One instructor of “The New Gay Teenager” seminar was Wesley Nemenz — the 19-year-old “office assistant” for the Governor’s School. The Burrowses said Nemenz had contact with their son, “trying to convince him to start a ‘Gay & Lesbian’ club at his high school.”
The other instructor, Susan Wiseman, is a Winston-Salem educator in social sciences. She is listed as a youth coordinator for the Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)-Winston-Salem.
Nemenz declined to be interviewed when reached by CJ. Wiseman’s phone number had been disconnected.
A handout for the seminar explained how “gay adolescence” progressed from the 1970s until now. It defined sexual orientation as “the preponderance of erotic feelings, thoughts, and fantasies one has for members of a particular sex, both sexes, or neither sex.” Sexual identity was defined as “a socially recognized label that names sexual feelings, attraction, and behavior.”
The handout, based on Savin-Williams’s book, said although there is a way to identify people, it is impossible to quantify them.
While Milner and Watson denied any agenda at the Governor’s School, Nemenz expressed a different view.
“To lump every distinct, individual faculty member together and say that they had a collective ‘agenda’ is absolutely ridiculous,” Nemenz wrote in a Governor’s School message board on the MySpace Internet Web site. But he said as individuals, “we all have agendas. It is my personal belief that [the Governor’s School] is only an enabler for you to create your own agenda.
“In doing the New Gay Teenager seminar, my ‘agenda’ was to shed light on an interesting way of looking at sexuality and to talk about my personal experience. … I believe my agenda succeeded. And I believe that people are better off for it. I could be wrong … but it’s my agenda and I’ll tout it if I want to. We all have our agendas.”
Lesbian Teacher Avoids Prosecution In Molestation Case
Wiseman is also a leader in a local PFLAG chapter in Winston-Salem and has taught a course titled "The New Gay Teenager" at the prestigious North Carolina Governor's School during the summer. This school recruits top students from the state to participate in various courses during the summer break.
Wiseman's course was based upon a book by Ritch Savin-Williams who is encouraged by trends among teenagers to experiment with a variety of sexual activities with both girls and boys.
A review of Savin-Williams book is available on NARTH's web site: "The New Gay Teenager." In his book, Savin-William appears to be an apologist for pederasty. He quotes Dr. Theodore Sandfort, a pro-pedophile professor, throughout his book without condemning the man's affirmation of adult/child sex. Sandfort has served on the editorial board of PAIDIKA, a Dutch pedophile journal. On page 135, Savin-Williams suggests that if sex between an older person and child isn't abusive or coercive, it would serve as "a positive impact on adolescent and adult sexual arousal..."
Susan Wiseman was fired, however.