Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 10:47:42 -0500 (CDT) From: Kevyn Jacobs To: "Kansas Queer News [KQN]" Cc: GLB-NEWS Subject: NT: Kansas Conservatives attack AIDS education FROM THE NEWS-TELEGRAPH APRIL 28 - MAY 11, 1995 ======================= KANSAS CONSERVATIVES ATTACK AIDS EDUCATION WICHITA KS - Although a so-called "abstinence bill" was defeated in the Kansas legislature, Doug Glaze, Equality Kansas chair, said the radical right continues to attack AIDS education. Glaze said lawmakers have shifted their focus to the Kansas State Board of Education. In February, legislators aided by the Wichita-based Kansas Family Research Institute introduced a bill to alter sex education and AIDS education in public schools. The bill would have forced teachers to present only information in the context of abstinence or marriage and required educators to recite to students the state's sodomy law. Glaze said, "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." Cornfield in 1993 became the principle spokesperson for a House resolution directing the US Congress to avoid giving Lesbians and Gays "special rights." Glaze said the "largest Lesbian and Gay lobbying effort in years ensued" shortly after the "abstinence bill" was introduced in the Kansas House. More than 27 representatives from pro-Gay and Lesbian rights organizations--including Parents & Friends of Les- bians and Gays (PFLAG), the Topeka AIDS Project (TAP), the Wichita Community Clinical AIDS Project (WCCAP) Planned Parenthood and Equality Kansas--testified against the bill. However, the House Education Committee altered the bill, making its provisions voluntary rather than mandatory and the legislation passed easily in the House. 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. Glaze said Gay and Lesbian groups kept up the pressure directing lobbying efforts al Kansas Governor Bill Graves and Kansas senators. The Senate Education Committee voted to take no further action on the bill. "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," Glaze said. Out come 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. In mid-March TAP and Equality Kansas, in conjunction with Planned Parenthood and the Wichita-Sedgwick County Department of Health, testified before 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. Glaze said the "abstinence bill" was defeated by the combined efforts of advocates for Lesbian and Gay concerns from across the state and "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." The Equality Kansas chair is calling on Gays and Lesbians to write or call the State BOE. -from the news desk ========================================================== Permission granted by the News-Telegraph for distribution to the KQN email list (KQN@casti.com), and archiving in the Queer Resources Directory (QRD) on the Internet (http://www.qrd.org/QRD). For News-Telegraph subscription information (published twice a month), please call 1.816.561.6266, or email: newstele@aol.com ==========================================================