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What are they hiding? See for yourself: Your tax dollars at work -- "Transgender, Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian Awareness Day" at Newton North High School, Newton, MA - Dec. 15, 2004 Two parents ejected from explicit all-day high school homosexual forum after one begins videotaping. Three police squad cars summoned by principal to escort the parents out, threatening them with "trespassing" charges if they didn't leave immediately. A writer for a local newspaper was also barred from attending.This made local and national news:
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A. Schedule of sessions, lasting all day.
Note that the first session starts off with one of the homosexual movement's boldest lies: that "one in ten" people are homosexual. As you can see, the other themes are that homosexual behavior is perfectly normal, kids should feel good about engaging in it, and the homosexual movement is a great "civil rights" cause against bigoted people (including, possibly, their own parents). (click to download copy)
Newton North High School
360 Lowell Avenue
Newtonville, MA 02460
(617) 559-6200
ToBGLAD Day - (All day event)
Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2004
ToBGLAD: TRANSGENDER, BISEXUAL, GAY AND LESBIAN AWARENESS DAY
_________________________________
B Block (7:50-8:45 am) - Little Theatre:
A Day in the Life: Statistically one in ten students at this school are
not straight. Teenage life is complicated enough, but how does it differ
for Gay/ Lesbian/ Bisexual/ Transgender (GLBT) teens?
C Block (9:05-10:20 am) - Little Theatre:
Student Speakout: Newton North students read original pieces about GLBT
issues.
Session 1: 9:05 - 9:35
Session 2: 9:45 - 10:20
D Block (10:25-11:20 am) - Little Theatre:
Life Outside the Gender Norm: What happens when one's gender identity does
not match their sex? In this session, speakers will talk about their
experiences with gender identity and expression.
E Block (11:25 am -12:20 pm)- Little Theater:
Out at the Old Ballgame: Athletes and coaches discuss what it's like to be
GLBT in the gym, on the field, and on the road.
F Block (1:00-1:55 pm) - Little Theater:
Family Matters: What does it mean to be a family?
Discussion of some of the life experiences and legal challenges families face, when one or more
members are non-heterosexual.
F Block (1:00-1:55 pm) - Film Lecture Hall:
GLBT What's in a Name: What is homophobia? heterosexism? Why is there a
ToBGLADay? In this interactive presentation, we will use activities to
provide the groundwork for talking about GLBT issues.
G Block (2:00-2:55 pm) - Little Theater:
Color Me Queer: A panel discussion of race, culture, and sexual identity.
The school never described to the parents what "ToBGLAD Day" (as it is called) really is. Only obscure mailings were sent out. Neither the schedule nor anything like it was sent to anyone. The event does not appear at all on the big official glossy school calendar mailed to parents at the beginning of the year.
Throughout the day, individual teachers could decide whether to take their classes to the assemblies. Officially, parents could "opt out" their children from attending, but in practice there was great pressure to go, and kids were interrogated if they didn't attend. Several kids said that they were told they'd be counted "absent" if they weren't there. The principal has stated that she firmly believes these sessions are good for kids. Thus, the only safe alternative for parents (if they knew about it) was to keep their children home that day.
B. Handouts given to kids in the school that day
The handouts -- two-sided tri-folded pamphlets -- all appear to have been written by hard-core homosexual groups, and have contact information to steer kids to numerous local homosexual organizations. We've presented a synopsis, but you've got to read these yourself (see downloads below) to see how bizarre they really are. It is a mixture of propaganda, seductive psychology, junk science, and outright lies masquerading as legitimate information for kids.
Handouts can be downloaded, in Adobe Acrobat format.
"Love and Let Love"
(click to download)
The theme of this is that homosexuality is perfectly normal and you
should free to engage in it. It poses the question to children: If you have
never slept with a person of the same sex, how do you know that you
wouldn't prefer that?" It introduces terms such as transsexual -- a
person "who usually seeks sexual reassignment surgery and/or hormone
therapy"; and transvestite -- a "person who enjoys wearing the clothes
identified with the opposite gender." It warns strongly against
"homophobia" which it defines as "the learned, socially transmitted fear
and hatred of those who love and sexually desire those of the same sex."
To make children comfortable with homosexual behavior, it presents a list of
several "Famous Homosexuals/Bisexuals" including, it claims, Eleanor
Roosevelt.
"Transgenderism"
(click to download)
This is almost too bizarre to describe. The theme is that boys dressing
and acting like girls, and girls dressing and acting like boys, is
normal, happens all the time, and is just fine to do. It poses the
question, "Have you ever, as a male, fantasized about being a
girl/woman...Did you tell anyone?" It stresses that traditional male /
female roles are wrong. It lists Joan of Arc, J. Edgar Hoover, and Bugs
Bunny as "famous gender-benders."
