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Tina Barfoot coordinates Bridge 13, which educates young people about gender identity,
gender expression and sexual orientation
D iversity or P erversity ?
Centennial High School caves to parental pressure
by Jim R a d o sta
ation C enter, an o th er Vanguard program] is a
fficials at C entennial High in
Gresham apologized Feb. 15 for sex club where children can go to m eet adults
to have sex with, w hich is just ludicrous,”
requiring student attendance at
Barfoot says.
presentations teaching tolerance
Nobody older than 23 is allowed in the facil
toward sexual minorities. T he
ity except
classes were part of the school’s annual
diversi for volunteers. “We have very strict
boundary guidelines that they have to sign, and
ty week.
Bridge 13, a program of Vanguard Youth Serv one of those includes not dating or sleeping with
•
ices, arranged the Feb. 11 presentation, which edu any youth, obviously,” Barfoot says.
Larson also concentrated on the heterosexual
cated kids about gender identity, gender expression
and sexual orientation. About 50 of the classes are questionnaire. According to Barfoot, his listeners
completely missed the point of the exercise.
held every year, primarily in the Portland area.
“T he parents who were calling in to Lars’
Youth facilitators focus on definitions of
words as well as inappropriate slurs such as “fag” show ...didn’t seem to read the first paragraph
and “th a t’s so gay,” says Tina Barfoot, Bridge 13 on the questionnaire that very clearly states that
[these are] not questions that you are actually
coordinator. “We stress...eliminating those as
supposed to answer,” she says. “A nd they were
much as possible and the importance of inter-
taking those questions out of context— and
nipting that language even if you’re not an
quite literally, as if we were asking the students
LGBT student.”
She says the facilitators go through an inten to all go and find a gay lover so that they could
sive training before giving the 90-minute presen be gay.”
As a result of Larson’s show, about two dozen
tations. “They tell their coming-out stories and
parents complained to Centennial. Principal
sort of put a real face to gayness, so to speak.”
The interactive classes include games as well C urt H eath then canceled the Feb. 14 appear
ances of an HIV-positive speaker from Cascade
as a question-and-answer segment, Barfoot says.
AIDS Project and a student skit featuring a gay
“We felt like it went really great.”
character, according to the Oregonian.
She describes one C hristian student who
“1 was pretty upset,” says Barfoot, whose pro
said th a t hom osexuality is wrong but th a t peo
gram never has received this kind of a response
ple deserve support no m atter what. “We
from a school. “I felt like that was kind of an
acknowledged her for being able to stand up
overreaction."
and say th a t.”
O f course, the speakers focusing o n the
O ne exercise presented scenarios to students
Holocaust, cerebral palsy and Africa did not
and asked how they would respond— for exam
require permission slips. “T hey’re being treat
ple, what support they would offer to a friend
ed differently, and I think th a t’s really unfor
who came out as hi. Again, the Christian teen
tunate because...LGBTQ youth deserve the
had something to say.
“T hat student...said that she felt that it was same rights th at everybody else has,” Barfoot
says.
important to offer resources to her theoretical
W endy Reif, C entennial School District
bisexual friend because her opinions don’t need
to be shoved down other people’s throats,” Bar communications specialist, says parents must be
foot says. “So it was a really open environm ent.” notified in advance of any hum an sexuality
instruction. “T hat did not happen in this case,
Bridge 13 also distributed a role-reversal
so
the school really is taking responsibility for it
questionnaire that turns the tables on straight
because the policy wasn’t followed.”
students. Barfoot describes it as an effective tool
Reif says the Bridge 13 instructors ventured
allowing kids to walk in someone else’s shoes.
into territory that goes beyond just teaching tol
“People ask LGBT folks, ‘W hat do you think
erance. “There were some pieces of the material
caused your homosexuality, and isn’t it possible
that I think have raised some eyebrows as far as
that you just need to sleep with somebody of the
whether it was appropriate for a high school
opposite sex and then you’ll figure it all out and
audience.”
then you’ll be straight again V ” she says. “So the
But how can a speaker discuss tolerance
heterosexual questionnaire...asks those same
based
on sexual orientation when the district’s
questions to heterosexual people: ‘W hat do you
policy restricts hum an sexuality instruction?
think caused your heterosexuality T ”
“T he potential was there to have the same
But th e n right-w ing KXL-AM talk show
speakers and have it not tread on sexual materi
host Lars Larson learned about Bridge 13 and
al," Reif says, “but in reality what was presented,
started spreading lies o n his Feb. 14 show. “He
was saying [the Sexual M inority Youth Recre I think, fell into that realm.” JP1
O
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