IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tzabaco Catalog Creates a Memorial Fund to Remember Jacob Orosco,
1980-1997, in Response to Outpouring of Grief and Anger on the Internet.
Online Community PlanetOut and Young Gay Men's Magazine XY Join Business
Move to Recognize Gay Student Leader from Salt Lake City, UT, Who Took
Own Life Thursday.
To donate, call 1-800-856-1667, reference Jacob
Petaluma, Calif., September 10, 1997. The Tzabaco Catalog's Safe Schools
Initiative announced today that it has formed a Memorial Fund in response
to the tremendous outpouring of grief and anger at the tragic death of a
young student activist. Along with schoolmates at East High School in
Salt Lake City, Jacob Orosco had been fighting for the right to form an
officially recognized Gay-Straight Student Alliance. He died Thuirsday,
September 4 at the age of seventeen. Tzabaco has established the fund
with an initial $2500 contribution.
"We share this grief at the senseless loss of another promising young gay
person. The Memorial Fund is a simple way for anyone in our community
and among our friends to express their concern over this young man's fate
and also to show that we deplore the circumstances generally faced by
lesbian and gay teenagers today." said Stuart Harrison, director of
Tzabaco's Safe Schools Initiative. "They often must attend school in a
climate where homophobic prejudice is not only widely evident but also
officially sanctioned. Our kids are saying 'enough'."
A recent study indicates that high school students hear anti-gay epithets
like "faggot" and "dyke" an average of nearly thirty times a day
(Massachusetts Department of Education, 1994). According to the Centers
for Disease Control, one in six gay and lesbian teenagers is beaten up so
badly during high school that they require medical attention.
Nationwide, gay and lesbian youth are four times more likely than their
straight peers to attempt suicide (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human
Services, 1989).
"We particularly encourage other businesses serving gays and lesbians to
join us in this demonstration of seriousness about the well-being of our
younger gay brothers and sisters. Every donation in any amount will be
put to immediate good use to help kids," said Harrison, noting that
PlanetOut, the AOL- and Web-based gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender
online community and XY Magazine, the nation's leading publication for
young gay men, have been quick to announce their support for the Memorial
Fund.
Jacob took his own life reportedly by hanging himself in his mother's
home Thursday. He was slated to become the next president of the East
High School Gay-Straight Alliance, a support organization for students
dealing with issues related to sexuality and homophobia.
A memorial service for Jacob will be held in Salt Lake City, Friday,
September 12.
Money received by the Memorial Fund will be used to continue and expand
on the work that was so important to Jacob, yet was actively thwarted by
many of those responsible for his well-being. It will be distributed to
gay-straight student alliances around the country to help them meet the
financial burdens that often are associated with their formation and
continued existence. It is estimated that under 1% of schools in the
U.S. have support groups for gay students. A parent has reported that
incidences of anti-gay harassment at Jacob's school, which initially
declined coincident with the media attention to the attempted formation
of the group, has now returned to the level that existed prior to its
formation.
Funds will be made available to existing and forming student groups
through grants to local chapters of supportive organizations such as
GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network),
PFLAG (Parents,
Friends and Families of Lesbians and Gays), Lambda Legal Defense and
Education Fund and other local agencies working to ensure that a safe
education is a right for all students, regardless of sexual orientation.
Tax deductible donations to the Memorial Fund can be made via Tzabaco's
Toll Free Number (see below). Tzabaco will also invite donations from
its customers in a printed tribute to Jacob that will accompany all its
product shipments through the Holiday season.
The Alliance gained public attention in 1996 when its straightforward
quest to provide support to kids in need was met by a wave of homophobia
in the Utah State Legislature. Effectively condemning these kids, the
Salt Lake City School District banned the meeting of all extra-curricular
activity groups during public school hours rather than permit the
Gay-Straight Alliance to meet.
