Laws go only so far

By John Doherty, Standard-Times staff writer

FAIRHAVEN - Parents and students concerned about teaching tolerance toward homosexuals heard two sometimes-conflicting realities last night.

At a meeting here sponsored by the local Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, a state official and educators dealing with homosexual issues told residents that Massachusetts is a national leader in protecting gay students' rights. But at the same time, it is up to local school committees and parents groups to pressure their school systems to include tolerance toward gays in the classroom.

Kim Westheimer, who works with the state Department of Education's Safe Schools Program, told the crowd of about 50 people at Fairhaven's Unitarian Universalist Church that 1993's state Gay and Lesbian Student Rights Law made discrimination and harassment against gay students clearly illegal in schools.

"Unfortunately, the rights law didn't deal with curriculum," she pointed out.

Last night's meeting was prompted by the recent fight over the inclusion of homosexuality in an anti-prejudice unit at Ford Middle School in Acushnet.

Ford School Principal John Tavares eliminated speakers and research projects on homosexuality and gay rights after a controversial publication alleged that the school and its teachers were promoting a gay agenda at the school.

A man who identified himself as a reporter from that publication, The Massachusetts News, attended and audiotaped last night's meeting.

Parents and students last night worried that instead of advancing the issue of tolerance, recent local events heralded a backsliding.

Melissa Bliss, a 1999 Wareham High School graduate, who identified herself as a bisexual, said her school now has an active Gay Student Alliance - one of some 175 in the state.

But for too many students, the subject of homosexuality is still taboo.

"When it would come up in class, some of the kids who weren't educated would giggle and say 'Oh, no, the H word,'" she said.

The state Department of Education has made recommendations to schools on how they might ensure their teachers and students do not run afoul of the Gay Student Rights Law.

Those recommendations include incorporating homosexuality in anti-prejudice classes and sensitivity workshops for teachers.

Penn Reeve, a Fairhaven resident who teaches sociology at UMass Dartmouth, wondered what kind of outreach the Safe Schools Program was doing with local superintendents.

"How could the superintendent (in Acushnet) eliminate that part of the curriculum?" he asked. Ms. Westheimer said the recommendations don't have the force of law.

"The law clearly states that harassment is not allowed," she said. "But I encourage parents to put pressure on their school boards to start programs in their towns."

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