Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 17:19:27 -0800 From: Jean Richter Subject: 11/22/99 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. CA: School board votes to table GSA issue; founders to sue 2. NC: Interview with gay teen playwright Samantha Gellar ==================================================================== Orange County Register, November 18, 1999 625 N. Grand Avenue, Santa Ana, CA, 92711 (Fax 714-543-3904 ) (E-MAIL: letters@link.freedom.com ) ( http://www.ocregister.com/ ) Letter: Is gay student pawn of adult activists? One student at El Modena High School has staff, students and parents engaged in one of the most controversial and heated battles to ever hit the school (Gay club debated, Local News, Nov. 10). Gay student Tony Colin told the Orange Unified School District Board of his perception that he has been the victim of harassment and homophobia and wants to start a gay-straight club on campus for the purposes of discussing sexual orientation. Unfortunately, so far all he has accomplished is to polarize people. High school students will always tease one another, and joining a club will not help solve that. No amount of communicating on any issue will make schools completely tease safe. As for actual harassment, there are new laws in place to deal with that. My fear is that student Tony Colin might be influenced by adult homosexual activists who are using him to push their own agenda. If true, what a shame to use a vulnerable student. -- Judy Dodds, Anaheim Hills Orange County Register, November 18, 1999 Taking a stand at El Modena LUIS TORRES THE WRITER: Mr. Torres, who lives in Costa Mesa, is co-chair of the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network-Orange County. Author Raymond Fosdick once said, "It is always the minorities that hold the key of progress; it is always through those who are unafraid to be different that advance comes to human society." A small group of students at El Modena High School in Orange are getting a first-hand lesson on how difficult it can be to make social progress. Students Tony Coln and Heather Zetin, with the help of teacher Maryina Herde, are trying to start a gay-straight alliance. Recently these students, along with many other students, parents, and teachers, stood before the trustees of the Orange Unified School District and presented arguments in favor of the club. Being openly gay can be traumatic at virtually every Orange County public school. The same is true for students at El Modena High School. Slurs like "faggot," "lesbo," and the popular expression "that's so gay," can be heard in and out of classrooms. Tony and others who are openly gay or perceived as being gay have to endure daily verbal abuse. It gets worse. For example, Tony is sometimes so afraid to walk on campus that he has to be escorted by a friend. The escorts began when someone tried to push Tony down a flight of steps. Still more frightening is an incident involving a driver that tried to run Tony over on the way home from school; the driver yelled "faggot" as he drove off. Tony's experiences are similar to those had by many other gay students. For example: Gay students are more than four times as likely to be threatened with a weapon while at school; Gay students are more than four times as likely to skip school because they feel unsafe; And 69 percent of gay students report verbal and physical harassment or physical assault while at school. Tony and Heather know they can, if given the chance, help change the climate of their school. Gay-straight alliances help reduce anti-gay violence, harassment and discrimination by educating the school community about homophobia and by encouraging a greater degree of understanding from students and school personnel. The groups also give gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students a safe place to discuss their feelings and fears related to sexual orientation. At the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN), we know of over 500 such clubs around the country. The Federal Equal Access Act of 1984 gives students the legal right to form a gay-straight alliance and has implications for all middle and high school students in the district. A way to circumvent the law would be for the district to ban all noncurricular clubs at all of its secondary schools, including El Modena, Canyon, Villa Park and Orange High Schools. Students understood this at the board meeting last week. One student, herself a representative to the school board, was moved to tears at the suggestion that students could lose the clubs. Another student said that with over forty school clubs at El Modena, there was room for one more. A decision to ban all clubs would be a tragic loss for thousands of students. What became crystal clear at the board meeting is how much misinformation and misconceptions there are surrounding the club. Let's set the record straight. Membership in the proposed gay-straight alliance is voluntary, as with any other school club. The gay-straight alliance is just that, gay and straight. In fact, many gay-straight alliances have more straight members than gay members. With the guidance of a teacher, the gay-straight alliance would provide a forum for open and frank discussions about issues students deem important. This is why over twenty students spoke in favor of the club at the school board meeting and why only one student spoke against the club. The gay-straight alliance would also provide gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students with at least one safe place to meet on campus and to be themselves without fear. Our schools are microcosms of our communities. El Modena is not immune from the negative affects of homophobia and heterosexism and, to be fair, neither is any other public school. What sets El Modena apart is that students there have decided to make a difference. If the gay-straight alliance is granted permission to exist, it would be only the third gay-straight alliance in Orange County. At GLSEN-Orange County, we have recently received three other inquiries from students at other local high schools who are interested in forming clubs of their own. We will support them to do just that. Perhaps Tony and Heather have helped