High school gsa underfire

[Decadence]

[quote= St. Petersburg Times] Parents: School no place for gay issues; [LATE TAMPA Edition]

S.I. ROSENBAUM. St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Fla.: Sep 13, 2005. pg. 1.B
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Abstract (Document Summary)

[Mike Dorris] and his wife, Kari, have called and e-mailed everyone from Newsome principal Rebecca Anderson to school superintendent MaryEllen Elia, voicing worries about a club where students would discuss sexual issues.

The controversy comes two months after the Hillsborough County Commission banned county government from recognizing any gay pride events. The Commission's move angered gay-rights supporters nationwide and raised the question: Should gay people receive the same sort of protection and acceptance as other minority groups?

Gay clubs have been controversial in schools across the country. In August, White County High School in northern Georgia banned all nonacademic clubs, in order to do away with its nascent Gay- Straight Alliance.
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Full Text (834 words)
Copyright Times Publishing Co. Sep 13, 2005

Two weeks ago, Mike Dorris found out from his 15-year-old daughter that students at Newsome High School wanted to start a Gay- Straight Alliance.

Ever since then, he has been trying to prevent the club for gay students and their straight supporters from forming.

Dorris and his wife, Kari, have called and e-mailed everyone from Newsome principal Rebecca Anderson to school superintendent MaryEllen Elia, voicing worries about a club where students would discuss sexual issues.

The couple also have turned to their conservative and politically powerful church, Bell Shoals Baptist in Brandon, for help. The church's issues committee has been weighing what to do, but hasn't made a decision yet.

"I am not comfortable with my tax dollars being used to sponsor this club," Dorris said in an interview.

Students should discuss sexual-orientation issues with their families, or with psychologists, not with their peers in a school- sanctioned club, Dorris said.

The couple wants the club to meet after school hours and off school grounds. They also say it should not have a faculty adviser.

The controversy comes two months after the Hillsborough County Commission banned county government from recognizing any gay pride events. The Commission's move angered gay-rights supporters nationwide and raised the question: Should gay people receive the same sort of protection and acceptance as other minority groups?

Rather than try to quash a gay-straight alliance, Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida, said parents should "be offended at the fact that these students have to deal with harassment . . . that they had to go the extra effort to create a safe learning environment for themselves."

If the Dorrises get their way, it would mean that the Newsome Gay- Straight Alliance club would not be a club at all.

According to school rules, a club must meet at school, during school hours, with a faculty adviser present, the principal said.

Otherwise, Anderson said, "They wouldn't be a club."

Under federal law, she said the school must treat all proposed student clubs equally.

"You don't encourage, you don't disallow it," Anderson said.

Elia, the superintendent, could not be reached for comment Monday.

Anderson stressed that the Newsome Gay-Straight Alliance doesn't even exist yet at the school, which is in FishHawk Ranch.

Some students have talked with an assistant principal about forming the club and have secured a faculty adviser, she said. But there are many other steps the students need to make: get at least 20 students signed up for the club, draw up a constitution, create a budget, and organize plans for meetings.

The school will hold its first "Club Day" - the one day a month given over to student clubs - on Wednesday, she said. Until then, Anderson said, the club can't exist.

If any clubs prove "disruptive," she said, the school would deal with that on a case-by-case basis.

Dorris said he is concerned that a gay club would be disruptive.

"The only example I have is what happened in Bloomingdale in April," he said.

At that high school, students starting a Gay-Straight Alliance observed a national "day of silence" meant to draw attention to gay- rights issues. The students wore signs explaining their silence.

The next day, another group of students came to school wearing anti-gay slogans on their clothes as a counterprotest. The original protesters retaliated the following day with more slogans.

Administrators found themselves in the middle of a silent war.

Gay clubs have been controversial in schools across the country. In August, White County High School in northern Georgia banned all nonacademic clubs, in order to do away with its nascent Gay- Straight Alliance.

"This tends to be a divisive issue," Dorris said. "It's very polarizing to the student body and disruptive to academics."

It would be better, he said, to have an all-inclusive "tolerance" club.

"If we're building this tolerance and love and respect for each other, let's broaden it beyond sex," he said.

It's not clear how many schools in Hillsborough have Gay- Straight Alliances. School district spokesman Stephen Hegarty said attempts have been made to start such clubs at four high schools: Tampa Bay Tech, Blake, Bloomingdale and Brandon; but he said he isn't sure if the clubs were successful.

Smith, of Equality Florida, said that it's important for gay students to have a resource specifically for them.

"Homophobic slurs are the most common on campuses," said Smith. "I would have loved to have had a gay-straight alliance, a place where I could get support for that kind of harassment."

Dorris, however, said gay students already have resources in the school's guidance counselors and other support staff. If students are being harassed, he said, it's the administration's responsibility to deal with it.

"I wasn't aware we had a tolerance issue," he said. "And if there is, maybe the administration is not doing what they need to be doing in terms of identifying the trouble makers and dealing with them."