The group persevered and the students met the guidelines set for the use
of school property outside school hours, despite the obstacles that this
created -- including burdens of transportation, supervision and room
rental cost. Then this semester, the Salt Lake City school board
reportedly imposed a rarely enforced requirement that the group must
provide evidence of $1,000,000 of liability insurance per meeting in
order to use this public space. This has prevented the support group
from holding their regular weekly meetings on school premises to date
this academic year. . According to Doug Wortham, co-chair of the Utah
chapter of GLSEN, the ACLU is now investigating the legality of this
requirement, and has recommended the group meets at the high school
regardless next week.
ONLINE BULLETIN BOARD FOR CONDOLENCES
PlanetOut is setting up pages on their America Online and Web services
that reflect on this tragedy. PNO will also set up a bulletin board on
which messages of condolence can be left for Jacob's friends and family.
XY Magazine will contribute advertising space to a memorial for Jacob.
TOLL FREE, TAX FREE DONATIONS
Anyone wishing to make a $25 donation (or multiples thereof) to the Jacob
Orosco Memorial Fund can do so very simply by calling Tzabaco at
800/856-1667, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Ask for reference
SKU:JACOB. Donations will be transferred in full to the Memorial Fund,
managed by the Tides Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization who will make
grants to community groups.. To make a donation (in any value) by mail,
send a check made payable to the Tides Foundation, or your credit card
information, to Memorial Fund, c/o TCLGCF, Post Office Box 460607, San
Francisco, CA 94146.
Other businesses wishing to participate may contact Stuart Harrison, tel.
415/647-9003. e-mail sharrison@aol.com. The Memorial Fund will issue
regular press releases to inform the public of individual donations and
corporate support received.
Unlike racially motivated prejudices, for kids who suffer anti-gay
harassment in school there is often little sanctuary at home or among
friends. Extreme isolation can result. For Jamie Nabozny, a
spokesperson for Tzabaco's Safe Schools programs, lunchtimes meant
eating alone for four years. (Note: Nabozny won a $900,000 settlement in
a physical harassment lawsuit based on sexual orientation against a
school district that failed to protect him)
RESOURCES
Teenagers who need information, referrals or a chance to talk about these
issues can call 800-96YOUTH or 800-347-TEEN. On AOL go to Keyword:
PlanetOut. On the Web: www.planetout.com. There are several
youth chat
rooms on PlanetOut. Also: !OutProud! The National Coalition of Gay,
Lesbian & Bi Youth:
www.outproud.org, AOL Keyword: OutProud -- a database
of local resources that are really useful for youth in crisis. XY
Magazine: www.xymag.com AOL Keyword: XY -- community and information
for young gay men. Oasis Magazine: www.oasismag.com -- online
lesbian/gay youth magazine. PNO Youth:
www.planetout.com/people/communities/youthstate/
AOL Keyword: PNO Youth.
Incite www.incite.org -- the online organizing tool for California
Queer Youth and their allies. Alltogether.com: www.alltogether.com --
coming out information.
• • •
The Tzabaco Catalog Safe Schools Initiative supports advocacy,
programming and outreach projects to lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender youth. It is the principal sponsor of the GLSEN/Tzabaco Back
to School Campaign, which encourages gay adults to return to their school
systems to help create change in the climate for today's gay students.
The Initiative is funded in part by the Tzabaco Catalog Lesbian and Gay
Community Fund of the Tides Foundation.
The Tzabaco (tm) Catalog is your complete how-to guide for relaxed living
and your source for just about anything you put on your back or add to
your nest. The largest direct marketer to lesbians, gay men and our
families and friends, Tzabaco will mail over one million copies of its
catalog to American homes this Holiday season. Tzabaco features
'Community Partner" merchandise, where a published amount of the purchase
price is distributed directly to organizations working to establish equal
rights for lesbians and gay men and agencies working in the fight against
AIDS. Customers see exactly how much is donated to each organization
printed next to the item. www.tzabaco.com.
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