other students recognize that they, too, hold the key to progress. The board is expected to make a decision Thursday, Nov. 18. SACRAMENTO BEE, November 19, 1999 School board puts off vote on gay club, students to sue By CHELSEA J. CARTER, Associated Press Writer ORANGE, Calif. (AP) -- School board members have put off a vote on a gay high school student's request to form a club, prompting the teen's attorneys to say they will sue because of discrimination. "What's most disappointing about this is that this is a school board entrusted with the education of these students, including civic virtues," said attorney David Codell. "The example they should set for students is to follow the law." The Orange Unified School District voted 7-0 to consider the request Dec. 7 after an emotional meeting attended by more than 300 parents, students and community leaders. Thursday was the first time the board had an opportunity to talk to its attorney and members needed more time look into the matter, board member Maureen Aschoff told the audience. "This is an important and complex issue," she said. But Kendra Huerd of People for the American Way, a legal defense organization also representing the students, said the delay violated federal law. "They have had plenty of time," she said. "They have to understand the consequences of their delay." Codell and Ms. Huerd said a lawsuit against the board would be filed before the next meeting. Student Anthony Colin, 15, proposed the club as a place for all students at El Modena High School to discuss issues related to sexual orientation. Although reviewing proposed campus clubs is generally a routine process, board members decided to have a public vote after holding a forum to get community feedback. The debate has lined up parents and religious leaders who say school is no place to deal with sexual issues against those who say it is the perfect place to teach tolerance. Jack Lewis, a parent of three children in the school district, pleaded with the board Thursday to not vote for club. He suggested the district bring a psychologist in to meet with students who want to talk about sexual orientation. "I love my children enough to die for them," he told the board. "I am begging and pleading with the people who want to form this club ... to let me be the father of my two sons." But student Heather Zetin, 15, disagreed. "The point of this club is about having a place to get together to talk," the high school junior told board members. "It's not about sex, it's not about recruiting or anything like that." After the board's vote, which was met by boos from both sides, heated debates between gay students and their parents and those opposed to club broke out. A recorded church sermon by Pastor Rick Danna of Anaheim was left on the windshields of cars parked outside the school district's offices. It advocated respect for all people, but derided what it termed "the homosexual agenda." Several people have suggested following the example set by school officials in Salt Lake City, who in 1996 did away with student clubs rather than allow such an organization. The decision is being appealed in federal court. ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, November 19, 1999 625 N. Grand Avenue, Santa Ana, CA, 92711 (Fax 714-543-3904 ) (E-MAIL: letters@link.freedom.com ) ( http://www.ocregister.com/ ) Trustees table vote on gay club SCHOOLS: Lawyers for the student group say they will sue on grounds that routine approval should have been granted. By ANN PEPPER, The Orange County Register ORANGE - The Orange Unified School District Board of Trustees on Thursday postponed until Dec. 7 a vote on whether to permit a support club for gay students at El Modena High School. "This is an important and complex issue, and we do not want to act in haste," said trustee Maureen Aschoff, who made the motion to table the decision. [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] ============================================================================ ===== SHEWIRE.COM, November 19, 1999 http://shewire.chickclick.com/ Play It Again, Sam by Roseann Marulli Earlier this year, Samantha Gellar's play "Life Versus the Paperback Romance" was one of five winners of the Children's Theater Ensemble's Young Playwrights Festival in North Carolina, where she lives. The Northwest School of the Arts student, now 17, received her $100 prize, which was meant to fund the production of her play. But Gellar's play would not grace the stage alongside those of her colleagues. Why? Because it tells the story of two women who meet and fall in love, the Children's Theater of Charlotte and the Charlotte-Mecklenberg schools deemed it inappropriate for students. What ensued was a battle against censorship, a media frenzy...and one of the greatest experiences of the young playwright's life. Shewire: Why was your play performed at the Great Aunt Stella Center [in North Carolina]? Samantha Gellar: When Scott Miller [art director of the Children's Theater Ensemble] called to tell me I'd won, he said my play couldn't be performed [unless I took out the lesbians], although I didn't see how, or I could try to get it performed in another venue. So I spoke to Tonda Taylor [founder and director] of Time Out Youth about funding, and she said it was discrimination. My parents and I had been so excited about winning we hadn't even realized! Then Keith Martin [director of the Children's Repertory Theater and president of the ACLU of North Carolina] contacted me about doing a reading [at the Great Aunt Stella Center in March]. Shewire: Were you happy with the result? SG: We had a huge turnout - 420 people! Everyone was very supportive, and the parents were very vocal. It was almost unfair - everyone was against the school board! And only one person from the conservative community spoke up. He said we were entering the devil's house! My friend's mom flipped him off - it was great! I expected a lot more [negative reaction], but that was it. I don't know what people think being gay means. I mean, on Friday nights I do my laundry, watch TV, and go to bed. So, it was great, but I would have been happier if it had just been staged along with the other students' plays, so people would know there's nothing wrong with