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local news
A simple question
sparks brouhaha
Beaverton schools health class turned into “incident”
by OCA “fact sheet”
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t really was no big deal.
Kids from a Beaverton intermediate
school were bused to a nearby conference
center for an afternoon workshop on re
sponsible sexual behavior. All the Í 35 boys
who attended had their parents’ permission, and
all the parents had a chance to preview the mate
rial their boys would see at an evening session
prior to the May 10 workshop.
The sessions were put on by the Beaverton
School District, the Washington County Depart
ment of Health and Human Services, and Com
munity Youth Services. All the agencies agreed to
abide by the school district’s guidelines on sexu
ality education, which stress abstinence as the
only risk-free choice for teens.
But what
should have
been a simple
health class for
kids has turned
into a contro
versy that has
attracted na
tional attention
from adults, due
to the influence
of the Oregon
C itizens A lli
ance. Members
of the right wing
group
have
seized on com
plaints from
three parents—
none of whom attended the preview session—and
used them to promote their homophobic agenda.
What happened was, a group of boys saw a
video called Stale Roles and Tight Buns, which
sought to educate the kids about the images of men
in the media. The film uses pictures from televi
sion advertising, magazines and other common
sources to examine the way males are portrayed in
the media.
"The OCA’s reference to ‘nearly naked men’
was obviously intended to create the impression
that the video contained sexually explicit photos
of a homosexual nature,” said Rep. George
Eighmey, (D-Portland). "This could not be fur
ther from the truth. The photos were of men in
swim wear, in soap ads, shaving ads, and in other
poses found in typical commercials of this venue.
They were not homoerotic, any more than are
similar photos of women heteroerotic. All of the
photos were in good taste and were intended to be
used to teach the students about the sometimes
false male image projected by the advertising
industry.”
After the film some of the kids asked ques
tions about what they had seen, as well as other
topics. The teacher, Larry Smith, was the only
adult in the room with the boys after the film.
Smith is on leave from the Beaverton School
District to work with the state Health Department
on a curriculum development project.
The question from a student which sparked all
the brouhaha was a simple one— yet a question
some kids may not feel comfortable asking their
parents.
"How do you know if you’re gay?” the boy
asked. Before Smith could field the question.
another boy called out, “If you sleep with another
guy.”
Smith told Mark Carlton, the principal of Five
Oaks Intermediate School where the curious
youngsters attend classes, that he decided it was
best to respond to the question by advising the boy
to talk to his parents. Smith also believed it was
important to correct the possible wrong impres
sion created by the student who said that a person
is gay if they have one same-sex experience.
Smith says he told the boys that having a
couple of same-sex experiences doesn’t mean a
person is gay, any more than a couple of hetero
sexual experiences mean a person is straight. At
no time did the teacher advocate that the students
engage in one or two heterosexual or homosexual
experiences to de
term ine
th eir
sexual orienta
tion. Throughout
the presentation,
Smith says he ad
vocated a b sti
nence first, as the
most responsible
sexual behavior.
But a couple
of the boys went
home and told
th eir
parents
about the d is
cu ssio n ,
and
Carlton’s phone
started ringing.
The principal said
that, overall, students and staff members were
comfortable with the information presented at the
conference.
“Nearly all the information matched the dis
trict position that abstinence is the only risk-free
sexual behavior,” Carlton wrote in a letter to
parents prompted by the calls. “However, some
students were personally offended by a discus
sion that occurred during the question and answer
period of one of the four sessions.”
But Carlton is not the only one writing letters.
A flier titled "Five Oaks Incident Fact Sheet”
begins, “The following information is provided in
the interest of protecting our children from the
promotion of homosexuality in the public schools
and insuring that public funds are utilized in a
manner1 that is consistent with community stan
dards and the law.”
In addition to saying that the advertising video
featured nearly naked men, the OCA’s fact sheet
alleges that Smith is a gay activist who advised the
students on selecting the best lubricants to be used
with condoms.
Smith says he answered a question from a
student about using oil- or water-based lubricants
with condoms by saying that oil-based lubricants
can cause some condoms to break.
Eighmey says the OCA has turned a routine
workshop into a problem. “There would be no
incident if the OCA had not involved those who
had no connection with the program, had not
created falsehoods about what was presented, and
had not given a platform to those who wished to
misinform the public about the program and one
of its presenters.”