(All Things Considered (NPR))
Profile: Controversy over, "It's Elementary," videotape looking at
how and whether gay and lesbian issues should be discussed
Host: LINDA WERTHEIMER
Time: 8:00-9:00 PM
LINDA WERTHEIMER, host:
Now through September, the documentary "It's Elementary" will be shown
on public television stations around the country. The videotape focuses
on six elementary and middle schools. It looks at how and whether
gay and lesbian issues should be discussed. "It's Elementary" has
been controversial ever since its release three years ago. Educational
groups praise it for teaching tolerance, other groups say it promotes
a homosexual agenda. Despite the disagreement over the video, it
has been used in teaching seminars across the country. Now Chicago
has decided to distribute the tape to administrators in all of its
public schools. NPR's Cheryl Corley reports.
CHERYL CORLEY reporting:
A number of national surveys show violence against gays is on the
rise. The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Program says the number
of victims hospitalized last year as a result of gay bashing rose
108 percent. A national Gallup Poll released this year says high
school students believe violence-prone groups in their school are
a particular threat to gays.
Chicago school officials don't have such statistics. However a school
counselor, who preferred to remain anonymous, said harassment and
threats of being beaten up is
definitely a serious issue for gay students.
Unidentified Chicago School Counselor: Particularly, I know in my
case, there's a student, one student in particular, who is always
being tormented because of his sexual orientation.
CORLEY: Ask students in middle school or high school, more than likely
they'll tell you the worst epithet these days is to be called `gay.'
A 19-year-old who goes by his nickname, Debrayus(ph), says it's common
for students to call peers that may act or look different names. Debrayus
looks like a typical teen-ager. He wears baggy pants and an earring.
He dropped out of high school when he was 17. He says during middle
school and high school he tried to hide his sexual orientation by
having friends pretend to be his girlfriend. Sometimes he was even
called a `player' or a `ladies man.' But Debrayus says after a while,
the disguise didn't work and he was harassed, threatened, and at
one point in high school, jumped by two other students. He eventually
left school.
DEBRAYUS: I couldn't talk to nobody. I had to keep building it up
inside. It bothered me in my brain. I had to come up with new ideas
to keep people away from me, how to always be on my guard. I mean,
my brain was always working 24/7, constantly, just being prepared
for anything that happened, trying to think ahead of everyone else,
try to figure out how to make everyone think that I'm not gay, how
to deal with the situations that I've been in. So it was like--plus,
my schoolwork alone. It was very hard to do that.
CORLEY: Despite those problems, Debrayus got his GED late last year,
but it's the type of pressure that he faced, says Mary Morten, the
head of Chicago's Advisory Council on Gay and Lesbian Issues, which
made her work to get "It's Elementary" in Chicago schools.
Ms. MARY MORTEN (Advisory Council on Gay and Lesbian Issues, Chicago):
Children do not learn when they're not in a safe environment, and
if they don't feel safe, they drop out, and they turn to alcohol and
drugs and all the other statistics that we know about gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgendered youth.
Unidentified Woman: We're delighted to have with us this afternoon
a presentation on sexual orientation
issues in the public schools.
CORLEY: This past school year, the Chicago public schools district
and the advisory council began presenting workshops, showing "It's
Elementary" to social workers and school administrators.
In the video, schoolchildren talk about what they think the word `gay'
means, teachers discuss homosexuality in the classroom, and students
get to ask gay volunteers visiting their school about their lives
and things they've heard.
(Soundbite from "It's Elementary")
Unidentified Student #1: Being gay, like, do you want to have to
act like a woman or, like, how does that go? I mean, I heard that,
like, gay men keep their clean house and stuff like that.
Unidentified Student #2: How do you mostly find out that the other
person is gay or a lesbian?
Unidentified Student #3: How does your parents feel about you being
a lesbian?
Unidentified Student #4: Has anybody really, like--you know, like,
when you told them you were gay, they, like, just totally said, `I
don't want to be your friend anymore' and just laughed and never saw
you again or something?
