Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 06:33:41 -0700 (PDT) From: jessea@uclink4.berkeley.edu (Jessea NR Greenman) Subject: Rainbow Flag Controversey- Orange, MA || sex education video resource || more biblio sources on nazi LGBT holocaust || Federal Blue Ribbon for NJ discriminating school || update on Des Moines IA school nondiscrimination policy =46rom: "Mary Dettloff" To: "person@youth.org" Subject: Rainbow Flag Controversey- Orange, MA Date: Mon, 10 Jun 1996 19:52:55 -0000 Just wanted to pass this info along: The Gay-Straight Student Alliance at Mahar Regional School in Orange, MA, was awarded a rainbow flag by the Governor's Commission for the Safety of Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Youth at a Boston rally. The school's Student Council voted to display the flag and received permission to do so from Principal Francis Zak. The flag was flown beneath the U.S. flag on the same pole, resulting in complaints from both veterans and parents. Petitions have been circulated by both groups about both the flag issue and the inclusion of homosexuality in the school's K-8 health and family planning curriculum. A local veteran, William Fellows, was quoted as saying, "The Mahar school officials have chosen to hoist this diversity flag on the same flagstaff as Old Glory. This sick diversity symbol represents lesbianism and homosexuality. It represents shame, it's a 'Flag of Shame.'" Superintendent of Schools Eileen Perkins and Principal Francis Zak have agreed that these concerns will be discussed at a Mahar School Committee meeting on June 25. This info was summarized from an article that appeared in the Recorder late last week. ***The Address of the newspaper is: The Recorder, 14 Hope, Greenfield, MA 01301. The paper's reporting seemed pretty objective but people may wish to write letters to the editor in support of the Student Council and principal. ***The Student Council and Principal Zak can be written directly at Mahar Regional School, Orange, MA 01364. Thanks- Mary Dettloff -------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------- Video resource: "Sexuality Education for the 21st Century," a 16 minute video from SIECUS Publications. It costs $9.95, which includes shipping and handling. ALL ORDERS MUST BE PREPAID. It deals with how to teach sex education from elementary through high school and is inclusive of same-sex sexual orientation. SIECUS is the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. -------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 10 Jun 1996 17:06:09 -0700 To: jessea@uclink4.berkeley.edu =46rom: sap@tank.rgs.uky.edu Subject: History reference: nazis and gays addendum [The Gilbert books are to provide background, ditto the eugenics texts (though many refer to the elimination of the homosexual "disease.")] Adams, Mark B. (ed.) The Wellborn Science: Eugenics in Germany, France, Brazil and Russia. 1990 Crompton, Louis, "Gay Genocide: From Leviticus to Hitler," in Louie Crew (ed.) The Gay Academic. 1978, pp. 67-91 Hamilton, Richard, Who Voted for Hitler? 1982 Herzer, Manfred, "Nazis, Psychiatrists, and Gays," Cabirion 12 (Spring/Summer, 1985) Gilbert, Martin. Atlas of the Holocaust. 1982 _____. The Roots of Appeasement. 1966 _____. Auschwitz and the Allies. 1981 _____. Final Journey, The Fate of the Jews in Nazi Europe. 1979 _____. The Holocaust, Maps and Photographs. 1978 _____. The Holocaust: A History of the Jews of Europe During the Second World War. 1986 Infield, Glenn. Hitler's Secret Life. 1979 Kuhn, Stephan. The Nazi Connection: The Nazi Connection: Eugenics, American Racism, and German National Socialism. 1994 Lautmann, Rudiger, "The Pink Triangle: The Persecution of Homosexual Males in Concentration Camps in Nazi Germany," Journal of Homosexuality 6:1/2:141-160 (1980) _____. and E. Vismar. Pink Triangle: The Social History of Antihomosexual Persecution in Nazi Germany. 1980 Plant, Richard, "The Men with the Pink Triangles," Christopher Street (Feb. 1978) pp. 4-10 _____. The Pink Triangle: The Nazi War Against Homosexuals. 1986 Poliakov, Leon. Aryan Myth: A History of Racist and Nationalist Ideas in Europe. 3 vs. 1974 Proctor, Robert. Racial Hygiene: Medicine Under the Nazis. 1988 Rector, Frank. The Nazi Extermination of Homosexuals. 1981 Steakley, James, "Homosexuals and the Third Reich," (originally in the New Republic) in Ed Jackson and Stan Persky (eds.) Flaunting It: A Decade of Gay Journalism from The Body Politic. 1982, pp. 84-90 _____. The Homosexual Emancipation Movement in Germany. 