Date: Fri, 17 Mar 1995 09:48:32 -0500 From: David B. O'Donnell To: Multiple recipients of list GLB-NEWS Subject: (USA) St. Louis Teacher Fate Decided on 6 April [ Send all responses to WillNich@AOL.COM only. Any responses to the list or list-owners will be returned to you. ] Please let us know by return e-mail if you use this in your publication. David Williams, Editor The Letter PO Box 3882 Louisville, KY 40201 GAY TEACHER'S FATE TO BE DECIDED APRIL 6 by David Williams Rodney Wilson, a teacher of American history and government in Mehlville, Missouri, near St. Louis, may be out of a job after April 6 if some members of the local school board have their way. Wilson, 30, who attended the recent Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Teachers Network conference in Louisville, told one of his classes at Mehlville High School during a discussion on the Nazi Holocaust in March 1994 that he would have been one of Hitler's victims because he is gay. His revelation set off an uproar in this largely conservative suburban area fifteen minutes south of the Gateway Arch that may not end until the new makeup of the school board is decided in an election on April 4. Of the six candidates vying for two positions on the board, Wilson considers three of them conservative and three "openminded." The current board, according to Wilson, is tilted 4-3 in favor of conservatives. The newly elected board will meet for the first time on April 6, and Wilson's application for tenure under the Missouri Teachers Tenure Act will be up for discussion. The board can decide to take one of three actions: renew his contract, which would automatically give him tenure; renew it for just one year and then discuss tenure in 1996; or not renew it. The board is required to make a decision no later than April 15. "If they don't renew my contract," Wilson says, "then I guess I'll have to start looking around for a school district that's friendlier to gay and lesbian teachers, like Boston or San Francisco." Wilson may, however, opt to sue the school board on grounds that his rights were violated under the First Amendment. "I believe that I have a right under the First Amendment," he affirms, "to say 'I am gay' and not suffer job discrimination as a result." Wilson has met or exceeded all expectations of the school board this year, a track record he's maintained since coming to Mehlville in 1990. His students, by and large, are supportive. But a small number of conservative parents are supporting the drive to elect anti-gay members to the school board. The case gained national attention last fall when Wilson was featured in a "Dateline NBC" exclusive and in a cover story for Teacher Magazine. Besides a successful teaching career at Mehlville, Wilson founded Lesbian and Gay History Month last October and is a member of the NEA's Gay and Lesbian Caucus. He also started the St. Louis chapter of GLSTN.