ARTICLES

Gay Steamroller

PARENTS FLOOD MEETINGS, TRY BOYCOTT

By Allyson Smith

The Grossmont Union High School District board voted June 3 to add "sexual orientation, whether actual or perceived" to sections of its multicultural studies and employment policies. The 3-2 vote followed a recommendation by student board member Brenda Tuohy, a Grossmont High School senior, who claimed changes were needed because of the "extreme amount of homophobia on our campuses and the amount of discrimination towards students based on their sexual orientation," despite the fact that there were no recorded incidents of physical harassment on campus. The vote touched off new divisions in the district and a recall effort against board president Ted Crooks and trustees Michael Harrelson and Tom Page.

Voting against the changes were trustees Dan McGeorge and Gary Cass, who stated that existing policies already protect Grossmont against harassment based on sexual orientation and that enforcement of those policies, not new ones, was necessary. Cass and McGeorge were supported by hundreds of East County educators, parents and pastors representing over 90 congregations who came out in force during a series of board meetings in April, May and June.

This is not the first time the district has wrestled with the issue of sexual orientation. Former Grossmont trustee Nadia Davies, herself the target of a recall last year, said, "My first night on the board, there was a sexual orientation item on the agenda. Several of us objected to it because sexual orientation has nothing to do with curriculum. We tried to stop this."

Tuohy, whose brother David sat on the board two years ago in a similar student advisory capacity, had her epiphany regarding the need for additional policy changes after attending Camp Minitown in February along with approximately 80 other Grossmont, West Hills, and Santana High School students. Tuohy described the four-day "camp," which is sponsored by the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) (formerly known as The National Conference of Christians and Jews), as "a very empowering experience." According to NCCJ's website (www.nccj.org), Minitown and similar programs are designed to help "youth explore their own identities and biases and learn the value of creating an inclusive society. Through a series of carefully designed workshops, honest discussion groups and exercises, the delegates gain a better understanding of themselves, their heritages, their prejudices and those of their peers."

In addition to Minitown, Tuohy talked about other on-campus clubs and events that work to eradicate "intolerance" and "homophobia." She is a member of the recently-formed Grossmont High School Y.E.A.H. (Youth Educating Against Homophobia) club, which is advised by Grossmont administrators. She also participated in the national "Day of Silence" with students from other Grossmont campuses earlier this year, where students remain silent throughout the day except for mandatory speaking in classes. The Day of Silence, Tuohy explained, was begun a few years ago by the University of Virginia for the purpose of drawing attention to the plight of gay and lesbian students. According to its website (http://www.youth-guard.org/dayofsilence/), students who participate in the Day of Silence "believe that laws and attitudes should be inclusive of people of all sexual orientations. The Day of Silence is to draw attention to those who have been silenced by hatred, oppression, and prejudice."

When asked to describe what goes on in Minitown sessions, Tuohy, who will attend UC Berkeley this fall, said, "Students self-identify into groups based on things like faith and race. There were several homosexual students there." She said participants are presented by camp counselors with racism and prejudice scenarios, such as calling someone the 'N' word, and they learn to understand one another in the process. When pressed for further information about the exact nature of the sessions, however, she declined to comment. "That's copyrighted information. You can call the NCCJ for that."

Jim Kelly, a member of the San Diego County Board of Education, says he tried fruitlessly to obtain information about Camp Minitown. "I could never get the materials. Every time I called, the NCCJ gave me excuses. Finally, they said, 'We're not going to send it, but [your board] is going to endorse it.'" Kelly added that students sign a confidentiality agreement and are not allowed to discuss what happens in Minitown sessions. "It's a total stealth thing, and it's full of religion. Of course, it's not traditional religion as we know it. The goal is to undermine 'absolutism,' meaning traditional religious values."

Ashley Phillips, who since 1997 has been the executive director of NCCJ in San Diego, could not be reached for comment. In an April 15 radio interview on the KPBS "These Days in San Diego" program with trustee Crooks and Dawn Miller, vice principal of Grossmont High School, Phillips described Camp Minitown as a program that is "experiential in nature. People have called it 'transformational.' What we're talking about here is creating an environment in the school campus that allows students to learn with safety...while at the same time people are able to respect one another, even though their religions may be different, their color or their ethnicity...or indeed their sexual orientation may be different."

Phillips is better known to San Diego pro-lifers as former executive director of WomanCare, a feminist abortion clinic in Hillcrest bought last year by Planned Parenthood. Responding to concerns raised by Grossmont trustee Gary Cass in an April 17-18 article in the Daily Californian, Phillips stated, "I was asked (before she was hired) at a private meeting with a member of the Catholic diocese whether I would have a pro-choice agenda. I categorically said the answer was 'No.'"

