"reduce bias-based hate and prejudice through the development and dissemination of effective educational materials and programs."

Gay Hate Must Stop!

Matthew Sheppard 1976 - 1998	Brandon Teena	Roxanna Kay Ellis & Michelle Abdill
Matthew Sheppard was beaten and his head brutally pistol whipped by two gay-hating young men. He was tied to a fence and left over night in freezing Wyoming weather. He died a short time later.	Brandon Teena was brutally raped and beaten in 1993 by two of his friends when they discovered he was a woman. A week later, 20-year old Brandon, along with two friends with whom he had sought refugee, were murdered by the same two men. These men were later convicted of murder.	Roxanna Kay Ellis and her lover Michelle Abdill were found stuffed in the trunk of their car, killed execution style.

We've all seen the headlines- lesbian or gay man attacked by gay-hating youths. In 1998, the death of Matthew Sheppard shocked the nation by the sheer brutality of the attack. Yet, his was only one of approximately 20 other murders that occurred in the United States in the same year that were motivated by gay hate. And murder is just the most vicious expression of gay hate. The incidence of anti-lesbian and gay violence has increased from approximately 650 reported cases in 1988 to over 2,529 cases in 1996; an increase of almost 400% in less than ten years.

No child is born hating another human being. Hate is learned. Education can lift the cloud of hate that blinds people to their prejudice and bias. Education is the key.

Many businesses, schools, police academies, and other organizations conduct training on sexual orientation. But just how effective are these trainings? Did the students learn anything about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex community? Were attitudes or beliefs changed?

Chuck Stewart, Ph.D., was interested in this very question and conducted pre- and post-psychometric evaluation of a number of diversity trainings on sexual orientation in different settings. He found the two most common forms of training, lecture and guest panels, were ineffective and often counter-productive.

Over the next seven years, Dr. Stewart gather materials from the leading academic writers such as Lourdes Arguelles, Warren Blumenfeld, Judith Brown, Shirley Bushnell, John DeCecco, Martin Duberman, Riane Eisler, Jonathan Katz, Diane Raymond, Michael Shively, Mel White, and Walter Williams; educators such as GLAAD, GLCSC, Brian McNaught, PFLAG, and Virginia Uribe (Project 10); and, cartoonist Jane Caminos (That's Ms. Bulldyke to You Mister!), Lynn Johnston (For Better or For Worse), and Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury). These materials were adapted and field tested into a program that measured to effectively transmit knowledge and change attitudes and beliefs toward greater acceptance of lesbians and gays. This is an exciting and unparalleled finding!

We know of no other training materials on sexual orientation that have tested to be effective. The resource materials and program were combined into a 200,000 word book, Sexually Stigmatized Communities- Reducing Heterosexism and Homophobia: An Awareness Training Manual, and released by the esteemed academic press, SAGE Publications.

Now we have the tool to effectively combat hate. You, too, can help stop the hate!

Join- Stop Hate, EDUCATE!