and strategies to eliminate youth homelessness at the University of Toledo College of Law. Participants included Equality Ohio, AIDS Resource Center of Ohio, and National Center for Parents.

To read the executive summary click here or visit www.thetaskforce.org.

EqualityToledo will host a public event with Nicholas Ray in the future.

Faith and fairness

EqualityToledo created the Faith and Fairness initiative to promote understanding and empower fair-minded people of faith to speak from their rich faith traditions about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender equality.

EqualityToledo and the Northwest Ohio Faith Coalition teamed up with the Religion and Faith Program of the Human Rights Campaign in June 2008, to host the "Finding Strength and Tools for Advocacy in Your Faith Tradition". More than one hundred people attended the event to hear from leaders of major world religions to discuss how religious communities can have a positive and productive dialogue about LGBT people and religion. The event provided resources for starting the dialogue about LGBT people and reclaiming faith.

Past events have included:

Co-sponsoring the "Shower of Stoles" exhibit at 16 churches, the University of Toledo, and concluding worship service at Monroe Street Methodist Church that was attended by 125 people.
Hosting the "Celebrating Our Welcome", a successful religious education fair and ecumenical worship service at Trinity Episcopal Church in June 2007.
Co-sponsoring the film screening of "For the Bible Tells Me So" to over 100 attendees in February 2008.

Click here for a list of our Faith Supporters.

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Equality @ Work

Because they recognize that eliminating discrimination is good for business, more companies and institutions are extending their anti-discrimination policies to include lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees.

Good reasons to implement such policies include:

LGBT employees deserve to be treated fairly and on equal terms with other employees.
Extending anti-discrimination policies to include protection for sexual orientation and gender identity advances a company's commitment to respect all employees and create a workplace free from discrimination.
It makes good business sense to hire, fire and promote individuals based on the quality of their work rather than on personal characteristics that are unrelated to job performance.
Tolerating any type of discrimination results in low workplace morale, which undercuts productivity.

A growing number of state laws and local anti-discrimination ordinances explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. For instance, in the city of Toledo, it is a criminal offense for employers to discriminate against any person with regard to hire, discharge, tenure, upgrading, promotion, terms or conditions of employment or union membership solely on the basis of sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is defined as a person's actual or perceived heterosexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality, or gender identity, by orientation or practice. Any person who violates this ordinance is guilty of a misdemeanor in the first degree. City of Toledo Municipal Code Section 554, Ordinance 1183-98. (Passed 12-8-98).

Accomplishments include:

The Equality@Work Project helped secure LGBT employment protections and the University of Toledo and ProMedica.
EqualityToledo Community Action won domestic partnership recognition in Toledo in November 2007.
EqualityToledo sponsored an LGBT financial workshop led by Mark Mockensturm and Kelly Zawierucha in September 2007.