Long Island is now home to the nation's first offiicial gay PTA group, which will hold its charter meeting in Garden City South next week.
Despite initial concerns, the National Parent Teacher Association and its New York State branch granted permission Thursday to the Long Island Gay Parent Teacher Student Association to join its official PTA network, reports CBS New York.
The news was confirmed by David Kilmnick, executive director of the Long Island GLBT Services Network, according to the Wall Street Journal. In an interview with WCBS 880 Long Island Bureau Chief Mike Xirinachs on Thursday, Kilmnick said:
"To have the first gay PTA in the entire nation right here on Long Island, in suburbia, is just absolutely incredible and a huge accomplishment."
The group's mission will be to address the concerns of Long Island students who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. They will advocate for stronger measures to protect these students from bullying and work with the schools' existing Gay-Straight Alliance.
They also plan to push for school curriculums to include studies on the contributions of gay Americans such as politician Harvey Milk, a Long Island native, and poet Walt Whitman.
The Long Island Gay Parent Teacher Student Association will meet on April 19 in Garden City South to approve its charter and elect officers from Nassau and Suffolk counties. Stay tuned for more details.
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