ARTICLES

Homosexuals Re-educate San Diego School District

IS TEACHER INDOCTRINATION MANDATORY?

By Judith Martel

At the beginning of the 1995-96 school year, San Diego City Schools began holding mandatory training sessions for teachers, addressing "gay and lesbian issues in education." The sessions were ordered by school administrators, as outlined in a July 26, 1995 internal memo prepared by Francine Williams of the Race/Human Relations and Guidance department and Carolyn Morris of the Comprehensive Health and Physical Education department, and signed by assistant superintendent Eloiza Cisneros. The memo stated the sessions were needed to ensure "equal educational opportunities" for all, as mandated by district policies, instructing staff that "all principals, Division and Department heads should ensure that their staff receive this in-service."

The last time your children stayed home from school for a teachers "in-service day," the school's staff may have been attending one of these consciousness-raising sessions. The program has gone through middle schools since September and is now going through elementary schools.

Mark Dean, president of Citizens for Family Values and co-chairman of San Diego Central Chapter of Christian Coalition, was contacted by teachers who opposed the administration's move but were afraid to speak out.

Dean complained to school board member John DeBeck that tax dollars were being used and children being kept home from school for a program which was implemented by administrative decision. According to school policy it should have been voted on by the school board. DeBeck raised the issue with the school board in an April closed session and later told Dean that the board was in favor of the program and would consider mandating the training sessions if pushed. In a May 19 phone interview, DeBeck noted that, after investigating the matter, he thought the gay and lesbian in-service was erroneously described as mandatory by administrators; it, like most other in-services, should have been optional.

On Thursday, May 9, Dean attended a public meeting with, MGT of America, an auditing firm hired by San Diego Unified School District, which was to evaluate the schools' performance. Dean spoke with a Greg Hartman from the organization, complaining about the in-services. Hartman made note of the incident, stating that the schools were at fault for following an improper procedure.

The two-hour gay and lesbian issues in-service at one local school was taped by a teacher, who didn't speak out for fear that, if anybody found out she was against it, she'd lose her job. The facilitator opening the in-service stressed several times that "we're not here to change anybody's opinions," noting that some employees had complained about the sessions "because of their religious beliefs." The facilitator described several "sexual minority" groups who suffer discrimination at schools, including open homosexuals, students questioning their "sexual identity" (she claimed that this goes on "certainly by fifth or sixth grade"), and people who dress "differently than expected for their gender."

After viewing a video, in which elementary school students with homosexual parents described their experiences with "discrimination," teachers were addressed by an openly lesbian teacher, who identified herself as Arlana Jones (known as "A.J." to her students), who works with sixth graders at Camp Palomar.

Jones described her experience with discrimination. A fellow teacher told her he felt she should not wear her lesbian-symbol earring to school. He also said the bumper stickers on her car were too "open." According to Jones, the teacher was polite, and praised Jones' skills as a teacher. Jones was unhappy because the man wanted her to be "in the closet," like the other gays and lesbians on the school staff. She complained to the principal, administration, and the schools' attorney. The administrators expressed their support of Jones, and the attorney said he would sue the other teacher.

According to Jones, the other teacher backed down and never mentioned the problem again. Says Jones, "I guess, in a way, it kind of educated him too."

At the question-and-answer session, one teacher asked what they should say if students ask "how gays do it." The facilitator responded that, if the questioner were a sixth-grader, before that subject would have been covered in sex education, the teacher should refer the student to his parents, adding, "We don't want parents to think we're stepping out of bounds." In eighth grade, however, she said, the teacher would be able to say more about the subject. She stressed "anal intercourse should not be presented as a 'gay behavior,'" stating that she had worked as a high school counselor and knew that "high schoolers are having anal intercourse to avoid pregnancy."

She stressed that the schools have no curriculum to teach homosexuality, but that individual teachers can bring up homosexuality in the context of other subjects, such as reading biographies of famous homosexuals. She added that the school libraries have books and videos pertaining to homosexuality which can be used in the classroom.

The facilitator discussed the issue of "hate crimes" against homosexuals at schools, adding that the campus police define this term to include threats and teasing, whereas the city police limit "hate crimes" to actual violence (she seemed unhappy that the city police had a narrower definition). The in-service "presenter's notes," which give detailed instructions for meeting facilitators, distinguishes between "hate crimes" and "hate incidents," the latter including name-calling and emotional distress, although the leader of this meeting did not make that distinction. The presenter's notes specify that "Hate incidents should be reported to the Lesbian and Gay Men's Center," with a phone number to be provided to the teachers.

Toward the end of the in-service, when the facilitator was going over a list of definitions, one teacher com plained about the definition for "heterosexism" ("Promoting heterosexual relationships; believing heterosexuality to be superior to other types of relationships; the institutional and societal reinforcement of heterosexuality as the privileged and powerful norm"). The facilitator responded, "This is an in-service for adults." The teacher continued, "These are negative statements about heterosexuals, which, frankly, is the norm in our society." [Nobody questioned how heterosexuality could not be the norm in a society.] She stated, "I think to present it as anything less than normal is misinformation," adding that the definitions given "seem to be trying to make them think differently, or at least make it easier to think differently, and I'm not so sure that everything that's here is the way we need to be thinking or we should be thinking for our kids."

The moderator responded that she did not have time to answer the question and suggested that the teacher stay after the meeting for a discussion.

A member of the facilitating team -- it was unclear from the tape whether it was the same woman who had done most of the talking -- stated that 30 percent of gay and lesbian students use drugs. She said she believes this to be self-medication, adding, "They have good reason to use and self-medicate because their lives are so painful."

The complaining teacher spoke again, stating that students, staff, and parents with religious beliefs are being ostracized and discriminated against. The facilitator responded, "That's outside our realm."

Dean will be publicizing the recent actions of the city schools and the school board with regard to homosexuality and family rights. He says, "This will be an opportunity for parents to get out and voice their opposition in large numbers, then go to the polls and replace these people with people of character." He also plans to organize his own "in-service" (pending school board approval), "to refute a lot of the disinformation propagated by the [city schools'] in-service." Dean stresses that his program will not be "anti-homosexual," adding that some Christian activists come across as unloving in attempts to stop the gay agenda. "I believe the Church's response has fallen short of Christ," said Dean. Dean's in-service will stress that, by including homosexuals as an ethnic group, the school board has created a conflict for religious students, staff, and parents, thereby interfering with their right to receive "equal educational opportunities."

For more information, contact Mark Dean at 279-6959, fax 576-4176, or call the Christian Coalition at 235-VOTE.