Parents, teachers and community members here and across the country are standing up to state legislative efforts targeting transgender people on February 28, 2019 from 6-7:30 PM with readings of  I Am Jazz, a book by transgender teen and Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation Youth Ambassador Jazz Jennings.

The book reading, held at and sponsored by the Fitchburg Public Library will be held from 6-7:30 PM on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019 in the Garden Room.  We will begin with a Community Read of I AM JAZZ, a book co-written by Jazz Jennings about her experiences as a transgender girl.  From 6:30 to 7:30 – Renee Manning, a trans activist and educator will present: Transgender 101: Everything you wanted to know, but were afraid to ask!  This is a free program.  Free parking is available in the lot at the corner of Boulder Drive and Newton Place.  For information about this or other Library programs call 978-829-1780 or visit our website: www.FitchburgPublicLibrary.org.

The fourth annual Jazz and Friends National Day of School and Community Readings is sponsored by the Welcoming Schools Program at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, and the National Educational Association (NEA), the country’s largest professional employee organization, representing 3 million educators across the U.S.  This year, participants will have the option of reading from several books about transgender and non-binary youth of color, including Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love and They She He Me: Free to Be! by Maya and Matthew Smith Gonzalez.

The nationwide action is inspired by the more than 600 residents of tiny Mount Horeb, WI., who unequivocally rebuked bigotry and censorship in 2015, showing up at a public reading of I Am Jazz.  The reading was organized by a caring parent after legal threats by an anti-LGBTQ hate group forced a local school to cancel plans to support a transgender student by reading the book in class.

Days later, the Mount Horeb school board adopted inclusive measures fully accommodating transgender students.  Said one board member: “We will not be intimidated, and we will teach tolerance and will be accepting to everyone.”

The national reading effort is sponsored by HRC Foundation’s Welcoming Schools program and the National Education Association (NEA).  It unites in action youth, educators, and allies across the country who are hosting readings of I Am Jazz in dozens of schools, churches, bookstores, homes, and community centers in states across the country.

HRC Foundation’s Welcoming Schools is the nation’s premier resource for professional development tools, lessons and resources that help elementary schools across the nation  embrace family diversity, be LGBTQ-inclusive, prevent bias-based bullying and gender stereotyping, and support transgender and gender expansive students. HRC’s Welcoming Schools has created a guideto help organizers of I Am Jazz reading events build more affirming and supportive spaces for transgender and gender-expansive youth across the country.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.

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