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Larry Smith believes the poster is informational, not promotional
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we negate what they’ve done? Do those posters
have to come down? It just opens up a whole
can of worms.”
Sm ith remains hopeful despite the con
arry Smith, a drama teacher at Conestoga
tentious
environm ent, noting that schools are
Middle School in Beaverton, is hutting
heads with administrators concerning a class- ! much more accepting than they were when he
was a student. Still, he added, 90 percent of
rtxim sign advertising the W ashington County
teachers have had no training on gay and les
Pride Project, a support group for queer kids.
bian issues, so this type of information is crucial
District officials believe such subject matter
for queer kids.
belongs only in the offices of counselors, who
“Truly it’s a civil rights issue. 1 have a right to
they claim are better prepared to answer ques
put up in my classroom whatever 1 want that I
tions about sexual orientation.
think is of educational value to my students,”
“1 don’t see gay and lesbian issues as a con
troversial issue,” said Sm ith, who serves as Smith said. “How do you expect kids to feel safe
in a school when gay and lesbian teachers and
chairman of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Edu
administrators don’t feel safe?”
cation Network’s Oregon chapter. “Are black
students controversial? Are Hispanic students
controversial?”
M a t t h e w N e l so n
Smith put up the district-approved sign
L eaves F o u n d a t io n
three years ago after attending a sensitivity
atthew N elson, a longtim e leader in
training aimed at helping queer youth stay in
P ortland’s sexual m inorities community,
sch(X)l and, ultimately, reducing teen suicide.
will step down Feb. 25 as executive director of
Because he teaches about half of the students
Equity Foundation, a nonprofit th at awards
at Conestoga, he estimates 1,000 kids see the
grants to charities serving queers and allies in
poster annually.
Oregon.
But when one parent complained to district
He recently accepted a position working for
officials that the sign “promoted homosexuali
American Express’ Philanthropy and Com m u
ty," they asked Smith to take it down and later
banned all classrcxim displays that aren’t direct nity Relations division in Minneapolis. His part
ner, Kip Beardsley, already works in Minnesota
ly related to the material taught there. He
refused and threatened to file a grievance.
as the state’s H1V/A1DS director.
“It’s an information poster," he said. “It is not
“I’ve been in Portland for 15 years and been
promotional whatsoever. It does not recruit."
connected to Equity for 12 of those years,” N el
son told Just Out, “first as a donor, then with
W hen the district formed a committee to
their workplace giving, and then on the hoard"
create a replacement sign that would satisfy
before becoming executive director in 2000. He
everybody, Smith attended one of the meetings.
proudly shared the biggest accomplishments of
He was shix:ked to learn that administrators had
his tenure:
been targeting queer instructors.
• Investm ents in Dignity Awards: List
“We found out that throughout the dis
trict... the only people that were asked to take
year’s inaugural event featured lesbian comic
down the poster were those teachers who were
Lily Tomlin and drew a large audience of het-
openly gay or lesbian," he said. “This is obvious j erosexual corporate execs. “I love the fact that
ly discrimination."
we had...all these CEOs hearing about how
Equity impacts the queer community and hav
The Beaverton Teachers U nion has asked
ing them hear those words ‘lesbian, gay, bisexu
administrators to rescind the poster policy
because it was made without the input of al, transgendcr,’ ’’ Nelson said.
instmetors and infringes on academic freedom.
• G rants: Under Nelson’s watch Equity
To illustrate his point, Sm ith cited a music ! began supporting Pride festivals in Portland,
teacher who put up a sign about respect.
Salem, Eugene, Q w s Bay and Ashland as well as
an annual event in Bend; created the Lane
“Well now that has nothing to do with
County Fund, in which the foundation matches
music, so should she have to take that down?"
every dollar raised; and launched the Safe
he said. “I have posters of a variety of icons—
Schools Initiative, which conducted nationwide
theater people, music artists— and some of them
research to fight discrimination against queer
have probably not had the best valued moral
students.
lives in the whole world. Does that mean that
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