1975 Weindling, Paul. Health, Race and German Politics Between National Unification and Nazism, 1870-1945. 1989 Weiss, Shelia F. Race Hygiene and National Effiecency: The Eugenics of Wilheim Schallmayer. 1987 GDGoodman -------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------- =46rom: alexdn@ix.netcom.com (Alex Damien ) Date: 4 Jun 1996 00:08:04 GMT Subject: Fed Blue-Ribbon for discriminating NJ school The following is an article from the Philadelphia Gay News (PGN) dated May 31 - June 6, 1996, Vol. 20, No. 32. Please copy this to any newsgroup or page that concerns Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual issues. Also any sites concerning civil rights/discrimination, teaching and education in the US that would be appropriate. If you have any questions, please ask. Thank you. =ECBlue-ribbon school may have discriminated against teacher=EE by Timothy Cwiek, PGN Contributing Writer A New Jersey high school that may have discriminated against a gay substitute teacher was honored for academic excellence at a White House ceremony this week. Watchung Hills Regional High School was one of 266 schools that received a =ECblue ribbon=EE award from the federal Department of Education. The DOE announced the winners Feb. 8. But one week earlier, the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights found =ECprobable cause=EE that Watchung discriminated against a gay substitute teacher. DOE officials said they had no knowledge of the civil-rights complaint pending against Watchung. George DeCarlo, the substitute, said he was dismissed in April 1994 after complaining to school administrators about students calling him a =ECfaggot.=EE Watchung is located in Somerset County, about 30 minutes south of New York City. Judges in the competition can investigate nominated schools for pending civil-rights complaints. But the DeCarlo complaint never reached their attention because gay rights is not recognized in the federal civil-rights law, said DOE spokesman Rick Miller. =ECWe do look at civil-rights complaints, but they have to be for categories protected under federal law,=EE he said. =ECIn the Washington case, it was being investigated on the state level and never reached the attention of the federal review panel.=EE Miller said Watchung might not have been disqualified, but the judges still had a right to information. =ECThis kind of thing has never happened before,=EE he continued. =ECWe=EDre looking into ways of modifying the competition so that it doesn=EDt happen in the future. We are considering different ways to address it.=EE Miller said gay rights was important to President Clinton and Education Secretary Richard Riley. =ECBoth the president and secretary feel very strongly that discrimination is wrong and never should be allowed to occur,=EE Miller said. Dr. Muriel Battle, associate superintendent of public schools in Columbia, Missouri, visited Watchung in October to evaluate it for the judges. She said school officials never told her about the DeCarlo complaint. =ECI wonder why no one told me,=EE Battle said. =ECI met with many people who were part of the Watchung family and nobody told me about the DeCarlo complaint. Why didn=EDt they say this happened? I certainly would have written it up - not judgementally, but as a fact that merited attention by the review panel.=EE The school was officially notified of the DeCarlo complaint in May 1995, five months before Battle=EDs visit. Watchung principal Robert Baly declined to answer questions about the matter. The school=EDs labor attorney, Thomas Savage, said administrators acted appropriately in the competition. =ECThere was no need to tell [Battle] about the DeCarlo complaint. We feel very strongly that we did nothing wrong,=EE Savage said. =ECWe haven=EDt violate= d the law with regard to Mr. DeCarlo=EDs rights and we will be able to demonstrate that fact when we get a hearing.=EE Savage said DeCarlo was dismissed due to poor job performance. Dalia Georgedes, a New Jersey education official, said a state review panel nominated Watchung for the award. She thought any civil-rights complaints against nominated schools would be uncovered by federal reviewers. =ECIt=EDs really unfortunate that this occurred,=EE she said. =ECBut I = can tell you that we did everything we were supposed to do in accordance with the guidelines of the competition.=EE Julie Plocinik, a spokeswoman for New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, said Whitman would not intervene in the matter. DeCarlo expressed dismay with Watchung=EDs award. =ECWhat is it telling people, especially the gay and lesbian students at Watchung? That it=EDs okay to discriminate against a gay teacher, that you=EDll still get a federal award for excellence? It=EDs the wrong message to send.