Associated Press, April 26, 2000

Gay and lesbian advocates upset by anti-discrimination policy

By Heidi B. Perlman

BOSTON (AP) ­ A state anti-discrimination policy passed to protect gays in schools is being criticized by the group it initially set out to help.

Some gay and lesbian advocates fear last-minute changes to the regulation made by the state Board of Education on Tuesday could spark an increase of anti-gay sentiment in the classroom.

The rewrite waters down language in the anti-discrimination policy from a rule that educators ''counteract'' stereotypes in materials to one that requires them to ''provide balance and context.''

''This allows for people who hate gays to express their views in the classroom,'' said David LaFontaine, head of the Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth. ''This law is to prohibit bigoted behavior, not open a public forum for debate of these issues.''

State education officials insist the revisions were made to prevent harassment by protecting the rights of everyone.

''We cannot arbitrarily favor one group at the expense of others,'' Roberta Schaefer, the vice chairwoman of the board, said Wednesday. ''I think the way we have this worded protects everybody.''

Board members heard emotional testimony from parents and advocates on both sides of the issue at their monthly meeting Tuesday, and voted unanimously to alter the language of the rules.

Under the new regulations, schools will set up annual training programs for all personnel, and school committees will be required to establish policies to ensure equal access to school programs for all students.

New employees also will be required to sign a statement pledging to conform to state and federal anti-discrimination laws.

These subtle changes to the state law, which has been in place since 1993, were made to emphasize the state board's support of all students, Schaefer said.

''It's not our job to promote anybody's views,'' she said. ''This is a law about preventing harassment, for everyone.''

Gay rights advocates, though they do not favor the change in the wording, say the board's willingness to discuss the topic is a positive step.

Ricara Moore, a 17-year-old senior at Boston High School, is an active member of her schools Gay Straight Alliance. She says she's been openly lesbian since June.

''Now we finally have someone on our side to say, ''No, that's not how it's going to go,''' she said. ''We needed that.''

According to a Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey, just 2 percent of all students and 4 percent of the state's high schoolers describe themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual.

There are more than 200 Gay Straight Alliances at high schools across the state, with about 150 based at public schools.

Wallace Bachman, head of the Boston-area Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, said he is hopeful the board's adoption of the state law will make homosexual students realize they have support.

Openly gay students are harassed and discriminated against every day in the public and private schools, both by their peers and their teachers, he said.

Gay teens are four times as likely to consider or attempt suicide as their heterosexual peers, he said.

''This revision raises the awareness that this kind of harassment is not harmless,'' he said. ''This gives students some recourse they may not have known they had.''
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