being gay. Shewire: And then your life went back to normal? SG: No! [Performance artist] Holly Hughes learned about it through the press [The Wall Street Journal, The Advocate, the BBC and others] and contacted Keith. We met and she said we might have Ellen Degeneres and Anne Heche read, and I about peed my pants! We got Mary-Louise Parker, of Fried Green Tomatoes - she's awesome! It was performed [in June] at the [Joseph Papp] Public Theater [in New York City], and other people read letters and performed, all connected to what I'd done. Terence McNally even gave me a letter. I was smiling the whole time with tears coming down my cheeks. I didn't know what to do with myself! I had a lot of heroes there; it was the greatest moment of my life. People I looked up to my entire life were telling me, "We're proud of what you've done." Then I took a brief hiatus to finish [my junior year in high] school and came back [to New York] to do a reading and a TV program with Dorothy Allison. Then I went to writing camp, worked on a couple of screenplays, saw five or six plays, made a lot of friends and acted goofy, playing truth or dare. Shewire: So you went from being the toast of New York to playing truth or dare with your friends? SG: I always had older brothers and sisters around, and I wanted to be able to communicate with them. But I enjoy spending time with my younger friends, too. I try to balance the "two faces of Samantha Gellar," me at camp doing goofy stuff and at cocktail parties having conversations. I like both faces and try to combine them, which most people usually don't. Shewire: Do you realize how much you've accomplished for your age? SG: I understand that, but then I think that I haven't really accomplished it; the press has. It's a gray area because it's so hard to climb to the top, especially in the entertainment world. And I still have three-quarters of the way to go, so I try not to carry a big head. I try not to look at what I’ve accomplished but at what I can accomplish, what's ahead of me. Shewire: Do you worry about getting a big head? SG: Sometimes, but my best friend [Nate Bezner] takes care of that. He can be very biting! Other people don't see their potential, but I believe in myself. I know I can write something good if I try hard enough. I didn't think I could before, but [dramaturge] Paula Vogel ["How I Learned to Drive"] helped me realize I could write a script. She taught me more about writing than anyone else ever has. Shewire: Do you consider yourself a gay activist now? SG: I didn't walk around screaming that I'm gay. But I wouldn't lie if I was asked. And I was always involved in politics - animal rights, women's rights, human rights, gay rights. But I've finally got my voice now, so I feel it's not right not to say anything. I have a responsibility to speak for people who can't. But I'm just a playwright. Sometimes my message is political, sometimes it's from deep in my heart; it changes with my mood. But overall it's my voice, my way. I don't feel required to write gay themes, but I do because it's natural for me. I can challenge myself to write straight relationships [which I'm currently doing]. But if I write about romantic relationships, it’s easier to picture women with women. There are other things in me than just a teen lesbian playwright. Shewire: How has all this changed your life? Is it easier to meet girls? SG: Oh, no! I'm terrible at dating! I've got a little fan club, but other than that I don't get any fan letters - except ones to Sarah Michelle Gellar [of Buffy the Vampire Slayer]! I've sworn off dating anyway because I'm going off to college in six months and don't want to start a long-term relationship before then. Although if a bunch of young girls want to follow me around, that's okay! Shewire: Do people treat you differently at school? SG: I go to an arts school, so there's some jealousy. There have been some comments about my becoming a bitch, that I'm too good to talk to the other kids. But the truth is, no one talks to me; people think I'm not approachable. Then when I hang out with them in the cafeteria, they're like, "Oh, my God! I can't believe you're hanging out with us!" And I'm like, "Shut up!" Shewire: So what do you do in your free time? SG: What free time?! I go to the movies, the Renaissance Fair; I do Tae Kwon Do; and, like a regular teenager, I go to parties where we stuff ourselves with chocolate cake and whipped cream. Calorie Fest! I'm also working on a one-woman show about my teacher's mom who survived the Holocaust. For her, it's not just history, but how are you going to impact history? Shewire: What are your goals? SG: To clean my room! I really want to go to Brown - it's my top choice, it's perfect for me. I get so excited about it I want to cry sometimes! I want to go to college in Providence and have a lot of fun. And I'd love to write for the New York and London stages. But other choices pop up, and I have to allow time for other things, like spending a year abroad and falling in love. And I want to foster kids some day, 12- to 18-year-olds, because I connect better with kids who are a little older. Shewire: Who do you look up to? SG: Paula Vogel, Terence McNally, Dorothy Allison - But I don't like saying that, at least not to the point that I'll never be there because then you just defeat yourself. Shewire: Any insights for our readers? SG: My teacher Peggy Boring always says to pick your battles and do what you know in your heart is right. It may not get press, but it may change someone's opinion and make them think twice. That's worth it. You can email Samantha Gellar - not Buffy the Vampire Slayer - at samgellar@yahoo.com. Roseann Marulli, a native of New York City, is a freelance journalist and editor, as well as a fiction writer. She has written for LGNY, New York Living magazine, HBO's Hobnobber, Manhattan Mirror and Lifetime Television Online. Her fiction has appeared in Fetishes. ============================================================================ ===== Jean Richter -- richter@eecs.berkeley.edu The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) These messages are archived by state on our information-loaded free web site: http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/