Dress code drives away gay student

By Mike McPhee
Denver Post Staff Writer

A gay high school student who spent 12 years in the Lutheran school system will not be allowed to graduate with his lifelong classmates because he refuses to conform to Lutheran High School's dress code.

Jeremy Garza, 18, began attending Lutheran schools in kindergarten and was a senior and a good student at Lutheran. He was asked over the Christmas break to conform to the school's dress code or not come back. He chose to not come back.

"We are a religious school and we take the Bible seriously. One paragraph of our dress code states that students can't wear clothes in such a way to be in opposition to the Bible,'' said Kenneth Palmreuter, executive director of Lutheran High School. "Jeremy was told at the end of last semester to either dress according to the code or not return. He chose not to return.

"It's not an issue of him being gay but rather of him refusing to accept the dress code,'' said Palmreuter. He said he doesn't know if there are other gay students at Lutheran, but if it has the same demographics as other schools, he assumes there are.

Garza could not be reached for comment Monday.

However, his mother, Vicky Garza-Reczek, is torn between two loyalties - her son and the teachings of the Bible.

"I have terribly mixed emotions. The way Lutheran handled it could have been more tactful. They're sidestepping the issue. It really had nothing to do with the dress code,'' she said. "They didn't take the right approach. They were telling him "Pretend you're not gay and then you can stay.' The teachers and the staff have been told not to discuss this with the other students.''

Garza came out with his homosexuality last June, his mother said. His father, with whom he had been living, immediately asked him to leave, so he moved in with his mother. She said his clothes aren't that much different than many other kids his age.

"He's always been a little eccentric,'' she said, "but not bad. Most of the time he looks like any normal teenager, with jeans and a polo shirt. Occasionally he would wear leather pants, then he got into "retro' clothes - polyester shirts with a button-up collar and short sleeves. Some would have a shimmer to it. And his shoes. He'd wear platform tennis shoes, stuff like that, but not much different.

"They also asked him to stop wearing jewelry, stuff like a necklace, like a choker, with the rainbow, which is their symbol. He may be a little eccentric to the jocks, but his friends don't think he's that different,'' she said.

"He's a good kid. I love him as a son. I don't condone that choice of lifestyle. He knows that and he would like me to be more accepting. I believe he has a choice, if he would allow the good Lord to work inside him, I believe he would come around and see it the way he was raised.''

Garza has since enrolled in the Career Education Center run by the Denver Public Schools. He plans to graduate with a diploma in May and then attend art school.

DENVER POST, February 4, 1998

Student forced to transfer doesn't regret gay disclosure

By Mike McPhee
Denver Post Staff Writer

Jeremy Garza says he has no regrets, even though he was forced to transfer from his high school four months short of graduating, has been scorned and ridiculed and has had his car vandalized, all for admitting he's gay.

Garza, 18, was about to start his final semester at Lutheran High School last month when officials issued an ultimatum: He must dress differently or leave.

He is now attending the Denver Career Education Center and expects to receive a diploma in May.

"It wasn't the dress code (that prompted his departure). It's because I'm gay,'' Garza said matter-of-factly during a break in his after-school job Tuesday. "The issue was that I was publicly promoting being gay. It was a visual thing. They were trying to say to me that if I looked straight, I could continue going there.''

School officials said a paragraph in their dress code bans clothing that is "in opposition to the Bible.'' But they denied excluding Garza because he is gay.

Jeremy, who publicly acknowledged in June that he is gay, chose not to go back to Lutheran.

"I had been wearing the same kinds of clothes since sophomore year. The only thing that changed after I came out is that I put a "gay pride' bumper sticker on my car and began to wear gay jewelry,'' he said.

He said his clothing was pretty normal most of the time but included some black-leather pants, some silver pants and form-fitting "retro'' shirts. He said school officials never once singled out any of his clothes as being offensive.

Garza said he was the only gay student at the school to ever admit his homosexuality.

