Transgender

Forum














The Art of Politics

Conservatives Force Cancellation of GLBT Youth Conference

by Judy Osborne

Kids growing up transgendered or gay have a particularly tough time making it through puberty. Even the straightest of young arrows often finds life complex and miserable when hormones flood the body, the urge to break away from parents becomes an all-important goal, thoughts of love and lust intrude into every waking and sleeping moment, peers demand total conformity, popularity seems elusive, and the pressures of leaving childhood behind create fears that can’t be spoken. Add to that pressure such particular trans/gay hurdles as the urgency to suppress our needs and pretend we’re other than we’re finding ourselves to be; the hiding and, if we’re found out, the disapproval and outright hatred we sometimes encounter from parents, other adults and peer groups; the careful, quiet search for others like ourselves, all the while hoping we don’t find them and thereby force ourselves to acknowledge who we really are; the slowly dawning knowledge of why we’re different; and our everlasting search for an understanding community to envelop us and hold us safe. It’s not at all surprising that many get damaged and some of us even consider suicide.

Two years ago, a conference was held at Washington State University designed to give transgender and gay kids a little help. Billed as a "suicide-prevention" effort, the "We Are Family Conference for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Youth and their Allies" threw a "lifeline" to the "many GLBT youth who are severely isolated and often exposed to homophobic violence in their schools."

Conference organizers served up a whole potpourri of seminars dealing with the things kids who are growing up lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and "questioning" need to understand. Workshops dealt with topics such as "Getting Help Through Counseling Services", "Gay and Youth Legal Issues", "We Are Family", "Empowerment -- Bridging the Gap Between Youth and Adults", "Recovering the Past" (gay/lesbian history), "Getting Published in the Gay or Straight Media", "Friend to Friend" (a safe sex panel), and sessions about a "National Advocacy Coalition on Youth and Sexual Orientation", PFLAG, Spirituality, and HIV prevention. A dance, some special-interest luncheons, and a pride closing circle helped youths to build self-acceptance and strengthen their sense of community.

Transgender youth were full partners in the proceedings, even though the sponsoring agency, the "Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Association of WSU", lacked a trans in its title. Barbara Cole, a WSU student at the time and an open transperson, worked mightily to help organize and publicize the conference. She presented a male-to-female panel as well. Allison Marsh spoke about "Who Are the Transgendered People", David Harrison presented his one-act play "FTM" (a transsexual journey from female to male), and Harrison and others gave a panel entitled "Female to Male".

Allison Marsh described her experience: "The conference was excellently planned and carried out. Wilson Cruz, an American gay man of Puerto Rican descent, a former Catholic, an activist for homosexual street people in Los Angeles, and a TV and movie actor, was the featured speaker. He appears to be about 23. He is wise far beyond his years. He was upbeat, dramatic, funny, but with a real message about growing up gay. His life has not been a pleasant journey, though he portrayed it in a pleasant way, not bashing anyone. His message was one of hope and encouragement, of self acceptance, and I think he touched the hearts of every one of the 60 or so participants."

A second conference was arranged and publicized for June 19-21 this year. One hundred and fifty youths were expected to attend. The program listed many of the previous conference’s events plus some new topics such as promoting safe schools, coming out to parents, forming gay/straight alliances at schools, suicide prevention and awareness, relationships issues, and volunteer opportunities.

Just before it was about to begin, the Washington Conservative Caucus and a number of Christian fundamentalist legislators launched an all-out attack against the conference. Under threats of firing, defunding, public demonstrations, and withdrawal of sons and daughters from the University, WSU’s administration decided to cancel the entire event. Meylinda Huskey, Director of WSU’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Allies Program, termed the cancellation "heartbreaking" and a "victory for hate".

A public disclosure request turned up the arguments and threats used to convince the President, Provost and Regents to cancel the conference. Tom Flint of Seattle Gay News and J. Stevens in Capital "Q" News in Olympia both printed extensive summaries of the language, from which the following excerpts are taken.

From Washington State Legislators (all are Republicans):

  • "We have always known that recruitment of children into the lifestyle was central to the homosexual agenda. But they have always denied it. Here is the smoking pistol of the big lie."

-Sen. Val Stevens

  • "This is so bizarre it is beyond belief. It is completely reprehensible for WSU to be inviting children to the university for a public celebration of immorality."

- Rep. Bob Sump

  • "Evidently the university has simply not contemplated the consequences of squandering its moral authority."

- Rep. John Koester

  • "... if I have my way, your institution would not receive any more public dollars. I resent WSU promoting this depravity and I strongly oppose it receiving one dime of my hard earned tax dollars to be allowed to poison the minds and souls of the children in this state. I will encourage a complete and full investigation into any of our public educational institutions using our facilities or personnel to promote the homosexual lifestyle."