"Bisexual Internalized Oppression"
(click to download)
This is very, very weird. It's written from the perspective of a
"bisexual" but has a very strange message. Excerpts: "We are never safe
from sexual pursuit; we are always available." "Our friendships are never
safe from sex, and every relationship will/must eventually become
sexual." "Any interaction can possibly be sexualized." "We are not fully
male or female."
"What Does Biphobia Look Like?"
(click to download)
More extremely bizarre stuff. Apparently written to encourage children to
feel good about experimenting with various sexual behaviors. Excerpt:
"Most people are unaware of their homosexual or heterosexual assumptions
until a bisexual speaks up/comes out and challenges the assumption...For
bisexually identified people to maintain their integrity in a homo-hating
heterosexist society they must have a strong sense of self, and the
courage and conviction to live their lives in defiance of what passes for
'normal' ".
Gay club meeting flyer, stickers, etc.
(click to download)
This stuff, shown below, was also handed out. "Gay Straight Alliance" is
the gay club run by homosexual faculty members. The pink triangles
represent support for the homosexual movement; students (and even
faculty) were strongly encouraged to wear them during the day.
Passed out to children
C. Description of the event -- what the parents saw and heard.
[The parents, Kim Cariani-Perakis and Brian Camenker, arrived just after the first session of the day had started. They stayed until about ten minutes after the second session started, when they were ejected. They were there less than an hour and a half.]
The themes of the day, which were repeated in various ways, seemed to be: (1) Homosexual behavior (and its variations) is perfectly normal and natural. (2) If you feel you're "different" it may be because you're actually homosexual and you're unnaturally holding back, so you should feel free "come out" as a "gay person". (3) Those who don't approve of homosexuality or criticize it are bad, horrible, ignorant people.
Some of the speakers Mrs. Perakis and Mr. Camenker heard during their brief session were:
- A female adult school counselor who described how the school wants to make students feel safe to act out as homosexuals, bisexuals, transgenders (???), etc. "We're making society easier for GLBT youth to be who they are," she said.
- A boy who talked about his experiences at summer camp, describing how he "freaked out" his [uptight] "Christian" cabin-mate by telling him how he enjoyed kissing other boys. He added that the Bible and Koran actually approve of homosexuality.
- A woman who said her son "came out" as a homosexual described how wholeheartedly she approves of his homosexuality, and that she tries to counsel other parents in that situation who are very upset, telling them "it's really OK."
- A girl who talked about how wonderful it is that her "two moms" could now get legally married in Massachusetts, because "marriages are made of love".
- An adult male school counselor who described at length how he "came out" as a homosexual by going to Taiwan and having affairs with males there. He stressed how important it is to feel free to come out if you feel different. "It's just where your hormones lead you to," he said. He asked for a show of hands of kids who've ever felt "different." "You may not admit it to yourself," he told the kids. "But unless you do something about it, it just hangs and rots inside of you...For me, coming out was an extremely hard process." He added, "I want to reach kids at 12-13 years old. I want to be supportive."
- A track coach and counselor who talked about how his brother who was 10 years older was a role model to him. The brother came out as a homosexual in high school, so he also came out in high school. "Being gay is just one part of my life," he added. Then he described how he fell in love with his sister's husband.
D. Parents get ejected by police
Mrs. Perakis had arrived about twenty minutes after Mr. Camenker, and they were sitting next to each other in the back row. (They had not personally met before.) At one point in the forum, when things got particularly disgusting, Mrs. Perakis took out a VCR camera and quietly started videotaping. She had noticed several people were taking flash photographs and at least one other person videotaping the event. (In fact, at most Newton school events, there are plenty of parents in the back videotaping.)
As the first forum ended, an assistant principal and an adult coordinator came up and told Mrs. Perakis she could not videotape and must stop immediately. Only "previously approved" people could photograph or record the event, they were told, "for the safety of the children". Mrs. Perakis said she felt that as a parent she had the right to record what was happening, and Mr. Camenker agreed with her that she should not have to stop.
A faculty member walked up and stood directly in front of Mrs. Perakis, apparently to provoke her, and then walked over and sat down next to her.
When the next forum began, the principal and a female plain-clothes Newton police officer approached the two parents and ordered the both to leave the auditorium. They waited until the first speaker was finished, and quietly walked out into the hallway.
Tom Mountain, a writer for the local newspaper, was also in the hallway. He wanted to enter the forum, but was told he may not go in "for security reasons".
The principal, Jennifer Huntington ordered Mrs. Perakis to give her the tape.
Mrs. Perakis refused. The principal ordered the two parents to
follow her to her office. They declined. Then three
uniformed police officers came and told the parents that they must leave the building
immediately with the officers. When they got to the door where the three police
cruisers were parked, the officers told them they had one minute to get off the
school property or they would be arrested for trespassing, and that until
further notification from the principal they may not return to the school
or they would be arrested.