=EE -------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------- [a little background refresher for readers: the religious political extremists are trying to revise the Des Moines school board's nondiscrimination policy. first they wanted to remove "sexual orientation" as a protected category. now they are trying to add language stipulating that pedophiles, etc. are not protected, with their logical next step being to argue that LGBT are pedophiles. here's language from a related news article: "A lawyer for the district sent a letter to board President John Phoenix about the policies. =ECIn my judgment, sexual orientation is not a permissible criteria upon which to base personnel decision, and the district could be challenged legally if the district did discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation,= =EE lawyer Peter Pashler wrote. Pashler added that he did not believe the policies=ED current language requires =ECthe employment or retention of individuals whose behavior represents a threat to children.=EE The district=EDs employment policies prohibit discrimination based on 10 factors, including sexual orientation, race and marital status. Some community members have said protection for sexual orientation would include people with a range of sexual interests, including attraction to children. Others say that is a smokescreen for people who don=EDt want to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination. Pashler suggested that the district=EDs policies could be clarified by excluding the same conditions as the Americans with Disabilities Act. Some conditions not covered by the act include transvestitism, transsexualism, pedophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism, gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments, other sexual behavior disorders, kleptomania and pyromania. Phoenix said he asked for the lawyer=EDs opinion. =ECIt does not change the policy at all; it only clarifies issues,=EE he = said. =ECThere are people out there who are thinking we are allowing ourselves to hire pedophiles. We don=EDt. The question is, we haven=EDt gotten it in wr= iting in our policy.=EE Phoenix said he would feel =ECa lot more comfortable with the policy=EE= if the board approved the lawyer=EDs suggestions. If it did, he said he would supp= ort leaving in protection for sexual orientation." We thank Randy Kottwitz of NH for obtaining the below update from Linda Powers in IA.] =46orwarded message: =46rom: (Linda Powers) Date: 96-06-10 08:46:03 EDT Subject: Update on Des Moines Nothing was decided last Tuesday at the school board meeting. A couple of members danced around perhaps voting on the addition of the ADA language to "clarify" the policy. But people hedged and the decision was prolonged and agonizing. No action was taken and that decision came because the non-discrimination policy item came to the board agenda as a discussion item rather than an action item. So, we go through this again on June 18. Send an alert to have people call, fax or phone the same board members before June 18 on the same issue. The only new twist is that Sandahl wants a statement that the children are safe in the schools. I am trying to get the public out to show strength. Linda [Action alert info: to contact the Des Moines board about its nondiscrimination policy: The Des Moines Board of Education as of 4/96 consisted of: John Phoenix, President (H) 515-288-0759 Jacquie Easley (W) 515-245-2194 Jane Hein (H) 515-287-2700 Harold Sandahl (H) 515-277-3357 (He is the very unsupportive member who was elected by religious political extremists) Liz Goodwin (H) 515-279-0703 Suzette Jensen (H) 515-266-7908 Laura Sands (H) 515-279-3424 (she's the only sb member who is openly supportive of LGBT individuals) Letters to should be sent to: Board of Education, Central Campus, 1800 Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA 50309. The Des Moines School Board's fax number is 515-242-7579. ] -------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------- *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ OK TO RE-POST. Jessea Greenman The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) CHECK THIS OUT FOR TONS OF INFO - - http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/ Please cc us (for our files) on correspondence you send or receive re our action alerts.