- Rep Joyce Mulliken

  • "I am simply astonished that the university would promote this lethal lifestyle. Some of the things these people do are most unhealthy."

- Sen. Howard Hochstater

  • "[This conference] is clearly an attempt to recruit children into homosexual activity."

- Rep. Marc Boldt

  • "We believe the GLBT Program in particular needs more scrutiny and the need for its continued existence is in question."

- Rep. Mike Sherstad

  • ". . . I will not continue to support WSU as I have in the past, nor will I continue to consider your campus a proper place of education for my children, and the efforts like this to exploit the children of this state while pushing the family aside. Will you also be hosting the next NAMBLA (National Man-Boy Love Association) conference?"

- Sen. Joseph Zarelli

From "concerned citizens":

  • "This is tantamount to exposing lambs to a pack of wolves and expecting that they will come out just fine. Have you people taken leave of your senses?"
  • "Shame on you for your lack of leadership and your lack of respect for the moral standards of thousands of families across Washington state. Have you forgotten you’re tax supported and belong to the public? . . . I wish I could personally fire you and all who approve of this event . . . I will also make sure that legislators know about your promotion of a lifestyle (with our tax dollars) that is full of disease, death, higher suicide rates, and depression . . . Get your act together. Parents are sick of this manure . . . a state dating/recruitment agency for homosexuals."

- Cheryl Hymes, leading Christian fundamentalist activist and former state legislator

  • "President Smith, I am shocked by efforts of the university to encourage minor children to consider a homosexual lifestyle as normal, healthy and approved by society in general. . . Even greater is our shock and revulsion at your plans to actively recruit teenagers into this deadly lifestyle."

- John Hewlett, Franklin County Republican Party Chairman

  • "President Smith, I am writing to express my horror that you would recruit children to be used by homosexual predators. . . That is the way homosexuals operate, or don’t you know the facts of life yet? They don’t recruit adults. They prey on children who are troubled."
  • "I could never recommend your school to my children with this example of poor leadership. I hope this was just a momentary lapse in brain function and not a total aneurysm."

- Mark Naulty, Benton County Republican Party Chairman

J. Stevens in Capital "Q" News expressed outrage at the letter writers’ endless assertions that gays are diseased predators seeking to recruit straight and innocent young kids into the homosexual "lifestyle". "Never mind the fact that social science has debunked the myth that gay people tend to be sexual predators," wrote Stevens. "Never mind the facts that HIV can be easily transmitted through straight sex, and that caution and monogamy can make homosexual sex as safe as any other kind. Never mind that not even the Catholic church believes that homosexuals are ‘recruited.’ And never mind that fact that encouraging self-esteem among queer youth is no more sexually predatory than celebrating straight affection by holding a prom . . . Regardless of whether they believe the garbage they preach, conservative political leaders in this state have proven themselves worthy of nothing but contempt."

Letters of support for the conference flowed in as well, though all the letters in the world couldn’t negate the fact that the conference had been canceled and the kids who might have found help could not. Meylinda Huskey said of the cancellation," What we were looking at was strong indications that the conference was going to be disrupted . . . Our primary goal in having the conference was in having a safe oasis for kids who are enduring tremendous pressure day after day in their schools. We decided it was not acceptable to those young people to create an event that would turn into a hostile environment that would expose those kids to more homophobic intolerance in ways that could be really damaging."

Emboldened by their victory, the letter writers turned their attention to Huskey and to GLBT programs in general. Even though the entire conference is privately funded (by Seattle’s Pride Foundation); even though WSU’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Allies Program, including Huskey’s salary, are fully paid by private funds as well; even so, the same conservative lawmakers now say they want to fire Huskey and abolish the entire GLBA program. On what basis? It has been rumored that Huskey receives university health and retirement benefits in addition to her privately-funded salary, and a portion of those benefits might possibly come from tax dollars.

This sad episode shows what happens when majority rule is unfettered by the restraints our founding fathers built into the Constitution. The actions of these Republican legislators and "concerned citizens" subvert our system of government. These so-called "Christians" say "no" to free speech, "no" to freedom of assembly, "no" to the rights of minorities, "no" to freedom from religious coercion. Anyone who believes in the provisions of the Bill of Rights; who believes that government and religion must be kept separate in order to safeguard the rights of religious minorities; who believes in the right of free speech for minority viewpoints; who believes in diversity and tolerance and freedom; must be concerned by the opinions expressed by these religious conservatives and their elected representatives. Nobody is telling the religious right they must cease holding their prayer meetings, cease offering their opinions from their pulpits, cease assembling their kids to discuss spiritual values and self-esteem. What is their right to tell us we must cease to exist, must stop working for justice and equality, and , above all, must ignore the violence which is inflicted upon our kids by the bigotry spread by the "Christian" right, in total disregard what’s honest and moral?

TGF's Home Page