Naperville Sun, May 12, 2000
1500 Ogden Ave., Naperville, IL 60540
( http://www.copleynewspapers.com/ )

Parents, students complain about Gay-Straight assembly

By Linda Bicksler, STAFF WRITER

A recent assembly for freshmen at Naperville Central High School went beyond its intended purpose, Principal Tom Paulsen said.

By early next week, parents will receive a letter of apology and explanation from Paulsen.

"We are trying to correct what I honestly think is an error," Paulsen said. "There was a gap between what our intent was and what actually happened."

Two members of Central's Gay-Straight Alliance were the featured speakers at three 25-minute assemblies May 4. Founded in the fall, the group includes six or seven students, Paulsen said.

Paulsen was away, attending a conference, and was not at the assemblies.

The purpose of inviting GSA members to speak at the monthly Redhawk Respect assembly, Paulsen said, was "to introduce to freshmen the fact that there are students who have felt harassed and disrespected because they are gay.

"All people need to be treated with respect and dignity."

Based upon queries and complaints by students and parents, "what came across was more of an advocacy a promotion of a lifestyle, not necessarily recruitment of a lifestyle," Paulsen said this week.

Paulsen said he received calls from three parents, including two Home and School Association leaders who said they had heard from other parents.

At the assemblies, student speakers presented the benefits of a gay lifestyle as they saw it, Paulsen said.

Paulsen said any discussion of pros or cons "was far from where we wanted to go."

Osie Davenport, president of the Naperville School District 203 Board of Education, said she had little information and could not speak about the assembly itself, but she said schools are designed to be a place to hear other people's viewpoints.

"That is what critical thinking is you hear different views and make a decision," Davenport said. "If you never hear different views, you never learn anything new."

Liz Maher, a multineeds coordinator at Elmwood Elementary School and a District 203 parent, said the 15-year-old daughter of a friend came home upset, saying she had asked to leave the assembly because views diametrically opposed to her Christian faith were being presented as fact. Maher said the student was told by a teacher that if she walked out, she would receive a detention.

"I don't believe that's true," Paulsen said. "Nobody has told me it was true."

Paulsen said that a small group of students left the assembly and stood just outside the auditorium door.

"There were students very few who wanted to step out," Paulsen said. "Some kids probably made the assumption that if they wanted to walk out, they couldn't."

Paulsen said it is possible for students to push the envelope too far on acceptance and respect and move into advocacy.

"We have to choose what's appropriate to advocate in front of our students for respect," he said.

Paulsen said that if he had been present, "based on what I heard occurred, at the very least, I would have said, after the first period, 'We need to talk about what we just saw. We're not going to continue until we talk about the direction taken.'"

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