Echoing Cass' concern, California Republican Assembly leader Sylvia Sullivan wrote trustees Crooks, Page and Harrelson, "You can imagine my shock and dismay to learn that the Board has sanctioned Camp Minitown, with a former abortion clinic director and pro-abortion advocate as their executive director. So do you really think that a person whose hands are covered with the blood of innocent babies is suitable to teach our [young] people morals?"

Community opposition increased by the hundreds at meetings after proposed changes were announced. The changes were crafted by the district's Race and Human Relations committee, of which Harrelson and Tuohy are members. According to Tuohy, the committee also consists of parents and teachers. However, one parent of a Valhalla student who requested anonymity said that at a recent committee meeting, no parent nametags were in evidence and only one conservative member attended.

At the May 6 meeting, which opened as 800 attendees sang "Amazing Grace" and gave a standing ovation to trustee Cass, board president Crooks requested a minute of silence for slain Columbine High School students before starting. Several pastors were permitted to speak on behalf of their congregations. Bonis Byrd, pastor of the Christian Compassion Center in La Mesa, said, "As a [black] minority it grieves me greatly that I have been placed in a class that would include homosexuals and lesbians." Teresa Zeglam of Horizon Christian Fellowship agreed. "It's not about being black, it's about putting sexual orientation into school policy."

Pastor Jim Garlow of Skyline Wesleyan Church in Lemon Grove voiced concerns about media portrayals of "the Religious Right" and said, "We number in the thousands, and we feel if anybody's rights are being trampled -- consistently, across our nation, in our public school system -- it is ours." Garlow added that while a moment of silence for Columbine students would not save future students from violence, a moment of prayer could.

Grossmont High School graduate Steve Goble warned the board that passage of the new policies would open the district to liabilities from sexual harassment lawsuits and loss of government funding due to parents removing their children from the district. Hillsdale Middle School teacher Janna Wagner described how one of her sons was harassed for standing up for Judeo-Christian values at Valhalla High School, where he was "hooted at and laughed at for his 'small-mindedness' by classmates. Further," she added, "homosexuality has [already] been discussed [in that class] as a viable alternative to traditional and biologically-appropriate relations between men and women."

Speaking on behalf of 15,000 members of the Chaldean Catholic community in El Cajon, Noori Barka told the board, "We would like you to focus on family values, better education, fighting drugs, gangs, and violence. I think these are more important issues than talking about sexual orientation on the high school level." St. Peter's (Eastern rite) parish in Rancho San Diego is home to East County's Chaldean Catholics and located within a few miles of St. Luke's Catholic Church, pastored by Father Raymond (Jerry) O'Donnell. Appeals by trustee Cass to enlist O'Donnell's opposition to the policy changes were rebuffed. When asked why he refused to join in opposing the board's agenda, O'Donnell responded, "I did not know the exact wording of the proposed policy changes, and I won't go on hearsay. As a pastor, I have to deal with people of all orientations. I just can't get over Jesus saying 'Judge not, lest you be judged.'"

At Cass' invitation, Father Rich Perozich, pastor of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and facilitator of the San Diego diocese's Courage and Encourage groups for homosexually-inclined persons, agreed to speak at the May 20 meeting. Because of a board vote at the start of the meeting to change speaker selection to random drawings, Fr. Perozich was unable to give his presentation based on the teachings of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Attendance at the May 20 meeting swelled from 800 to 1200 and forced relocation to the Grossmont High School gymnasium, where a standing-room-only crowd listened to arguments given at two separate podiums. State assemblyman Steve Baldwin spoke at the beginning of the meeting. Following a standing ovation, Baldwin described his credentials as lead Republican opponent to recently-defeated state assembly bill AB 222, which sought to teach homosexuality in schools starting in kindergarten. Pastor Kurt Edwards of Lake Murray Evangelical Free Church in La Mesa confirmed Baldwin's fears that the policy change would lead to incremental promotion of homosexuality in the district. "Anyone who says that this [matter is about] safety and evaluation is naïve [because] I've been through this as a teacher in the LA school district."

Following Edwards' speech, which warned of student boycotts and lawsuits by district constituents should the vote be passed, board members were served with a lawsuit by East County activist David Kidder alleging violation of the Brown Act, a state law governing how public meetings are set up and announced to the public. The suit claims no announcement was included on the April 12 board meeting agenda regarding changes to policies on instructional materials and multicultural education.

