Date: Thu, 26 Jan 1995 17:25:45 -0500 From: VictoryF@aol.com News Release ********************************************* Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund 1012 14th Street NW, Suite 707 Washington, DC 20005 202/842-8679 (phone) 202/289-3863 (fax) email: victoryf@aol.com Iowa School Board Member Joins the Ranks of Openly Gay Officials Des Moines' Jonathan Wilson Comes Out Despite Death Threats WASHINGTON, DC - 25 January 1995 - Iowa School Board Member Jonathan Wilson announced his sexual orientation at a packed school board meeting last night. In an act of uncompromising integrity and courage, Wilson chose to come out of the closet despite a campaign of intimidation that included threats of violence against him and his family. Wearing a bullet proof vest at the request of law enforcement officials, Wilson said, "These death threats show how desperately we need to educate people about tolerance for differences." A school board member for 12 years, Wilson has two children, a daughter who still attends school in the District and a son who is a recent graduate. "Jonathan Wilson is a very courageous individual," says openly gay U.S. Congressman Gerry Studds. "As one who has known political life on both sides of the closet door, I know that this was not an easy thing to do." First elected in 1972, Studds came out on the House floor in 1983 and has won re-election six times since. "The citizens of Des Moines are fortunate to have a school board member who cares so much about his community that he is willing to sacrifice his own privacy for their sake." Wilson's coming out is a statement against the growing anti-gay climate in his district. "I am coming out to educate and so that I can speak with a clearer, unintimidated voice," he said. Local leaders note that the man behind the anti-gay furor in the Des Moines School District is Radical Right agitator Bill Horn. Horn moved to Altoona, Iowa, less than a year ago to open the midwest office of The Report, the California-based Radical Right group that produced the virulently homophobic video "The GayAgenda." Although he is leading the fight against including information abouthomosexuality in the curriculum of Des Moines District schools, Horn does not live inthe District. "If these people really cared about the students they would be focusing on realproblems like poor academic achievement, overcrowded classrooms, gang violence,and substance abuse," says Victory Fund Deputy Director Kathleen DeBold. "This isjust another example of the Radical Right's demonization the gay and lesbiancommunity as a recruiting and fundraising gimmick." "It's time for our community to participate fully in making the schools safe for all kids, to stop the violence, to stopthe fear, to stop the isolation, to stop the naming-calling and stereotypes, and to stopthe ignorance," Wilson says. Wilson is the nation's eighth openly gay school board member and the eighty-third openly gay (non-judicial) elected official currently in office. [For additional information, please call 202-842-8679 or email victoryf@aol.com]