S.I. Rosenbaum can be reached at [email]srosenbaum@sptimes.com[/email] or at (813) 661-2442.[/quote]
[url]http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/895543651.html?MAC=36bb01f49d35a19a3b5c66bcbe4894a1&did=895543651&FMT=FT&FMTS=FT&date=Sep+13%2C+2005&author=S.I.+ROSENBAUM&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&printformat=&desc=Parents%3A+School+no+place+for+gay+issues[/url]

[COLOR=DimGray]I'm just opening up this discussion; I'd like to hear your opinions on it. I shall post my opinion on it later. [/COLOR]

[Lafleur]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Geez. Amazing how homophobic some people can be. They're getting bent out of shape over what - some school club? It's not like people are being forced to go to this club... it's just a place where people can get help about their sexual questions and inscurities. Seriously, some people....

If I was a teacher, if I ever heard the words '***' or 'Jew' used as an insult, or any other racial slur, they'd instantly be kicked into the hall. Twice, I'd do what I could to get them suspended. Three times, well, we'll see.

Isn't it odd that this cuple just happens to be a Conservative uber-Christian one... odd...[/COLOR]

[Sandy]

[I]Of course[/I] the Gay-Straight Alliance clubs raise resistance, because tolerance and acceptance is such a hard thing to many people.

In my opinion the people founding those clubs are extremely brave and should be given full support.

People opposing them are oblivious to the fact that the clubs do no harm and much good. Of course I understand that homosexuality fights against some people's moral values, but morality - in the frames of legislation - is a personal thing, and it's wrong to push other people your own values by force.

We have no such clubs in our schools here in Finland, here homosexuality is a personal issue that is rarely put into a public issue. In my experience most people come out of the closet only after the high school level - I did, my boyfriend did, all other homosexuals I know did.

So instead of blaring battle between the homosexuals and homophobes, we have silent tolerance and intolerance, and I actually prefer it this way.

But again, this is just my experience as a gay in Finland. We homosexuals aren't equal to heterosexuals here either, but we're getting closer and closer to getting there. ;D

[Godelsensei]

While that one girl's parents going ape-**** over the whole deal is laughable at best, I can't say I support the existence of clubs like this. Like it was stated in the article, they are divisive and [i]can[/i] be disruptive of academics.

I'm not talking about gay clubs, but clubs centered around something inherent, in general. If a group of students were to form a club open exclusively to members of a specific race, it would likely lead to a sense of division between students of that race and every one else. It could lead to a lot of tension that wouldn't have been there before, as there would never have been any real emphasis on the issue prior to the club's formation. That's the point where the sort of real-life "flame war" the one school had going can occur. It wouldn't necessarily because any one was truly racist--on most students' parts, it would probably just be a result of being rubbed the wrong way.
If you've ever had to put up with a group like this--in school or wherever--you'll know it gets really ****ing annoying and really fast. Being proud of who you are is to be expected, but school is culturally neutral territory. Every one has to go school, regardless of sexuality, race, or how many piercings they have. School can also offer extra curricular activities and is a very social thing, but the chess club, Drama club, choir, and rugby team are still part of the school environment and therein ought to be culturally neutral, as well.
When celebrating culturally specific events--say, Chinese New Year--within school, they are made culturally non-specific. Every one takes part.

So starting a "Gay Club" doesn't adhere to the culturally neutral school environment, as it is not open to every one. (I'm aware of the "-straight alliance" part, btw, but it's still essentially a Gay Club.)

If students feel they need a place outside their homes to discuss issues of sexuality, every school I've ever heard of has a Guidance Department. If that department is homophobic in itself, then there is a problem, however this is rarely the case.

I guess the gist of what I'm aiming for is, "All or nothing." Anything to do with school can not exclude some one for something they have no control over, be it race, sexuality, or whatever.

So, are the parents right in wanting to end this club? Yeah. For the correct reasons? No.

[Decadence]

[COLOR=DimGray] Godelsensei I can see what your saying, but, the name really doesn't define what the point of the club is, that's just what the name got submitted as before the founders decided to make it a more pro-tolerance for minorities club. But what happening at this point, is making it quite hard to change the name, if we change the name the parents and such are going to see this as "See they were doing something wrong" thing.
Also i was discussing this with some one and they brought up this point.
[quote name='St. Petersburg Times']The couple also have turned to their conservative and politically powerful church, Bell Shoals Baptist in Brandon, for help. The church's issues committee has been weighing what to do, but hasn't made a decision yet.[/quote]
This family (or at least the parents) are going to a church for aid about a secular issue in a secular school. [/COLOR]

[Sandy]

Okay, I guess that as good as the "Gay-Straight Alliance Club" sounds in theory, it might not work that way in practice...

But I disagree with you Godelsensei on that it's comparable to clubs based on races. If there was like a "Black&White Club", it would be comparable to that. I don't know if in practice the B&W Club would be just Black Club, though...

But again, I admire the people who found these clubs so that they can spread tolerance and show that us homosexuals are normal humanbeings just like everybody else - it really sounds pathetic that we even have to proof that, but what can you do? :P

[Godelsensei]

[quote name='Decadence][COLOR=DimGray]This family (or at least thet [b][idiot][/b'] parents) are going to a church for aid about a secular issue in a secular school. [/COLOR][/quote]

Never stopped an idiot before.