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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 1995)
out ▼ octobor 6 . 1099 ▼ 13 BVUNDAKJJCVSCR f Claudia L. Webster is afraid of contro versy, she doesn’t show it. “I’ll be meeting with the Portland Police Bureau next week,” said Webster in a warm yet matter-of-fact tone. “It’s always better to be prepared.” That was a few weeks ago, when the Oregon Health Division’s HIV education man ager was putting the final organizational touches on the Third Regional Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Youth Conference set for Oct. 13 and 14 at the Portland Conference Center. The regional conference is one of only a few in the nation that explicitly aims to improve services for lesbian, gay and bisexual youth. According to conference materials, the gather ing, which attracts youth and a multitude of service providers including teachers, is designed to “pro mote an open, honest and accurate discussion of and with sexual minority youth, their issues and their service needs.” It is a goal, admits Webster—a certified sexual ity instructor—that not everyone finds desirable. “There’s always going to be controversy when you’re talking about sexuality issues and young people. That’s just the way it is,” she says. During the last conference, which was held two years ago at the Greenwood Inn in Beaverton, protesters arrived brandishing signs saying “Read ing, Writing, Homosexuality?” “Stop Government Promotion of Homosexuality,” and “Don’t Honor Perversity.” One girl in blue jeans and sneakers clutched a sign demanding: ‘Teach me to read and write. Leave the rest to my parents.” “The Beaverton police and hotel security were just great,” Webster recounts. “Everything went beautifully, and I’m certainly hoping for the same this year.” And just 10 days ago. Concerned Women for America, an ultraconservative organization that claims 600,000 members, launched a very public attack on the National Education Association’s adoption of a resolution supporting national Les bian, Gay and Bisexual History Month. According to wire reports, CWA founder Beverly LaHaye says the NEA is “using [its] power to promote an unhealthy lifestyle that represents only 1 percent of Americans. They are not a legiti mate minority group. Our schools have no business ‘celebrating’ diversity. We are fighting to protect the innocence and purity of our children and grand children.” Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., a U.S. House committee was slated to begin hearings Oct. 13 to investigate a claim by Traditional Values Coalition founder Lou Sheldon about the supposed “infiltra tion of the homosexual agenda within public schools.” The congressional hearings are the result of a promise that Sheldon extracted from House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and are viewed by the TVC as a “golden opportunity.” Sheldon wants Congress to deny federal funds to any school dis trict that tolerates sexual-identity diversity. (As we went to press, the hearings have been postponed.) “Some people will say to me, ‘I’m offended by what you’re doing.’ But I’ve seen too many people die because they didn’t have proper information or support when they needed it,” says Webster. “I tell people who are offended by our education efforts that I am personally offended by seeing people die needlessly. That’s offensive." She adds: “This is a critical health issue. Young people are having unprotected sex; the teen-suicide rate for sexual minority youth is way out of propor tion with other teens. These are issues that must be addressed.” ccording to a comprehensive 1991 Oregon study, there are at least 50,000 sexual minor ity youth statewide, many of whom face hard ship and discrimination. The report which included several interviews with young people, found that support systems for sexual minority youth were woefully deficient, primarily due to a lack of relevant education among service providers. The study concluded dial many service provid ers brought their prejudices with them to work, or simply overlooked the needs of sexual minority A but these young people and their families still need support,” says Anne Bliss, president of Portland P- FLAG, which has spent the past few months dis tributing packets containing information about sexual minority issues to high schools across Or egon. “This is a golden opportunity for network ing.” Allanya Guenther of Phoenix Rising, which pro vides counseling services to sexual minority youth, says, "There are so few youth conferences that focus on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youth. It is really wonderful that we have this, and we should make the most of it.” The Rev. Roy Cole, pastor of Portland’s Metro politan Community Church, which serves sexual minority worshippers, adds: “Young people in par ticular have been beaten up by the Bible, and that can fuel a tremendous lack of self-esteem. One of the U Youth at the 1993 conference held at Beaverton’s Greenwood Inn Facing the storm Officials and service providers demonstrate a strong commitment to meeting the needs of sexual minority youth—despite opposition by Inga Sorensen as a West Coast retreat for lesbian and gay educa youth because their professional training never tors and a summer institute for students and teach addressed the subject. It also found that many gay, lesbian and bisexual youth experienced severe os ers. Jennings, who teaches history part time at Con tracism and harassment within a school setting. ‘Teachers and school counselors have histori cord Academy, is the author of Becoming Visible: A Reader in Gay and Lesbian History fo r High cally been terrified to touch this issue,” says Webster. School and College Students and One Teacher in “The push by ultraconservatives across the country 10: Gay and Lesbian Educators Tell Their Stories. to elect school board members who are anti-HIV He also spearheaded an effort to get October recog education, anti-sexuality education, and anti-di nized as Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual History Month. versity education, doesn’t help. But we need to be (Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber has issued a procla working in the schools to help teachers identify mation inaugurating the when harassm ent [of event in Oregon.) sexual minority youth] is The regional conference Joyce Hunter, director occurring and what to do of the community liaison about it.” is one o f only a few in the program