Press Kit: Press Release

Pagan Pride Project To Sponsor Tempest Smith Tolerance Pledge

September 5, 2001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE

For More Info, Contact:

Cecylyna Dewr
Executive Director, International Pagan Pride Project
http://www.paganpride.org
cecylyna@paganpride.org
317.916.9115

PAGAN PRIDE PROJECT TO SPONSOR TEMPEST SMITH TOLERANCE PLEDGE
The Pagan Pride Project is honored to present for the Tempest Smith Tolerance Pledge as part of continued efforts to foster pride in Pagan identity through education, activism, charity, and community.

The Pledge is a simple oath that anyone, Pagan or Non-Pagan, can sign as a memorial to Tempest Smith, the 12-year-old girl who killed herself on February 20, 2001, in Lincoln Park, Michigan, caused by the taunting of other students who mocked her because she professed the Wiccan faith. The Pledge is available to any group, Pagan or non-Pagan, and will be made available for download in multiple formats from the Pagan Pride Project website at http://www.paganpride.org. This Pledge, authored by Pagan Pride Executive Director Cecylyna Dewr, is presented with the full permission of Tempest’s mother, Denessa Smith, who since Tempest’s suicide has made it her pledge to tell Tempest’s story so that no child or parent ever goes through this again. The Pagan Pride Project is honored to be a part of that.

The full text of the Pledge will be available as an online signatory project, similar to the Faith-Based Initiative project sponsored by the Alternative Religions Educational Network (http://www.aren.org/lettersig.html). Pagan Pride thanks AREN for providing inspiration to make this goal a reality within the next few days. The pledge will also be available in Word, PDF, PageMaker, and HTML formats to download, print, and distribute, and the Pagan Pride Project encourages signatories to send copies to PPP at the address below. Anyone who converts the pledge to another format and wishes to make copies available to PPP is encouraged to do so, and will be credited on the Pagan Pride website.

For further information, visit the Pagan Pride Project webpage, call or email us, or send letters to:

Pagan Pride Project
PMB 119, 133 W Market St
Indianapolis, IN 46203
317.916.9115

CLICK FOR THE PLEDGE (printer friendly webpage)
http://www.paganpride.org/what/tempestpledge.html