Subject: 1/22/98 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news, pt. 2
From: Jean Richter <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 16:58:58 -0800

1. TX: More on San Antonio high school prom decision

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 17:33:22 -0600

From: JLSE <<[email-masked]>

Organization: Mexican Border Web Projects

To: "[email-masked]" <<[email-masked]>

Subject: UP-DATE: SAN ANTONIO GAY/LESBIAN/STRAIGHT PROM

FORWARDED FROM EXPRESS-NEWS, SAN ANTONIO=20

PRESS RELEASE/REWRITE=20

<center>     =A9 1998, San Antonio Express-News=20

                  E-mail the editors with any questions or comments.=20

<underline><color><param>0000,0000,fefe</param>http://www.express-news.net/a=
uth/pantheon/news-biz/districts/2201blja.htm</color></underline>=20

 =20

              <bold>Policies don't bar same-sex</bold>=20

<bold>            couples from most proms</bold>=20

<bold>            Policies mum on same-sex couples</bold>=20

              By Suzanne Hoholik and Daniel J. Vargas=20

              Express-News Staff Writers=20

              Homosexual students wanting to go to the prom=20

              [in San Antonio] can start making plans, because=20

              most area school districts don't have policies forbidding=20

              them from attending.=20

              Officials in several school districts said Wednesday=20

              that they haven't had requests from same- sex=20

              couples wanting to attend the formal spring dance.=20

              Most allow students to buy single tickets and go to=20

              the prom alone.=20

              "On the whole, there is no problem with two=20

              females or two males buying tickets (to the prom)''=20

              said Edna Perez-Vega, Edgewood School District=20

              spokeswoman. "The junior class officers sell tickets,=20

              and they don't care if people of the same sex=20

              attend. They do not exclude people of the same sex=20

              buying the tickets.''=20

              Last week, two lesbian students at Marshall High=20

              School in the Northside School District challenged=20

              a school policy that allowed only opposite-sex=20

              couples to attend the senior prom.=20

              On Tuesday, campus student leaders changed the=20

              policy. Now, Marshall seniors will be able to buy=20

              one or two tickets and take whomever they please.=20

              The following districts have no policy prohibiting=20

              same-sex couples from attending the prom: Alamo=20

              Heights, East Central, Edgewood, Judson, North=20

              East, Northside, San Antonio, Somerset, South San=20

              and Southside.=20

              Officials from Harlandale and Southwest did not=20

              return phone calls on the issue.=20

              At Northside, policy regarding the prom is set by=20

              each campus.=20

              Although most districts have never dealt with the=20

              issue of same- sex partners at a prom,=20

              administrators seem open to the idea.=20

              Judson High School Principal Thomas "Eddie''=20

              Parsley said he had no problem with homosexual=20

              couples attending the prom.=20

              "We just watch for improper behavior. It doesn't=20

              matter if it's a boy and girl or two girls,'' he said.=20

              "We hold everybody to the same rules. If you try to=20

              make a spectacle, we may ask they limit that=20

              behavior or ask them to leave.''=20

              Allan Parker, president of the Texas Justice=20

              Foundation, finds the decision by Marshall student=20

              leaders misguided.=20

              "Homosexual behavior is criminal  in Texas [SIC]. It's=20

              criminal because it's bad for the individual and bad=20

              for society, like drug use,'' he said. "Homosexuals=20

              have a much shorter life span, because it is an=20

              unhealthy lifestyle.=20

              "Teachers and counselors at the school should be=20

              steering children toward a healthy choice, which in=20

              Texas is marriage to a person of the opposite sex.=20

              We should not be tolerant of deviant behavior.''=20

              Byron Trott, executive director of Gay and Lesbian=20

              Community Center of San Antonio, said the=20

              challenge by Marshall students is a positive move=20

              for the city's gay and lesbian youth.=20

              "I think it's pretty courageous,'' he said. "These=20

              landmark events have been going on for years=20