of the HIV Cen Admittedly, great gains have occurred in some nation that explicitly aims to ter forClinical and Behav places during the past few improve services fo r lesbian, ioral Studies/New York State Psychiatric Institute, years. More schools are gay and bisexual youth. is also a featured presenter. sponsoring support groups Hunter is the board for sexual minority youth; president of the National Lesbian and Gay Health gay and lesbian parents are working with educators and parent groups to create dialogue and under Association and co-founder of Harvey Milk High School in New York City. Established in 1985, it is standing about sexual orientation issues; more lo the nation’s first high school founded solely to cal governments are approving legal protections serve lesbian, gay and bisexual students. Hunter based on sexual orientation that may prompt gay has also been an activist, researcher and clinician and lesbian educators (and their supportive col for more than 25 years, specializing in issues relat leagues) to feel more secure about publicly ad ing to youth, women, HIV/AIDS and the sexual dressing sexual minority youth issues. minorities community. Another symbol of acceptance includes the Also on hand will be Evan Cutler, author of Portland School Board’s recent vote to bar recruit Runaway Me: A Survivor's Story, which tells ers from school grounds because of the military’s Cutler’s tale of running away from home when he ban on openly lesbian and gay servicemembers. (The Oregonian ran a Sept. 26 editorial chastising was 15. Cutler, who is now 27, hopes to prevent other teenagers from encountering the problems the board’s action and urged it to allow recruiters that he did during his time on the streets. back into the schools.) Numerous workshops, whose titles include “It’s getting better, particularly in metropolitan Sexual Minority Youth Come In All Colors, In areas, but if you’re in a rural area it can be tough,” says Webster, adding that she received a call to creasing Self-Esteem of Lesbian and Gay Youth, Homophobia 101, and HI V as a Method of Suicide: ward the end of the last school year from an educa Policy Considerations, will be conducted through tor in Southern Oregon who was scrambling to find out the two-day event. help for a suicidal student struggling with sexual Ten agencies and organizations are sponsoring identity issues. the conference. They are: the Department of Hu That incident, says Webster, reflects the critical man Resources, Oregon Health Division; the State needs of both the youth and the educator, and she Office for Services to Children and Families; Port hopes the conference will give young people and land Public Schools/Sexual Diversity Committee; service providers the support and information they the Phoenix Rising Foundation; Cascade AIDS need. Project; Harry’s Mother; Metropolitan Commu nity Church; Parents, Families and Friends of Les his year’s conference features educator Kevin J Jennings, executive director of the Gay, Les bians and Gays; the Lesbian Community Project; bian and Straight Teachers Network, a na and the Multnomah County Health Department. tional organization which has sponsored confer “There are more role models now for gay and lesbian young people than there were 10 years ago, i ences for teachers throughout the country, as well T ...»o *------- ‘---- t » KAI 7 • this conference was to show young people and adults that not all of Christianity is opposed to homosexu ality, quite the contrary.” he conference has already been marked by a subtle controversy, involving a letter sent to one of its sponsors. The letter is signed by Todd Siex, who identifies himself as a parole/proba- tion officer for the Oregon Youth Authority’s Baker County office. The Oregon Department of Human Resources oversees the OYA. In that missive, which is dated Aug. 21 and is on official state letterhead, Siex takes issue with the conference: “As a youth worker with over 15 years of experience in the field, I am distressed to find that a cause such as yours can be given enough credibility to be advertised in our local office.... It is a clear indication of how complacent our government has become on this issue,” he writes. “I must take issue with your conference goal from the outset. The goal of your conference is not to promote open, honest discussion, but to establish as natural behavior which is unnatural. An honest dis cussion would include differing viewpoints, rather than an accumulation of like-minded people with an identical agenda—to legitimize homosexual behav ior,” he writes. “Homosexuality is one of the few societal disorders which has been enabled rather than challenged to provide a remedy.” Siex concludes, “There is certainly no way that I would encourage a youth struggling with his or her identity to [attend] such a biased conference as you are sponsoring. Your approach merely enables the disorder, rather than providing youth with hope for permanent change and normalcy.” “As an agency we do not support the views expressed by this individual,” says Gary Lawhead, assistant administrator for OYA’s community pro grams. “We are totally supportive of the Department of Human Resources and of this conference. Cer tainly this is one of the most controversial topics today, and in our employee ranks there are people with many viewpoints, but it’s one thing for some one to hold a personal opinion and it’s another to express it on agency letterhead.” State officials say disciplinary action may be administered in this case pending the outcome of an investigation; they would not, however, speculate as to what specific action— if any—would occur. Siex did not respond to our phone calls. Guenther says, “I think this situation does raise questions about whether sexual minority youth will receive proper services, but I’m confident the de partment will do the right thing. I also think this proves why conferences like these are so important.” T Anyone interested in attending the Third Regional Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Youth Conference can receive a registration packet by calling Phoenix Rising at 223-8299. The registration fee is $125. Registration will take place at the conference, though preregistration is encouraged. A limited number o f scholar ships are available fo r youth. For more information, call Phoenix Rising's youth services coordinator at 223-8299. The Portland Conference Center is located at 300 NE Multnomah, at Martin Luther King Boulevard, in Portland.
