It would seem that the woman who wrote to Oak Park's Wednesday Journal stating she wasn't accusing the Oak Park Area Lesbian & Gay Association ( OPALGA ) of anything, but asked under a four-column headline: "Is OPALGA's commitment to youth a threat or a promise?" is more than just the concerned parent she purports to be. She is someone who is plugged into a coalition with national tentacles whose avowed purpose is to counter attack a perceived "gay agenda" with an ultra-conservative response aimed at, among other things, getting sex education out of schools.
The Wednesday Journal letter writer cited as the reason for her "heads up call" to parents in Oak Park, the fall-out from a Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network-sponsored conference Teach Out 2000 at Tufts University in Boston this past March. While describing GLSEN's public goal as "laudable" and "one I would have no problem endorsing" she again undercut gay organizations saying the Teach Out "gives a frightening picture of how this organization intends to reach their goal." She draws ammunition for her backhanded attack on OPALGA and GLSEN from Scott Whiteman, identified as a representative of the Parents' Rights Coalition ( PRC ) , "who secretly taped portions of the conference."
Political Research Associates, a right-wing watchdog organization in Cambridge, Mass., identifies the Parents' Rights Coalition based in Newton, Mass., as headed by Brian Camenker, who has represented himself as affiliated with a number of far-right organizations and Christian coalitions over the last several years. He identifies himself as a Jew and was chair of the Interfaith Coalition, an offshoot of Dan White's Massachusetts Family Institute. He has had repeated exposure on "save the family" genre media. PRC, which may or may not have a membership of more than two, maintains a website promulgating its anti-gay efforts.
Massachusetts has become a target for anti-gay activism because of Safe Schools funding and Gay, Straight Alliance in-school programs. The Safe Schools program aimed at eliminating harassment of gay and lesbian students receives $1,500,000 in state funding, which Camenker has demanded be eliminated. He has also called for the resignation of the State's Commissioner of Education, and wants the governor to drop his Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth.
The March 25 Teach Out 2000 conference at Tuft's comprised 40 or so workshops on a variety of topics related to homosexuality and schools of interest to parents, teachers and students. One workshop, "What They Didn't Tell You About Queer Sex & Sexuality in Health Class," was offered for youth ages 14-21. Scott Whiteman entered this workshop ( according to some as a parent, or posing as a student say others ) and secretly tape recorded what transpired. Participants were guaranteed privacy and allowed to ask any questions they wanted, writing them on cards which were then read and responded to by the workshop leaders, Margot E. Abels and Julie Netherland ( both also coordinators of the Department of Education's HIV/AIDs Program ) . As might be expected with an audience of young people, most of the questions were quite frank and about specific sexual activity. In her letter to the Wednesday Journal, the writer indicated these responses "detailed instruction on homosexual practices, discussions of homosexual pedophilia in an historical context, sado-masochism, tribadism ( a lesbian act ) , and what to do during a homosexual date."
Whiteman took his clandestine tape back to Camenker and they wrote an article with excerpts for the Massachusetts News and promptly offered copies of the tapes for sale on PRC's website. GLSEN enlisted the aid of attorney Jennifer Levi of GLAD ( Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders ) in trying to get court intervention against the distribution of the recordings. On May 24, Superior Court Judge Allan Van Gestel held that the taping violated Massachusetts' wire-tap law and issued an injunction barring PRC from dissemination. Apparently that order has been violated and a suit against them has been filed.
Meanwhile, the Department of Education, granting that the conference was privately organized, responded to PRC's attack ( alleging the DOE's complicity in a homosexual agenda by allowing presenters on its payroll to participate in a workshop deemed inappropriate ) by dumping the two teachers. Abels was fired, and depending on which version you believe, either Netherland "a real hero, resigned after the DOE reacted poorly to the PRC attack" or the DOE asked for her resignation. In any event, the teachers' union, Service Employees International Union Local 509, filed grievances on their behalf.
The Journal carried only pro-OPALGA responses to the letter from community organizations and Village activists in their July 26 and Aug. 2 issues. Liz King ( who was with the Students for Peace and Justice at Oak Park River Forest High School during the brouhaha over the domestic-partnership registry referendum ) summed it up for the majority of responders. She ended her letter: "Watch out for those who purport to be looking out for the interests of your children, closed-minded bigotry is alive and well in Oak Park. Oh, and by the way, I'm glad that we're on the top-10 places for gays ... Oak Park is an awesome place to live."