After the May 20 meeting, based on suspicions that opposing views were ignored by Harrelson, Crooks, and Page, a student "day of boycott and moral education" was organized for June 3, the date of the scheduled vote. A few days prior to the boycott, unsigned flyers were passed out at several district campuses urging students to participate in the boycott. According to the flyer, such absences are allowed by Grossmont policies with parental permission. Furthermore, quoting the California Education Code, the flyer stated that "Students of the public schools have the right to exercise free expression including ... printed materials." However, a Santana high school student who called into the Roger Hedgecock show stated that flyers had been taken away by school administrators and that Santana teachers favoring the board's policy changes planned to counter boycotting students by administering tests on June 3. When I asked Lisa Felley, an administrative assistant at Santana, for a copy of the flyer, she claimed she could not provide one because "the flyers were confiscated and are in the principal's [Karen Degisher's] office." Over 2000 students throughout the district participated in the boycott.

Over 1400 people -- the largest crowd ever to attend a district board meeting -- showed up for the final meeting on June 3, when the proposed changes were voted in. A larger number of proponents of the policy, mainly students, attended that meeting. In an angry speech before the board, Grossmont High School junior Theresa O'Malley demonstrated the mindset of school district students who supported the change, "I see firsthand what awful and hateful things that students go through every day at school, just because people think they are gay or bisexual." Accompanied by loud applause, O'Malley presented the board with signed petitions favoring the proposed changes.

Countering O'Malley next at the podium was Justin Windham, a junior from West Hills High School, who said, "The policy change may expose innocent students to immorality, perversion, and promote [the] homosexual agenda in the classrooms. This agenda has been adopted by other districts and has resulted in the abundance of pornography, the teaching of gay sex, and other un-family oriented subjects to bombard unsuspecting students. Also, because sexual orientation has not been defined, it includes people whose sexual preference is of the same sex, opposite sex, whether they prefer horses, dogs, or little children."

Paula Windham, Justin's mother, also spoke. She described "a documented situation in this district that proves major parent undermining," and said, "To have a school district give permission to teachers to undermine all the parents' hard work in raising their children, with the arrogance to think their lifestyle choices are right and ours need to be thrown out, is absolutely criminal!" Laree Simmerman, whose daughter attends Valhalla High School, concurred "It is my right as a parent to teach my child morals. I'm angry that the board is overriding my parental rights by saying they know what's best for my kids." Mark Ballman, father of a Granite Hills High School student, added "It's none of our children's business how we decide what they'll be taught. How dare the board take the opinion of a minor?"

Gordie Shields of El Cajon praised Crooks, Harrelson and Page. "Above all," he said, referring to policy opponents, "do not be intimidated by the rantings and ravings of some you will hear tonight, who will threaten you with hellfire and damnation and the destruction of your school system. These petty tyrants, these so-called Christians, are merely showing their true colors. They are hypocrites, they are bigots, because basically they are afraid of you. They are afraid that if you have the courage to challenge them on this, you will dare to question why they preach one thing and practice another."

Representing Catholics at the final meeting and favoring the policy change were Guardian Angels parishioner Sam Bologna and Monte Marshall, a former Augustinian seminarian and the advisor for the gay and lesbian student union at SDSU. Bologna recalled the days when blacks and whites were not allowed to drink from the same fountain. His remarks caused an angry outburst from a black woman seated nearby, who scored him for attempting to include blacks in the same class as homosexuals. The woman's shouts caused board president Crooks to threaten her with removal. Stressing his Catholic Christianity, Bologna quoted from paragraph 2358 of the Catechism, which states "[Homosexuals] must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity." However, he did not mention the preceding paragraph of the Catechism which explains that the tendency toward homosexuality is inherently disordered. Marshall disputed an earlier speaker's claim that there is no homosexual gene and credited his assertions to an American Psychological Association study showing that efforts to change one's sexual orientation are "largely unsuccessful." "I studied for seven years in the seminary to be a priest," Marshall said, "and I think I know a lot better than a lot of you what it means to be a true Christian."

In his remarks following the public comment portion of the meeting, Cass referred to Bologna's and Marshall's speeches. He said, "We all have different ways of looking at this, and I will associate myself with the long Judeo-Christian heritage which has always, unambiguously, said that this is wrong. It was quoted from the Catholic Catechism tonight. Let me tell you what the Catholic position is, although I'm not one." Referring to Fr. Rich Perozich, Cass continued, "Speaking to a Roman Catholic priest, I said 'Would you please clarify for me what the Church's position is? Have they changed?' They certainly haven't changed. Same-gender attraction, according to Roman Catholic canon law, is called iniquity. It's wrong. It's something that we do not want to promote. And so to appeal to Roman Catholicism for justification of this is to really, I believe, miss the spirit. Certainly nobody is saying that we want to harm people. We don't want there to be injustice on that level. But this is going beyond it."