GAY SLUR EPIDEMIC IN DES MOINES SCHOOLS: A group of students from high schools throughout the Des Moines School District recently sent a letter and a memo to the Des Moines School Board urging it to enforce policies to protect students and employees against discrimination based on sexual orientation. The letter comes after the group, Concerned Students, launched its "Homophobia in Schools Project" in December to document direct and indirect homophobia throughout the school district. Recording ten days at different schools, Concerned Students discovered that the average Des Moines high school student is barraged with an average of 25 anti-gay comments a day, ranging from epithets to more off-handed comments. School Board President Elizabeth Goodwin acknowledged the problem and promised that she would work to ensure the non-discrimination policies remain and be enforced. "Obviously, there's a problem," said Concerned Students Co-Founder Kit Murray, "This is the only derogatory name-calling that's still really accepted within the school system." For more information, contact Kit Murray care of Roosevelt High School in Des Moines at (515) 242-7272.

DES MOINES REGISTER, March 20, 1997
Box 957,Des Moines,Ia.,50304
(Fax 515-286-2511, print run 212,700)
(E-MAIL: letters@dmreg.com)

LETTER: SLURS COMMON

The March 7, "Gay Slurs Abound, Students Say," is right on target. The statistics compiled by the Concerned Students of Des Moines correspond with national figures compiled by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Teachers Network (GLSTN). At the school district's March 3 in-service, a session sponsored by GLSTN Des Moines dealt with this very topic. Although the room was full, the need to address homophobia in our schools should be comprehensive. All students deserve to be treated equally, regardless of their gender orientation.

-- Steve Person, GLSTN Des Moines Co-chakr;
teacher, Central Academy;
300 Walnut, St., Des Moines