Schools battle over gay policies
Language that bars discrimination goes too far for some

By Nicole Bondi and Charles Hurt / The Detroit News

WALLED LAKE -- As homosexuals become more visible and more vocal in their communities, school districts find themselves faced with a controversial decision: Whether to include language in school policies to specifically protect gay and lesbian students and employees from discrimination.

When Walled Lake Consolidated Schools revised its employee nondiscrimination policy this month, it decided not to include sexual orientation. That decision has angered and dismayed critics, who argue that gay teachers and students must be specifically protected by the schools they attend or where they work.

Others argue that injecting sexuality into young teens' thinking at school invites problems.

"I don't believe sexuality belongs in the classroom," said Diane Barnes, who has two children attending East Detroit Public Schools. "I'm sorry, that just belongs at home."

She said she doesn't care if her child has a gay teacher or gay friends so long as they don't try to "shove their ideas down their throats."

Without specific language protecting them, gays can be the subject of verbal and even physical abuse, said Sharon Cutting, whose 15-year-old son declared he was gay two years ago. He's been spit upon, pushed and punched by fellow students, she said. And students have scratched and tossed eggs at his car and thrown rocks at him, she said.

When she and her son asked the Allen Park School Board for specific protection, the school board did what Walled Lake did this month: It strengthened the district's anti-harassment policy, without specifically mentioning sexual orientation as a protected category.

"They're going to ignore it until some child gets killed," Cutting said.

Walled Lake's policy's general wording protects gay and lesbian employees anyway, said Walled Lake Schools spokeswoman Lois Lange. She said the policy is consistent with federal standards.

That's not enough, said Frank Colasonti Jr., a counselor at Groves High School in Birmingham, who publicly acknowledged his homosexuality in 1990. Colasonti is believed to be the first public school educator in Michigan to take that step.

"For many years, the law of the land was slavery, the law of the land was only men could vote," Colasonti said. "The law is not always correct or inclusive."

Specifically including "sexual orientation" in school anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies makes a difference to students and their teachers, Colasonti said.

"If the wording is there in the policy, then the adults ... feel the freedom to talk about the subject. They feel protected and supported by the administration," Colasonti said. "If it's not there, it's never brought up."

As founder of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network's Detroit chapter, Colasonti said he gets at least one call a week from a student or educator who has been harassed because of sexual orientation.

The Birmingham School District includes sexual orientation in all its student and staff anti-discrimination policies. Since dealing with that issue eight years ago, no incident of harassment has been reported, spokeswoman Shirley Bryant said.

"What we've tried to do is provide information so staff and students understand that our policy is we won't tolerate discrimination of any kind," Bryant said.

In the early 1990s, the Birmingham district struggled over whether to change a sex education curriculum that included information on homosexuality. After heated debate, the school board voted 7-0 to keep homosexuality in the curriculum.

One of the major reasons behind the decision was statistics that show one-third of teen suicides involve students struggling with their sexual identity, Bryant said.

High school is not too early for youths to realize they're gay, Colasonti said. In fact, by middle school, most gay or lesbian students will recognize they are different, even if they don't specifically identify themselves as gay.

When a 14-year-old Allen Park student reported two years ago being harassed because he was gay, the district found itself in the center of a controversy. The student and his family picketed the school board asking for specific protections for gay students.

"It was a large-scale controversy at the time," said Supt. William Kiefer, who said the school board hammered out a strengthened policy that did not include specific language on sexual orientation.

"They absolutely would not consider sexual language in the rules," he said.

What they did do was include a "zero tolerance" harassment policy on the first page of the student code of conduct promising "swift, appropriate and firm disciplinary action" against any kind of harassment.

"This policy has all the teeth a policy can have," Kiefer said. "It can't be a policy option, it has to be alive. That's why it's on the first page."

But Colasonti believes that beyond explicitly stating they will not tolerate discrimination or harassment due to sexual orientation, schools need to train counselors and administrators to be sensitive to the issues facing gay and lesbian students today.

Growing up and going to school is tough enough for children without having to grapple with these complicated issues, said Barnes, the East Detroit school parent.

"They're growing up too fast anyway," she said. "Schools are a dumping ground for every kind of activist who wants to shove their agenda down our children's throats."

That's why superintendent Kiefer thinks it's best to avoid the sexual language in the rules.

"You just end up battling, battling and battling and never resolving the problem," he said. "The issue is harassment and treating people properly. ... It's like saying 'he's a black teacher.' No, he's just a teacher."

Other Metro Detroit school districts have struggled with gay issues. Wayne-Westland school officials in 1997 adopted a policy protecting gay students and staff from abuse and discrimination. The school board reversed the policy eight months later, drawing criticism from gay activists and the family of gay students. Board President Debra Fowlkes said the threat of lawsuits forced the board to backtrack. Gay activists make it a point to speak out at every Wayne-Westland school board meeting, asking for reinstatement of the policy.

Detroit Public Schools also leaves mention of sexual orientation out of its policies.

"There is nothing to address," Deputy Supt. Arthur Carter said. "We have a student code of conduct. Everybody should be treated equally and no student should be mistreated.

"It's real simple. It's the golden rule. Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you."

Opposing views

Should school districts include sexual orientation in their policy against discrimination?

Pro

Gay teachers and students must be protected by the schools where they work or attend because of the long history of discrimination against homosexuals.

Gay students at Metro Detroit schools have been verbally and physically abused, students, parents and teachers report.

Con

A policy that includes sexual orientation injects sexuality into young teens' thinking.

Some parents fear openly gay teachers would try to "sell" impressionable youths on homosexuality.

Several administrators argue that district-wide codes of conduct already prohibit abusive words and actions toward other students and teachers.

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