(End of soundbite)
CORLEY: The decision by Chicago officials to distribute "It's Elementary"
to top staff in the city's nearly 600 schools came before the brutal
murders of Matthew Shepard last year and Billy Jack Gaither this year
shocked the country. Both men were killed in gruesome attacks because
they were gay. Gay activists and other argue "It's Elementary" could
help prevent such attacks in the future by suggesting ways teachers
and other adults can address gay issues appropriately.
So far, there's been no local opposition to distributing the videotape,
but groups outside of Chicago say it's wrong to do so. The American
Family Association has produced its own video offering a different
view about homosexuality. Spokesman Ed Vitagliano says only presenting
"It's Elementary" gives an unbalanced
view about a controversial issue.
Mr. ED VITAGLIANO (Spokesman, American Family Association): We certainly
are not--and I would hope that no one even on the other side of the
issue would characterize us as being for harassment or for verbal
or physical abuse for any reason. Our solution to the problem being
raised by homosexual activists is that schools simply ought to crack
down and tell children there will be no verbal abuse, no harassment,
no tormenting, no physical abuse of anyone for any reason. They'
re there to learn and those kinds of disagreements are to be settled
in a civil manner.
CORLEY: Chicago school officials won't talk publicly about their
decision to distribute "It's Elementary." Repeated requests for interviews
with NPR were ignored, but NPR was present during a workshop held
for hundreds of school social workers. Administrators made it clear
that even though each school would receive a tape, "It's Elementary"
would not be shown to students. Jill Vaughn, with the Illinois State
Board of Education, told the social workers, `Although the school
system's goal is to make sure all students are safe, teachers often
don't respond to some name-calling which could lead to problems.'
She says "It's Elementary" was being used to help educators and counselors
learn how to handle situations that might make students who may be
gay or are accused of being gay feel safe.
Ms. JILL VAUGHN (Illinois State Board of Education): You know, 98
percent of the time, you walk down the hallway and you hear `faggot'
and `lesie, dyke,' whatever the case may be. And what do you say
after you say, `That's inappropriate,' or, `Don't talk like that,'
you know? 'Cause kids might say to you, `Oh, what, are you gay?'
Or they might give you some sort of response back that you might
not be prepared to handle. So I think it's really important, and
I think that part of our next step is going to be planning how can
we give you more information so you know what to say or so you know
how to help teachers so they know what to say.
CORLEY: The AFA's Ed Vitagliano says "It's Elementary," however,
is not just simply about teaching educators what to say about gay
issues, he says it's designed to bring the issue of homosexuality
into the public schools.
Mr. VITAGLIANO: You know, if a kid gets harassed for being overweight
or for being the class brain, that should be treated the same way
as somebody with a different religion or sexual orientation: `You
don't harass people, you're here to learn,' and, `You'll be punished
if you do otherwise.' But they're not really interested in that across-
the-board approach, and that's what red flags videos like "It's Elementary"
to us, because they are only interested in a special focus on sexual
orientation.
CORLEY: During the workshop for school social workers, Mary Morten,
the head of the city's Advisory Council on Gay and Lesbian Issues,
told the group it's not enough for them to simply say, `Respect other
students.' She said it is necessary to specifically talk about discrimination
and violence aimed at gays and lesbians.
Ms. MORTEN: Often we know that, you know, racism is bad and sexism
is bad, but how often do you hear someone saying that homophobia is
wrong and that just as if someone were of a different religion, it
is not OK to harass them, to torture them, to beat them up simply
because you may disagree with their sexual orientation.
CORLEY: The Chicago schools will continue to hold workshops for administrators
and show "It's Elementary." This month, Mary Morten and others will
be part of a mandated seminar being held for principals on sexual
orientation, race, gender and other issues. That's also when videotapes
of "It's Elementary" are scheduled for distribution to all of Chicago'
s public schools. Cheryl Corley, NPR News, Chicago.
NOAH ADAMS (Host): Music of 3 Leg Torso, that's next on NPR's ALL
THINGS CONSIDERED.
LINDA WERTHEIMER, Profile: Controversy
over, "It's Elementary," videotape looking at how and whether gay and lesbian
issues should be discussed. , All Things Considered (NPR), 07-01-1999.