School district defends gay kids

By Steve Warmbir, Suburban Reporter

A Naperville school board expanded its anti-harassment policy Monday night after hearing story upon story of gay students being threatened in their schools.

The 5-2 vote by Naperville Unit School District 203 came after an emotional debate raged for weeks among residents in the conservative western suburb.

As more than 80 residents packed the meeting room and others spilled into the hall, the board adopted a revised policy that specifically says it will not tolerate harassment of students based on their sexual orientation.

With support from parents and some ministers, gay students from Naperville Central and North high schools argued they needed to be specifically protected after taunts and other abuse in school drove them to tears or worse.

They said some teachers did nothing to help.

"I'm appalled by the action or lack of action in our schools if what I've heard is true," Supt. Donald Weber said.

Naperville North graduate Andi Davison told the school board how she wrote "I want to die" in her notebook in class because of the harassment. The abuse grew so bad, she hurt herself, she said.

"I cut my thighs, I cut my stomach, I cut my arms," Davison said. "I wish my school had been a safe place, but what's done is done."

Davison praised the school board for passing the policy, although it wasn't as strong as the original one it considered. "It's a start. You have to start somewhere," Davison said.

But other residents were dismayed by the board's decision. They believe that homosexuality is immoral, and by singling out gay people for protection it gives a tacit approval of their lifestyle.

"What I think it does is help promote the gay-lesbian political agenda," said the Rev. Brian VanDerway of the Cornerstone Church in Naperville.

VanDerway stressed, though, that he was glad that awareness was raised that gay students are being harassed. "That should be stopped," he said.

Robert Graham, a 63-year-old retired chemical engineer from Naperville, opposed the policy change but said its supporters were simply better organized.

"We are just totally outnumbered," Graham sighed.

Chicago Tribune, August 15, 2000
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District 203 sticks to middle ground
Anti-gay harassment proposal modified

By Tracy Dell'Angela, Tribune Staff Writer

After months of debate, the Naperville District 203 school board, poised to take strong stands on three controversial policy changes, opted instead Monday to embrace the status quo, approving new policies that will change very little about the way schools are run.

The police changes were to cover anti-gay bias in schools, the diversity of the district's workforce and a clash involving home-schooling.

Critics say the board buckled under political pressure and rewrote policies that are so general and vague as to be meaningless.

But board members say the revised policies reflect differences of opinion on the board and throughout the community.

In approving a new student harassment policy, the board sent a mixed message about how it wanted to handle harassment issues involving sexual orientation.

The board endorsed a revised policy that mentions sexual orientation in passing but does not specifically prohibit harassment based on that issue or other differences. The board "encourages respect for all persons and will not tolerate harassing or intimidating behavior."

The policy states that harassment will be prohibited based on terms defined by local, state and federal law, which specifically omit sexual orientation from the list of protected classes. The school policy defines what kind of behavior constitutes harassment and states "it is often, but not always associated with race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status or physical differences."

Twenty-six people spoke passionately on both sides of the issue, many of them students who detailed in choked voices the anti-gay harassment they endured as Naperville students.

"Right now it's up to our own personal prejudices to decide what is harassment. We need you guys to make a statement that this is wrong," said Naperville North High School teacher Dan Iverson.

The issue was first raised by student activists, who argued that anti-gay bias was an issue that needed to be specifically addressed. Supt. Don Weber surprised students last month by proposing a policy that banned harassment based on sexual orientation, along with a range of other protected categories such as race, religion and disability. The policy is a copy of one endorsed by the Illinois Association of School Boards.

In another contentious issue . . . [cut]

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