PLEASE SIGN ONLY IF you received funding from Mr. Davis while studying at a UWC (so most recent US students can sign along with anyone else who got Davis funding).
We want to make sure Mr. Davis and his foundations are aware of the discrimination occurring at LPC, and encourage them to influence the LPC board to change its course.
***Your address will not be visible to others.***
ONLY IF you were funded at university (undergrad) by Davis through the Davis United World College Scholars program, please sign the other petition here:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/28/stop-discrimination-at-lpc-for-uwc-graduates-funded-at-universityundergrad-by-davis/We are students who attend or attended United World Colleges as a result of the generosity of the Davis family. We are all very thankful for the opportunity Davis scholarships provided us to take part in the life-changing experience of attending a UWC.
Part of what the UWC experience has meant for many of us is a call to action to make the world a better place in big ways and small. Thus, we cannot help but be deeply concerned about the discrimination occurring at Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong. For years, same-sex partners and spouses of teachers at LPC have been discriminated against by the school board's policies. While such discrimination is shocking in itself, the board has now moved into new territory. The six-month-old daughter of teacher Julie Harris and her wife Marj will not receive the benefits (like health care and school fees) that all other children at LPC receive.
Many of us feel that it is deeply hypocritical for an organization devoted to "celebration of difference," "compassion," and "mutual responsibility and respect" to allow discrimination against its own teachers in its own facilities. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation seems to us fundamentally contrary to the mission of the UWC movement.
We recognize that some people within the UWC community may be opposed to the idea that promoting rights for LGBT people is fundamentally a good thing. However, we believe that almost everyone will agree that denying equal rights to baby Willow, simply because of her parents' sexual orientation, is outrageous and unacceptable. The idea that local community members and donors would be threatened or upset by LPC's decision to provide health care and other benefits to a baby living on campus strikes us as disingenuous and borderline offensive.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. We hope you will encourage the board of LPCUWC to stop discriminating against Willow and her family.