E. Subsequent attacks on the parents by the principal, teachers, and local media.
The following appeared in the local newspaper, the Newton Tab, in the issue right after the event (Wednesday, 12-22-04).
Letter to the editor from school Principal. This extremely offensive letter by the principal of the high school is lifted right out of the homosexual movement's propaganda playbook. She portrays homosexual behavior ("sexual orientation") as being exactly the same as nationality or race, and that homosexuality is a person's "true self". She portrays parental concern or criticism as "hatred", "intolerance", and "ignorance". She says such criticism causes children not to feel "safe". And probably most odious and insulting, she compares such parents to Nazis conducting the Holocaust. Unfortunately, school officials who think as she does are all too commonplace across this country.
Letter: North’s core values ‘threatened’
Among Newton North’s core values is one that has recently been threatened. We believe that in our school all human differences should be respected. More than that, I hope that our core values truly sing in the classrooms (reflected in the curriculum), and on Main Street, in the corridors and the cafeteria (in the ways we treat each other). I believe that in order to teach and learn, everyone at our school must feel safe and respected.
At a recent faculty meeting, two teachers shared a powerful exercise with us. They asked us to think about some important part of who we are. I thought about having been born English, and I thought about being a grandmother. They then asked us to imagine how we would feel if that important part could never be revealed because of the hatred of others. I thought about how careful I would have to be about my accent, and about removing those happy photos of my grandchildren from my desk and about how very cautious I would have to be every minute of every day not to reveal my true self. I was sad and angry because that’s who I am. Fortunately I am not in danger, but what if, because of the color of my skin, or my national origin or my sexual orientation, I was really in danger because some people hated me?
From the Crusades to the Holocaust, history teaches us that when hatred combines with military or political power very bad things happen. A vocal minority in our community would like to silence some of the voices that want to sing about respect and acceptance. This must never happen. Intolerance and hatred come from fear or ignorance. I believe that through education all students can learn tolerance and respect, and that does not necessarily mean acceptance. Education happens in the classroom yes, but in the hallways, at assemblies and faculty meetings too.
Respect and tolerance will go on being taught at Newton North in many places and in many ways. I trust that the majority in our community will insure that the chorus will always include everyone: students, faculty and staff, so that our core values will continue to sing out and everyone will feel safe and fully human.
Jennifer M. Huntington
Principal
Newton North High School
Letter to the editor by two gay-activist teachers at the high
school. This is representative of the homosexual movement's dishonest tactics.
The letter is a complete lie. There was no disruption. No faculty member
was harassed. (Actually, the opposite occurred; one of the faculty
members came up and tried to harass the parents.) Except for a few
adults, no one at the school even knew anything had happened until the
next day.
Letter: Don’t accept the disruption
Because Newton North stands for the “dignity and equality of all people” we value the perspectives of all members of our community, whether we agree with them or not. Obviously, our perspectives will differ regarding ToBGLADay; however, it is through these differences that we learn and teach.
During the ToBGLADay assemblies, a few members of the community disrupted the presentations. While people were talking, they asked audience members questions and used a video camera to film the panels. (This happened after they were asked to not tape the event due to student confidentiality.) At the end of the first panel, they verbally harassed a member of our staff. Our students, as they always do, noticed this behavior and are now curious as to why this occurred.
We have explained to them that these actions are exactly why we have a ToBGLADay. This is the type of behavior that many students in the GSA (Gay/Straight Alliance) experience during their adolescence. Many people at North were affected by the behavior because it was a clear example of what the students were talking about during the day’s events. Never in the 10 years that we have been holding this event, has there been such a sense of unification in the school.
The students and staff at North acted with respect, honesty and sincerity.
We understand and accept that people will disagree. We are willing to engage in thoughtful conversations about differences. We are not willing however, to accept the disruption of these conversations caused by a vocal minority.
Michael Quinlan
Janice Lichtman
Co-advisors, Gay/Straight Alliance
Newspaper Editorial. The Newton Tab is a left-leaning, pro-gay newspaper which
"celebrates" homosexuality as much as it can. Their editorial is an
angry, attack-filled diatribe that makes little sense, except as a way
for the editor to vent. (Note how it refers to The O'Reilly Factor, a
top-rated national TV show, as "hate-filled".) Ironically, it doesn't
occur to them to ask why a local high school forum would be of interest
to the national media.
Editorial: If you're mad about ToBGLAD
Last week's debacle at Newton North High School serves as another sad example of how not to get things done in this, or any, community.
The fact that North parents who don't approve of the way our schools teach kids about homosexuality show up at the annual ToBGLAD Day isn't the problem. The fact that one of them, Kim Cariani Perakis, took out a video camera and started taping kids is.
