Message from:
The Coalition for Safer Schools of NYS, PO Box 2345, Malta, NY 12020
John Myers, Director of Operations and Programs
Email to:SARATOGANY@aol.com
The Real or Perceived Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Student Protection Project
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San Diego Union-Tribune, March 20, 2002
P. O. Box 191, San Diego, CA, 92112-4106
(Fax:619-293-1440 ) (E-Mail:letters@uniontrib.com )
( http://www.uniontrib.com )

Editorial:
Selective hate
Narrow-minded board cuts tolerance film

The Grossmont Union school board's decision to censor a film promoting tolerance is downright disgraceful.

"The Truth About Hate" is a short video examining the corrosive nature and, more important, the destructive consequences of bigotry. It has been shown in school assemblies throughout the region and has received positive reactions from students and staff. But the version seen last week by students at Granite Hills High School was missing a crucial segment dealing with discrimination against homosexuals.

The showing of this film last year at Steele Canyon High School in Spring Valley created a stir among a group of cultural conservatives who are determined to regain control of the Grossmont school board. Just one vote shy of a board majority for their cause, the critics routinely raise the red herring of a "homosexual agenda" in schools to rouse their followers.

The controversy over this video is no exception.

Trustees Priscilla Schreiber and Gary Cass are convinced that Grossmont Union is beset by an insidious coalition of gays and lesbians looking to brainwash gullible students. The two trustees oppose the district's tolerance policy insofar as it applies to students who are gay or perceived to be.

Before being elected, Schreiber helped spearhead an unsuccessful effort to recall trustee Ted Crooks because he supported the district's tolerance policy. She and Cass did succeed in persuading trustee Dan McGeorge to join them in demanding deletion of a segment on gay-bashing from the tolerance video.

Schreiber would have us believe that showing a gay police officer talking to kids is dangerous because it suggests homosexuality is normal and acceptable. "We want to make sure that everyone is respected," she said, "and not promote a sexual lifestyle."

Does Schreiber seriously believe it promotes homosexuality for students to hear a few poignant comments from the mother of an openly bisexual teen whose bullying by classmates led him to commit suicide? What about a mention of the brutal murder of Matthew Shepherd, a gay college student in Wyoming? Both were omitted from the program.

The Anti-Defamation League of San Diego County, which presents the video in schools as part of its program, "Names Can Really Hurt Us," is being criticized for caving in to the school board's demands. But the ADL directors decided it was better to remain engaged with Grossmont Union, which needs all the help it can get in fending off the forces of bigotry.

The censored video has served to focus even greater attention on the importance of treating people with respect, regardless of race, color, creed, gender or sexual orientation.
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FYI
GRANITE HILLS HIGH SCHOOL
1719 E Madison Ave
El Cajon, California 92019
Office:(619) 593-5500
Fax:(619) 588-9389

GROSSMONT UNION
P.O. BOX 1043
LA MESA, CA 91944-1043
Phone:(619)644-8000

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This message has been distributed as a free informational service for the expressed interest of non-profit research and educational purposes only.

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John Myers
Director of Operations and Programs
(518) 587-0176

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