Date: Thu, 2 May 1996 06:33:53 -0700 (PDT) From: jessea@uclink4.berkeley.edu (Jessea NR Greenman) Subject: PEN event in MA || more on RPE in NH PEN New England 100 Beacon Street Boston, MA 02116-1596 Tel: (617) 499-9550 Fax: (617) 267-0608 The Freedom To Write Committee Presents WHAT SHOULD WE TELL THE CHILDREN? Learning From a New Hampshire Teacher's Stand Against Censorship In September, 1995, Penny Culliton was fired from her teaching job in a New Hampshire high school for including books about homosexual experience in her curriculum. Culliton fought the decision, and this spring, following arbitration, she was reinstated. But Penny Culliton's case is one of many in which literature is being censored, often by the religious right, but also by liberal critics with rigid standards of correctness. What does this growing intolerance mean for us as writers and as readers? And what can we do about it? * Penny culliton will talk about her struggle to teach a more inclusive curriculum * Stephen McCauley will read from E.M. Forster's *Maurice,* one of the disputed texts. * Nancy Garden, author of *Annie on My Mind,* a best-loved but frequently challenged novel for young adults, will talk about the experience of being censored. * Susan Quinn, Chair of the Freedom to Write Committee, will moderate. SUNDAY, MAY 12 5:30 - 7:30 IN THE COLLOQUIUM ROOM THE BUNTING INSTITUTE RADCLIFFE COLLEGE 34 CONCORD AVE., CAMBRIDGE, MA -------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 1 May 1996 16:59:15 -0700 From: RLKottwitz@aol.com Subject: Merrimack Parents Demand Cessation of Hate Campaign For Immediate Release -- May 1, 1996 For more information, contact: Roseann Moore, President Merrimack Education Coalition (603) 424-1536 OUTRAGED PARENTS DEMAND CESSATION OF HATE CAMPAIGN Sheldon Targets NH School Board with Anti-Gay Propaganda Merrimack, NH -- In the April 29, 1996 edition of Time magazine, Rev. Lou Sheldon, head of the California-based Traditional Values Coalition, boasted that he had convinced the Merrimack, NH School Board to pass Policy 6540, the most severely restrictive anti-gay policy in the country. It is identical to the failed Smith-Helms amendment to the Education Funding Act of 1994, which Sheldon claims to have written and sent to Senators Bob Smith (R-NH) and Jesse Helms (R-NC). Sheldon confirmed and extended his statements in an interview with the Nashua Telegraph for the Associated Press on April 25, 1996. Sheldon described his frequent organizing trips to the area (as recently as February, 1996), marshaling support for his anti-gay policy through local churches and community groups. He also provided media coaching and spin control advice to his followers. In addition, he claims to have talked with School Board Chairman Chris Ager, and to have sent to him the actual wording of the anti-gay policy. The Traditional Values Coalition, one of the most vociferous anti-gay organizations in the country, is known for producing and/or distributing hate-filled propaganda videos, such as The Gay Agenda, and Gay Rights/Special Rights. DECEPTION, DISTRACTION & DENIAL "We absolutely will not tolerate the presence of outside extremists who are attempting to use our town, our schools -- and our children -- as pawns in their national political agenda of intolerance," said Roseann Moore, President of the Merrimack Education Coalition (MEC). "The School Board Chairman repeatedly denied any outside influence in proposing and enacting Sheldon's Policy 6540. Only after Sheldon brazenly claimed credit for his success in Merrimack did Chairman Ager admit having contact with him. As parents, we are appalled that our School Board Chairman would use our children simply to further his own personal political agenda. We can only speculate about how many other influential leaders of our community, and School Board members, have been subverted by this intensive outside lobbying effort led by Sheldon." For the past two years, the schools in Merrimack have been under attack by outside organizers representing the national agenda of the extreme right. As a result, the School Board and the town have been ripped apart with bitterly divisive controversy. Meanwhile, these outsiders have disrupted the real business of the School Board -- operating the schools competently and efficiently. The Sheldon-Ager (Smith-Helms) policy has no plausible educational purpose. INDOCTRINATION DISGUISED AS A RIGHT As a parents' organization, the MEC objects to churches abusing religious freedom to indoctrinate their children with a doctrine of hate and intolerance. They hide behind a smoke screen of so-called "parents' rights" while trampling on the rights of all other parents. True parents' rights means that schools are free from attack by extremists such as Lou Sheldon. He clearly does not represent the parents of Merrimack. He represents the California-based Traditional Values Coalition, and has no business in Merrimack. Parents do not want the public schools to teach hate and intolerance, which is the intent and effect of Policy 6540. At home, we teach our children to respect other people, including those who may be different from us. If the followers of Sheldon want to teach intolerance in their churches and homes, they are free to do so -- but intolerance must never become official public policy. SAFE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR ALL As parents, we also expect the schools to provide adequate support and counseling for all of our students. Those students who are struggling with their sexual identity have the right to humane and compassionate treatment at school. No parent wants the schools to tell their children or their classmates that someone else's church brands them sinners and the schools can't help them. Those who are having problems dealing with classmates who may be gay or lesbian need to have benefit of advice that leads them to understanding and acceptance of others. The Sheldon-Ager (Smith-Helms) policy permits only negative counseling, which violates our rights as parents to expect fair and equal treatment for all members of our community. NATIONAL ACTIVISM IN MERRIMACK When Ralph Reed, Executive Director of the Christian Coalition, spoke to the NH legislature last May, he said to a group of activists, "The future of America is not [shaped] by who sits in the Oval Office but by who sits in the principal's office." To parents, that statement, (Time magazine, May 15, 1995) constitutes a direct threat to our right to control local schools. Reed's goal is to enact the national agenda of the Christian Coalition, not the local agenda of the parents of Merrimack. "Both Ralph Reed and Lou Sheldon disingenuously talk about parents' rights and local control," said Moore, "but they actually want to take control of every school board in the country. The Merrimack Education Coalition demands that Reed, Sheldon, and their political field organizations cease and desist all activities in Merrimack. Our children are not guinea pigs. Our town is not a test market. The job of our school district is to educate our children, not to execute the battle plans of outside extremist organizations." END *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ OK TO RE-POST. Jessea Greenman The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) CHECK THIS OUT FOR TONS OF INFO - - http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/ Please cc us (for our files) on correspondence you send or receive re our action alerts.