Date: Tue, 08 Dec 1998 15:07:16 -0800 From: Jean Richter Subject: 12/8/98 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. IA: Letter on ignoring gay issues in Sioux City schools ============================================================= 4th Street Revue (alternative free paper), December, 1998 1020 Fourth St, Sioux City, IA 51101 Fax: 712-255-1970 E-Mail: revue@willinet.net Endangered Sioux City: Uncommon Heroes by Tim Orwig Some people are obviously heroes, people like Colin Powell, Mother Theresa, John Glenn, or Frank Lloyd Wright, flawed but admirable people who have received great recognition for their significant achievements. It's easy to call them heroes. Rather than well-known people, I'd like to recognize two groups of people who are uncommon heroes. Not only are these groups not often considered heroes, but they are often the object of a great deal of scorn, abuse, and even violence. Despite the fact that they are breaking no laws, these people are vilified and attacked, sadly often by people of faith. In fact, both groups have had recent martyrs. In the aftermath of the murders of Matthew Shepard and Dr. Barnett Slepian, one of the best commentaries came, surprisingly, from Patrick Buchanan. He said that the murders defined America as ". . . a land where gay activists are moral heroes in the vanguard of human rights and abortionists are brave doctors who risk their lives for women's rights. In this picture, social conservatives are thin-lipped haters who, like old segregationists, block the way to a better America." Of course, in context, Crossfire Pat was twisting the issues around to blame the left. I couldn't really follow his reasoning, it was so convoluted and byzantine. But at least subconsciously Buchanan recognizes the fact that these two murders have redrawn the lines for many Americans, and he and other political extremists are struggling to catch up. That probably explains why, within a week after Slepian's murder, Siouxland Right to Life had the gall to put up a billboard on the Hwy. 20 viaduct calling abortion "capital punishment for an innocent life." The implication, I think, is to twist the image of obstetrician Slepian into that of a serial murderer. Barnett Slepian broke no laws; he was murdered for standing up for our laws. The November 10 issue of Village Voice ran an overview of the new terrorism campaign against abortion providers. As many debates on abortion start, it opened with a graphic photo. But it wasn't an aborted fetus; it was the legs of Emily Lyon, a nurse from Birmingham, Alabama, who was disabled in the abortion clinic bombing there. Ugly grafts cover both shins, while the intricate speckling indicated the numerous bits of nails and shrapnel imbedded in her flesh. Her left leg was shattered, while gravel is still buried under her kneecap. The extent of this terrorism is horrifying. Writer Jennifer Gonnerman notes, "Since 1977, there have been 154 incidents of arson, 39 bombings, and 99 acid attacks against abortion providers." And hate has escalated recently; since 1991, there have been 15 attempted murders and at least 7 successful assassinations: Drs. David Gunn, John Bayard Britton, and escort James Barrett in Pensacola, Florida; Shannon Lowney and Leanne Nichols, receptionists in Brookline Massachusetts; and policeman Robert Sanderson in Birmingham. When I attended the open house to inaugurate Planned Parenthood's new clinic in Sioux City, I was impressed by the clean, well-maintained high-tech facilities. But I was even more overwhelmed with the security measures built in to the facility. With clinic bombings occurring as close as Rapid City, Kansas City, and Brainerd, the potential for violence is very real. It takes a strong person to live under the constant pressure faced by clinics. The people of Planned Parenthood are heroes, standing up for principle. Abortion is legal in America. Years of women being mutilated or dying in botched illegal back-alley abortions led us to that legal decision. I support a woman's right to choice and the laws of the United States. The second group of heroes is our lesbian and gay young people, and their peers who support them. On Human Rights Day last year, a group of Sioux City high schoolers talked about the prejudice that their lesbian and gay friends face in the Sioux City Community School district. The Orwellian official policy followed by Superintendent Austin and the school board is that no school employee may say the words "gay," "lesbian," or "homosexual." This includes counselors, too. As with any policy as ludicrous as this, it is written down nowhere but enforced scrupulously. What kind of school system bans words? Of course, the words are used all the time by students, whether in an offhanded "That's so gay," or in a malicious "Faggot!" or "Dyke!" screamed down the hallways. But most teachers are powerless to respond. And any student dealing with sexual identity issues would be wary to seek the help of a school-employed counselor. Not only are counselors not allowed to speak about the issues, but Austin maintains that they must immediately report any such conversations to the student's parents. He justifies this as "maintaining neutrality on a sensitive subject." The end result of this is a climate of terrible self-hatred and real physical danger for lesbian, gay, and questioning youth, as evidenced by the murder of Matthew Shepard. Unless teachers defy the unwritten rules, they cannot even intervene on behalf of harassed students. Besides making them convenient targets of violence, these policies lead to depression, higher drop out rates, substance abuse, and attempted suicides. At the beginning of November, Darren Steele, a 15-year old British choirboy who was taunted because he loved theatre and cooking, hanged himself. A target of sustained verbal and physical abuse by his classmates, Darren changed from an outgoing boy to a pale, sickly shell too frightened to ask his teachers for help. Darren was but one of hundreds, maybe thousands, like him worldwide. But some youth today are saying that they have had enough. Jamie Nabozny fled abuse at his school in Ashland, Wisconsin. After finishing school elsewhere, he sued the school district and won $900,000 in damages. In a second case in Kentwood, Washington, Mark Iversen charged that his school district failed to protect him from anti-gay harassment, and won a $40,000 settlement. All over the country, young people are inaugurating gay/straight alliance groups for support, oftentimes in the face of constant verbal and physical harassment by peers, and outright hostility from teachers and administrators who should be protecting and supporting them. Nearly 500 have been founded since 1991, including one in Ames and one at Valley High in Des Moines. Students at 4 other metro Des Moines schools are organizing, according to the Des Moines Register. Sooner or later, some group of Sioux City students will be brave enough to start an alliance. They should remember that the 1984 Equal Access Act gives them the right to meet on school grounds before or after school. They should seek out supportive teachers as advisors. They can get more information on the Internet. Start with the website for the Massachusetts Department of Education: www.doe.mass.edu/doedocs/GSA/. Another good website is that of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network in New York: www.glsen.org. Bottom line, if you don't believe in abortion, don't have one. If you don't believe in homosexuality, don't love someone of your own sex. But in a free society, you don't have the right to keep others from doing things which are legal. And you certainly don't have the right to harass, terrorize, and murder them. We need more uncommon heroes. [Tim Orwig is online at tto001@alpha.morningside.edu ] =================================================================================== Jean Richter -- richter@eecs.berkeley.edu 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/