Posted on 04/04/2002 9:10:30 AM PST by libertylass
Torrance school board cuts gay program, By Josh Grossberg DAILY BREEZE
The day after the Torrance school board voted to ban a gay rights group from speaking at the annual North High Human Relations Convention, a well-respected civil rights group threatened to boycott the event.
While proponents of keeping the gay rights group out of the conference congratulated themselves Tuesday, the other side floated the idea of holding the conference off-campus and away from the board's jurisdiction.
After a lengthy and tense meeting, the school board voted 3-2 to stop Gays and Lesbians Initiating Dialogue for Equality from attending the May 18 event. Members Maureen O'Donnell, Heidi Ashcraft and Joseph Bonano voted in favor of holding the event, but without GLIDE's participation. Members Gary Kuwahara and Beth Wilson, who both supported allowing the group to attend, voted against the measure.
Linda Hoos, a staff attorney for the Anti-Defamation League, called the board's 3-2 decision an “abomination.” She said even though her group was scheduled to participate, she was going to urge members to stay away. The ADL is known for fighting anti-Semitism.
“I would argue that we should not participate,” she said. “We're discussing it. The decision whether to pull out is something we'll have to mull over.”
The ADL's decision will not be made until next week, but Hoos said the board's vote was a slap in the face to what the event was supposed to be about.
“It does a disservice to the students,” she said. “While I respect divergent views of the community, I still feel, in this context, the decision by the board was heavy-handed and unfair.”
Board member's reaction:
Hoos' comments were treated with skepticism by Torrance school board member Joseph Bonano, who issued the original motion to bar the group.
“Good for them,” Bonano said. “If they want to pull out and make one less presenter, that's fine. They showed their true colors.”
The Human Relations Convention takes place on a Saturday. Student attendance is voluntary, and students must have parental permission. The event is funded by the nonprofit Torrance Education Foundation.
Monday's standing-room-only board meeting was the latest chapter in a saga that began last year when students scheduled a similar group to lead a seminar about sexual orientation. Over objections from dozens of parents and residents, the board approved the presentation on a 3-2 vote.
But with nerves raw from the fight, opponents formed Parents United to Stop Homosexual Education on our Schools, whose goal was to oust board members who voted in favor of the presentation.
“I think it's a step in the right direction,” said PUSHES spokesman Dan Miller. “We'll see how everything turns out. We'll try to monitor things that go on.”
GLIDE is a Beverly Hills-based nonprofit that makes 200 presentations each year on homophobia to schools, government employees and churches, according to the group. Its supporters were disheartened by Monday's vote, saying the decision denied them their rights.
“I was appalled,” said former Torrance school board member William Blischke. “I think that not only do we have a right to free speech, but we have a right to hear and listen to those with a different point of view. The parents who didn't want their children to attend could opt out, but as it went, parents lost their rights to participate.”
To counter the decision, Blischke said he was mulling whether the event should be moved elsewhere. He suggested as much in a letter he sent to the Daily Breeze.
“My recommendation is it would be held at North High as originally planned, but that's not going to happen,” he said. “I suggested that it either be at another facility in Torrance or the North High students find a co-host in a high school in a nearby community where they'd have a more reasonable and tolerant majority on the board that will allow it to happen.”
An alternative conference
O'Donnell said it was their right to have the convention any place they wanted, but she said she wanted students to learn tolerance for all groups, not just gays.
“We feel that through diversity retreats and conflict resolution, you can address this and all other forms of discrimination, which will include youngsters who are fat, not good-looking, or racial and ethnic groups that are not part of the majority,” she said.
But fellow board member Beth Wilson said the students deserved to have GLIDE speak.
“I'm tremendously disappointed,” she said. “I feel sorry for the North High community who, in good faith, pulled this program together. I feel a great deal of sadness today.”
Publish Date:Wednesday April
An important part of TEF's activities is the soliciting of funds, or donations, from Torrance businesses and residents.The article doesn't get into the financial aspects, including whether rent is being paid for use of the school facility.
I see you live in CA, you should know that I live a mile and half away from North High in Torrance CA before speculating on what the source of the TEF funds are.
Proximity doesn't equal knowledge.
So your next in the box LfD, since "gfactor"did'nt have the huevos to answer me.
Not familiar with the particulars, so I won't take your challenge.
This falls into the "two birds with one stone" category of windfall.
These folks continually try to glom on to every other group in order to legitimize their lifestyle. Last I heard, being fat, not good looking or from another racial or ethnic group wouldn't increase your chances of dying from a particularly horrible disease spread mainly through the kind of activities that GLIDE supports.
And I also refuse to use the word 'gay' to describe homosexuals. They are NOT happy people, and it incenses me that a particulary pleasant word has been co-opted so that it can't be used anymore except for them!
Good luck to you folks! And thank you for standing up in support of your children and those in the whole community.
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