Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 20:52:42 -0500 (CDT) From: Kevyn Jacobs To: "Kansas Queer News [KQN]" Subject: Kansas Conservatives Attack AIDS Education Conservatives Attack AIDS Education So-called "Abstinence Bill" Defeated, But Your Help Still Needed by Doug Glaze Chair, Equality Kansas As predicted, the new conservative majority in the Kansas House of Representatives decided to attack AIDS issues instead of a direct attack upon Lesbian and Gay Kansans in 1995. Though this method of attack has thus far been repelled in the legislature, conservative lawmakers are now attempting to attack AIDS education through the Kansas State Board of Education. AIDS Education Replaced by Sodomy Law In February, conservative legislators, with some help from the Wichita-based Kansas Family Research Institute (the Kansas affiliate of Focus on the Family), wrote and introduced House Bill (H.B.) 2301. The bill would have drastically altered sex edation and AIDS education in the public schools, forcing educators to present such information only in the context of abstinence or marriage. The bill would also have required educators to recite to their students the Kansas criminal sodomy law, which makes consenting sexual relationships between people of the same gender illegal. The impetus behind the introduction of this bill was reportedly a 1994 visit by Dr. Donna Sweet, Wichita's primary AIDS care physician, to the town of Valley Center, home of anti-Gay demagogue and state representative Darlene Cornfield. Ms. Cornfield first came to the attention of the Kansas Lesbian and Gay community when she became the principle spokesperson for a 1993 House resolution directing the U.S. Congress to avoid giving Lesbians and Gays "special rights." Ms. Cornfield now took issue with Dr. Sweet's presentation of the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) statistics on condom effectiveness in preventing sexually-transmitted diseases (STD's). Accordingly, H.B. 2301 contained a section providing that students be told condoms fail 30% of the time in preventing pregnancies and STD's, in direct conflict with CDC studies which indicate condoms are over 90% effective when used correctly. KDHE Supports Discriminatory Bill Most public schools in Kansas now prohibit condoms from being discussed in the classroom. Because H.B. 2301 would have permitted the discussion of condoms in the classroom for the first time, however inappropriately, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), the parent agency of the Bureau of Disease Control and the AIDS and HIV Prevention Sections, lobbied in support of this bill. The fact that the bill discriminated against Lesbian and Gay youth, in effect writing off the popution most at risk for contracting HIV, was not deemed sufficient reason for the KDHE to oppose it. Conservative lawmakers attempted to garner support for H.B. 2301 by naming it the "abstinence bill," suggesting that abstinence was not currently taught by sex education and AIDS education programs in Kansas public schools. In reality, such programs have always been abstinence-based, stressing that only through abstinence from sexual activity can one be 100% safe from pregnancy or STD's. Lesbians & Gays Lobby the Legislature The largest Lesbian and Gay lobbying effort in years ensued shortly after H.B. 2301's introduction into the House Education Committee, with over 27 representatives from Parents & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), the Topeka AIDS Project (TAP), the Wichita Community Clinical AIDS Project (WCCAP), Planned Parenthood, and Equality Kansas presenting testimony on the harmful effects of the bill. The Education Committee responded by making the mandatory provisions of the bill voluntary before sending the bill on to the full House, where it passed easily and was sent to the Senate Education Committee for review. WCCAP then directed its subsequent lobbying efforts at Governor Bill Graves, who indicated that he had not been aware of the bill's potentially harmful effects before stating that he was opposed to the bill. Equality Kansas responded by initiating a phone-call and letter-writing campaign to the Senate directed towards H.B. 2301's defeat. The Kansas Senate, who was not up for re-election in the 1994 elections, is composed mainly of moderate Republicans who are opposed to the conservative Republican agenda of the Kansas House. Equality Kansas members who lobbied the Senate reported that the Senators were surprisingly open and receptive to Lesbian and Gay concerns in opposing the bill. Shortly afterwards, the Senate Education Committee voted to take no further action on the bill, effectively killing it for the remainder of the session. AIDS Education Attacked in State BOE Undaunted, conservatives have responded by initiating a second attack upon AIDS education in Kansas through a resolution calling upon the Kansas State Board of Education (BOE) to eliminate Outcome 5, a provision in the Quality Performance Accreditation (QPA) Program. Outcome 5 requires that public schools show their students "demonstrate mastery of a locally-developed comprehensive human sexuality and AIDS curriculum" in order to receive accreditation from the State BOE. Without such a requirement, many small, rural schools would not offer a comprehensive AIDS education program. In mid-March TAP and Equality Kansas, in conjunction with Planned Parenthood and the Wichita-Sedgwick County Department of Health, presented testimony to the State BOE requesting that they retain Outcome 5. The BOE responded by delaying any action upon the measure until they meet again in June. It's Not Over Yet H.B. 2301 was defeated by the combined efforts of advocates for Lesbian and Gay concerns from across the state. If we are to ensure Lesbian and Gay youth, indeed all youth, are provided with the information they need in order to remain free from HIV disease, we must repeat these efforts. Please take the time to write or call the State BOE with the information provided below and ask them to retain Outcome 5. CONTACT THESE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBERS TODAY District 1 Mrs. Mildred McMillon 15812 214th Street Tonganoxie, KS 66086 District 2 Mrs. Kathleen White 7137 Booth Chairman Shawnee Mission,KS 66208 District 4 Dr. Harold Hosey 1015 W. 18 Ave. Emporia, KS 66801 District 5 Mr. Sonny Rundell P.O. Box 813 Syracuse, KS 67878 District 7 Mrs. Wanda Morrison 64 Willowbrook Vice-Chairman Hutchinson, KS 67502 District 8 Mr. Michael Gragert 245 N. Waco,Suite 200 Wichita, KS 67202 District 9 Mrs. Manday Specht RR 1 Iola, KS 66749-9801 Please direct phone calls to: Board Secretary Joy Simpson 120 SE 10th Ave. Topeka, KS 66612-1182 913-296-3203