"I was treated really unfair. And everyone else who comes out now will be treated unfairly,'' he said. "I would do it all over again if I had to, maybe come out even earlier. I wouldn't do it any differently. It proved to me who I could trust and who I couldn't.''

A female friend of Garza's, who said her father wouldn't allow her to be quoted by name, described Garza as a "good human being and a good friend. He has good morals.'' The girl, who has known Garza since kindergarten, said she supports her friend but also backs the school's handling of the incident.

"Jeremy had a choice to follow the rules and he chose to leave. I think it's fair because it was his choice,'' she said.

Garza's mother, Vicky Garza-Reczek, has said she supports and loves her son but disagrees with him on the issue of his homosexuality. She believes he can choose to let the Lord inside, much as an alcoholic can choose to dry out.

"Oh yeah, we've gone round and round about that,'' Garza said. "The same with my father, who I believe was scared. He didn't know how to handle the situation so he removed me from his life and from his kids. But he's had time to adjust.''

DENVER POST, February 5, 1998

Straight talk on gay dress

By Mark Obmascik
Denver Post Columnist

Feb. 5 - In these modern times, there are only a few bad things that still can get you kicked out of high school.

You can't bring your gun to class. You can't sell most drugs in the cafeteria. You can't "make'' your baby in the middle of homeroom.

And now, at Denver's Lutheran High School, there's a new rule:

You can't dress like a gay boy.

At a time when most schools are begging students to stay, Lutheran booted a teenager for coming to school dressed like a homosexual, whatever that means. In the words of school director Kenneth Palmreuter, "Our dress code states that students can't wear clothes in such a way to be in opposition to the Bible. . . . He wasn't asked to leave because he is gay. He was asked because of the gay clothing, the gay jewelry.''

Just how did 18-year-old Jeremy Garza dress gay? He was an admitted fan of the men's fashion magazine GQ. Occasionally he would wear black leather pants. Other times he would go retro, with buttoned-up green polyester shirts and Ward Cleaver pants. Some fabrics even were a little shimmery.

Though he never donned T-shirts with gay messages, he did wear a bracelet and necklace with the rainbow logo favored by homosexual activists. He also conceded, in a trip to the principal's office, that he sometimes highlighted his eyes with a touch of mascara.

Compared with contemporary heterosexual role models such as Marv Albert, Mick Jagger and Paul Shaffer, Garza's fashion tastes are downright conservative.

Besides, he wanted to stay in the school. He had attended Lutheran schools since kindergarten and was just one semester from graduating with his class. He found some of his best friends in the school when his 8-year-old brother died of cancer and when he was kicked out of the house by his father for publicly acknowledging his homosexuality.

With a 3.3 grade-point average and an impressive 1,250 score on his SAT college entrance exam, Garza wasn't considered a troublemaker in school. Then his theology teacher pulled him aside and asked if the rumors and jewelry hinting at his homosexuality were true.

"I thought it was better to tell the truth than lie,'' Garza said. "I told him I had a boyfriend. He quoted me a few Bible verses and told me I was wrong.''

School officials began praying for Garza and bringing him in for weekly meetings. They kept telling him to change clothes. He decided instead to change schools.

"We don't want to remove a student just because he's sinful. If we did that, we'd all be gone,'' said director Palmreuter. "But we do have a dress code.''

Ah, yes: That Lutheran High School dress code. It bans students from wearing anything that brings undue attention, though school officials said covered tattoos and even Green Bay Packers jerseys are OK, as are male students with earrings.

While visiting school Wednesday, I asked if my clothes conformed to code. The director looked at my soft, swishy corduroys and my plush, velvety sweater and said: "You're wonderful.''

In the hallways, I saw kids in heterosexual jeans, heterosexual shirts and heterosexual sneakers.

To be perfectly straight, I thought they dressed a lot like Ellen DeGeneres.

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