MIAMI, FL  – The “It Gets Better” video project, the brainchild of author and journalist Dan Savage, along with other anti-bullying campaigns, are providing inspiration for the Youth
Pride Band of South Florida, an honors band comprised of high school  students who have joined together to promote tolerance and understanding through music. The band is a project of the South Florida Pride Wind  Ensemble (SFPWE).

The Youth Pride Band consists of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and questioning students, as well as straight allies from various South Florida high schools. Three student band members will each receive $1,000 college scholarships.

Although there are more than twenty adult gay bands across North America, the Youth Pride Band of South Florida is the first of its kind, says SFPWE president Alain Ortiz.

“With so many teen suicides and assaults occurring in the past year or two, we felt it important to do what we could to address bullying and provide a positive experience for young musicians,” Ortiz explained. “For many of us, band was a place where we could escape the teasing and really fit in.”

The Youth Pride Band’s 27 student members, ages 15 to 18, will make their concert debut in the Amaturo Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday, Feb. 12th at 7 p.m.

Internationally-acclaimed composer and conductor David Shaffer of Miami University of Ohio will conduct a program of traditional band works, in addition to his own compositions.
Natalie Mullen, 17, is a clarinetist from McArthur High School in Hollywood. “It’s really important for me to support my friends,” she says. An openly-gay friend at her school broke both his legs after trying to commit suicide by jumping from a second story building. Another admitted on Facebook that he cut himself. “The bullying really affects their self-esteem,” Mullen emphasized.

Christina Dunbar, 18, is president of the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) at Pembroke Pines Charter High School, one of Broward County’s largest GSAs. The flutist, who is bisexual, says she has experienced firsthand the challenges of coming-out as a teen, as well as the homophobia of classmates, which is often masked as playful hazing and good-natured teasing. “This is a side of the gay community that I hadn’t seen,” she says about the SFPWE. “It’s amazing how supportive everybody has been.”

Says Shaffer, who has conducted bands across North America and was himself the victim of teen-aged bullying: “This is a fantastic opportunity to get kids involved in a weekend making good music and bringing young people together.” The conductor was recently commissioned by the Toronto (Canada) Board of Education to compose a piece that specifically addresses bullying. “It’s important. I definitely relate back to when I was in junior high school.”

The Pride Youth Band also provides some students with an opportunity to perform that they can’t get at school. Gay saxophonist Julio Marcone, 17, attends Fort Lauderdale High School, which recently eliminated its band program due to budget cuts. A scheduling mistake landed him in band in middle school, so he learned to read music, took up the trumpet and later switched to tenor saxophone. “It’s been an experience,” he says of the first rehearsal. “I heard about the band from a friend and I’m so glad I have the chance to play again.”

The Youth Pride Band will open the Broward Center concert, followed by a performance by the SFPWE. Under the leadership of artistic director Dan Bassett, the organization has become a leader in the gay band movement.

“Not only are we providing an educational experience for these talented young people,” notes Bassett, “they are getting the opportunity to work with successful role models and perform with one of the leading conductors in the country. It’s going to be a fantastic concert and the start of a program that will touch many young musicians.”

Tickets are $10 at the Broward Center Box Office, BrowardCenter.org. For more information, go to PrideWindEnsemble.org.

Among those attending will be Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti, who will discuss his office’s Anti-Bullying initiative. Also expected to attend are Captain Rick Wierzbicki of the Sheriff’s Office Hate Crimes and Anti Bias Task Force; Robert Tanen, the Associate Florida Regional Director of the Anti Defamation League, and Lily Medina, the Anti-Defamation League’s education director.

Bullied chronicles the story of Jamie Nabozny, a gay Wisconsin teen who fought his tormentors in the federal courts and won. The suit led to a landmark decision that holds school officials accountable when anti-gay bullying persists.

Wierzbicki, a former chief of police of Wilton Manors, says, “the message of the film, which was really Jamie Nabozny’s message to the bullies who made his life hell, is that all children and teens are entitled to attend school in a safe environment that’s free from harassment and abuse.”

In spite of the decision in Nabozny’s case, bullying against LGBT students remains a severe problem. Today, more than 80 percent of LGBT youtth report being harassed at school. In spite of this, many schools across the country remain unwilling or afraid to openly address anti-gay bullying.

BSO, in conjunction with the Southern Poverty Law Center, premiered Bullied to South Florida audiences last September at Fort Lauderdale’s Cinema Paradiso. Those interested in attending are asked to RSVP to Shelly Solomon Heller at 954-557-7760, or via email at shelly@shellylifecoach.com. More information about BSO’s anti-bullying initiative can be found online at www.sheriff.org/antibullying.

“Never let anyone define you or label you. Never be bullied into silence. Never be afraid to tell the truth, but to believe in yourself and be yourself. Remember, ‘Bullying is Smoke… Courage is Fire’.”

For as long as he can remember, South African Jacques Snyman has been pursuing two very different family passions; rugby and opera singing. Jacques’ grandfather was an Olympic athlete and rugby champion; his grandmother sang opera. Like many boys in South Africa, Jacques received his first rugby ball as a toddler.

He also started singing in family concerts at a young age. Throughout school, he was a decorated athlete in rugby and track and field and he also took home trophies for his singing. “It wasn’t unusual for me to run off the rugby pitch with a bloody nose and scraped knees and head right to the stage to compete in vocal competitions,” remembers Snyman. “And if anybody made fun of me for it, I’d just say ‘see you on the pitch.’

Snyman has played on rugby teams in South Africa and England and he helped to found the first gay rugby team.

He went on to compete in the Bingham Cup (created in honor of United Flight 93′s Mark Bingham, who died 10 years ago during the Sept. 11th attacks.)  Jacques also has won gold medals in track and field events at the gay games, including the decathlon.

Snyman’s work as a counter-tenor took off in 2010 when he began studying in London with Brian Parsons at the Guildhall School for Opera. Since then, he has performed throughout Britain. The event on Monday is more than a  concert; ‘it is a chance for Jacques to help kids who have been bullied and abused, as part of the “it gets better campaign.” Jacques knows first-hand the pain of abuse and he has vowed to use the gift of his voice to help children in need.

Jacques currently resides in Fort Lauderdale and is preparing for a nation-wide tour.

Jacques will performing a charity concert sponsored by Sunserve and the Sunshine Cathedral, the funds from this program go to support the SunServe Teen Program.

Jacques performance is on Monday, July 18 at 7:30PM.

Admission is free, but an offering will be received to benefit SunServe.

To learn more about this program, contact Jacques Snyman online at   www.SunshinePerformingArts.com.

Narrated by Jane Lynch, the perfectly timed documentary Bullied will premiere at Cinema Paradiso, and will be made available for free to schools. It tells the story of Wisconsin’s Jamie Nabozny, whose middle and high school years were spent getting peed on, kicked, and verbally abused by classmates because he’s gay. Multiple suicide attempts and running away from home preceded a 1990s lawsuit that resulted in the first court ruling holding a school accountable for not preventing a student’s victimization. (Represented by Lambda Legal, Nabozny eventually settled for around $1 million.)

Sponsored by Sheriff Al Lamberti
and the Broward County Sheriffs
Office, The Pride Center at Equality
Park, Vision 2015 and the Southern
Poverty Law Center.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011, 7:00 p.m.

Cinema Paradiso
503 SE 6th Street,
Ft.