              around the country. San Antonio has not had=20

              something like this where students request a=20

              change in the rules.''=20

              Kevin Jennings, executive director of the=20

              Manhattan-based Gay Lesbian and Straight=20

              Education Network, said the first known gay=20

              couple to attend a high school prom was in 1980 in=20

              Rhode Island.=20

              The school's principal didn't approve, but a federal=20

              judge later ruled that the school had to let Aaron=20

              Fricke and his date attend.=20

              Jennings said most gay students do not attend=20

              their proms or attend with a friend of the opposite=20

              sex because of fear of being ridiculed or assaulted.=20

              Despite that fear, he does not advocate separate=20

              proms.=20

              "Gay students want to go to their own prom with=20

              their friends, and why shouldn't they?'' Jennings=20

              asked. "Is that really a crime?''=20

              He said making homosexual students feel that they=20

              can safely attend school proms is essential.=20

              "Homosexual students grow up feeling like=20

              complete and total outsiders every single day. All=20

              the school rituals, like the prom, don't include=20

              you,'' Jennings said. "That leads to isolation and=20

              desperation. All the different aspects of school=20

              should be open. That's why they are called public=20

              schools. Schools should not be in the business of=20

              discrimination.''=20

              Audrey Mills, a 13-year-old Woodlake Hills Middle=20

              School student in the Judson district, said there's=20

              nothing wrong with same- sex couples attending=20

              the prom together.=20

              "I think it would be great, if that's the way they=20

              want it,'' the eighth-grader said.=20

              But Jenny Dial, a sophomore at East Central High,=20

              is a little uncomfortable with the whole idea.=20

              "I just think the prom is a very special day for=20

              everybody, and I don't think it's important for=20

              everybody else to know what everybody's doing,''=20

              she said. "I've seen girls holding hands at school,=20

              but I don't want to know about their personal=20

              experiences of being a homosexual.''=20

              Wednesday, January 21, 1998=20

 =20

                           Back to Top=20

 =20

 =20

 =20

--=20

    ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^=20

            "CON SAFOS, AMIGOS"=20

      Mexican Border Web Page Project=20

     =20
<underline><color><param>0000,0000,fefe</param>http://www.netscorp.net/~jaim=
el</color></underline>=20

                   by JUNTA:=20

         e-mail <<[email-masked]>=20

       Subject: "JUNTA, JUNTA, JUNTA"=20

"A free [school] is one where it is safe to be=20

                   unpopular."=20

              - Adlai Stevenson=20

"Empower Queer Kids - Celebrate Them!"=20

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*=20

Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network=20

          =20
<underline><color><param>0000,0000,fefe</param>http://www.glsen.org</color><=
/underline>=20

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*=20

</center>=20

HOUSTON CHRONICLE, January 21, 1998

801 Texas Avenue,Houston,TX,77002=20

(Fax 713-220-6575)(E-MAIL: [email-masked])(http://www.chron.com/)

State briefs (excerpt)

Same-sex couples at prom=20

   SAN ANTONIO -- Same-sex couples who were forbidden from attending a
high

school prom will be allowed to go following a challenge by two lesbian

students.=20

   The students at Marshall High School asked principal John Bordano last
week

if same-sex partners could attend the senior prom together and were told
only

opposite-sex partners were allowed to attend.=20

   The policy of selling couple tickets for dates of the opposite sex
came

about after the school had a problem with groups of boys going to the
prom and

flirting with the female dates of other boys, Bordano said. School
officials

also worried about gang activity if large groups attended the function

together.=20

   In response to the girls' complaints, Bordano met Tuesday with the
student

leaders. They agreed each senior should be allowed to buy two tickets and
take

whomever they choose to the dance.=20

Jean Richter -- [email-masked]

The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation=
 Nationally)

CHECK OUT OUR INFO-LOADED WEB PAGE AT:

        http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/