Anti-harassing report A committee report providing recommendations on how to protect gay public school students from harassment is being criticized by some committee members as an attempt to promote a pro-homosexual agenda.
headed to school board
A panel is sharply divided on
the issue of sexual orientationBy B.J. Reyes
breyes@starbulletin.comThe report on implementing anti-harassment standards will be presented at tonight's Board of Education meeting.
Signed by 10 of the 15 members of the Chapter 19 implementation committee, the report says the committee's effort to develop an implementation plan "has been hampered by the presence on the Chapter 19 Committee of individuals unsupportive of protecting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students from discrimination in Hawaii's public schools."
"We developed this report as a majority committee to address the needs of groups of students covered by Chapter 19, because we didn't see any action on the part of (Department of Education) and BOE," said Nancy Kerns, HIV/STD prevention coordinator with the state Department of Health, and a committee member.
The board approved the anti-harassment rules in November 2000.
Some committee members who did not sign the report accused gay activists of trying to bully the board into accepting their platform.
"We were trying to create policies that would consider the whole picture, but if it didn't focus on gays and lesbians, they wouldn't accept it," said committee member James Hochberg.
Hochberg and committee member Devin Bull also contend that the report is being submitted in violation of an agreement that any recommendations from the committee would be made unanimously.
"This is an attempt to harass and bully the Board of Education into accepting their agenda," Bull said.
The board voted in November 2000 to revise administrative rules on student misconduct to include a section prohibiting harassment based on race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, religion, disability or sexual orientation.
Debate over the rules -- which divided the school board during the last BOE election -- centered on whether "sexual orientation" should be included.
Groups favoring the rules said sexual orientation should be included because gay and lesbian students are targets of harassment.
Opponents argued that all students should be protected from harassment and that a select group should not be given special rights. Critics also said the rules could open the door to the teaching of homosexuality in the schools.
After the rules were adopted, a committee was convened to help the department come up with ideas on how to implement the rules and related issues of training and awareness. The committee has met twice.
The report recommends the establishment of both an advisory board and a monitoring committee. The advisory board would communicate with students and provide support and advice to the DOE and BOE during the implementation process. The monitoring committee would provide oversight to ensure compliance with the Chapter 19 standards.