The schools have a clear interest in protecting children. That includes making sure that Newton school kids aren't about to unknowingly show up on the evening news, which is precisely what happened.
North Principal Jennifer Huntington was right to ask the parent with the camera to leave. And Cariani was sinfully wrong to peddle the video to local and national news and talk programs.
It's hard to say whether the actions of that one parent may have sparked an overreaction. But the fact that the other parent ejected was Brian Camenker - who has put himself in similar positions time and again, every time crying "victim" for his anti-homosexual views - makes it impossible to muster any sympathy. It's also hard to believe the Camenker and Cariani say they'd never met before: They seem like a perfect match.
Camenker, Cariani and everyone else who disagrees with ToBGLAD Day or Newton's sex ed policies are entitled to their views. They are also entitled to lobby the School Committee for a new policy. And if the School Committee is unresponsive, they should work to elect a slate of candidates this fall who will be more responsive.
If this issue is about more than grandstanding and getting a chance to star on the hate-filled O'Reilly Factor, they should make sex ed a campaign issue.
But they should stop dragging Newton kids through their mud.
F. Newspaper column supporting the parents -- by writer who
was denied entrance to event
Newton Tab Columnist Tom Mountain is the newspaper's token "conservative" writer, among a staff of prolific leftists. Mountain (who has children in the Newton schools) attempted to attend the forums that day, but was told that if he went in he would be arrested for trespassing. Note that his own newspaper didn't say a word in his defense. Nevertheless, he wrote this stirring column.
Columnist declared a security risk
By Tom Mountain
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
How many times must our city suffer widespread public embarrassment because of the wacky antics of a handful of weird, overpaid bureaucrats masquerading as educators - those charlatans who are so obsessed with forcing their agendas on our schools that they're now compelled to hold closed-door forums hidden from public scrutiny?
Maybe that's what some of the millions of Americans are wondering after their first exposure to the Newton Public Schools on the top-rated "The O'Reilly Factor" on FOX TV last week. This followed a page two story in the Boston Herald, an expose on the nightly news and hours upon hours of chatter on the local talk radio circuit.
And now the Newton Public Schools have been publicly humiliated as never before - and this time in front of a national television audience. The city's reputation has been irrevocably tarnished. After all this national publicity, it's almost easy to picture Americans coast-to-coast shaking their heads in astonishment, or worse, just plain laughing at us. But after viewing the widely publicized spectacle at Newton North last week, who could blame them?
For this we can thank Superintendent Jeffrey Young, Newton North High School Principal Jennifer Huntington and, of course, the rubber-stamp School Committee.
For those of you who just returned from Greenland and may be unaware of all the commotion last week, here's what I witnessed at Newton North High as this debacle unfolded.
Last week, Newton North hosted its annual Transgender, Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian Awareness Day. I decided to attend this public forum, called To Be Glad-Day, as I have twice before. Both previous times I entered the event without incident, sat and took notes without incident, and left on my own accord without incident.
So I was a bit surprised when as I approached this same gay forum at the school's Little Theatre (after identifying myself as a TAB columnist), I was told by the attendants standing in the one entrance that in order to be admitted, I would need to be cleared with the main office. Wanting to be cooperative, I acceded to this peculiar and unprecedented requirement, and waited quietly and patiently for a response.
A few minutes later the principal, Jennifer Huntington, arrived. As I stood off to the side, the same attendant - the gatekeeper - huddled with her, apparently discussing my "situation" (as I overheard the word "TAB" bantered about). The principal, trying as best to ignore this columnist, proceeded to enter the forum, leaving me standing outside. Several minutes went by, so I risked the ire of the gatekeeper by actually peeking in and witnessed Mrs. Huntington introducing the event that I wanted to attend but couldn't because she hadn't given me "permission."
After several more minutes, both my patience and politeness were wearing thin, so I approached the now-reinforced gatekeepers and told them that either Mrs. Huntington will stop ignoring me and come out to let me into this public forum, or I will let myself in, regardless of whether or not they throw me out. To which one of them promptly responded that I would be thrown out.
As this had never happened to me before in Newton, I immediately called the City Solicitor's office to rectify the matter. They refused to take my call.
A few minutes later two parents - Kim Cariani Perakis and Brian Camenker - were ejected from the event, followed closely by Principal Huntington and a police officer. The parents, both of whom have children at the school, naturally protested their expulsion. The principal claimed that they couldn't videotape the event, even as Cariani, a mother of two biracial children at North, protested that at least a dozen other spectators were also photographing or videotaping in the theater. Three police cars quickly showed up, and under the prodding of the principal, four officers ejected the parents out of the building and threatened one of them with arrest if he didn't leave immediately.
The video of Principal Huntington ejecting the parents while also trying to confiscate their camera was the introduction to the segment on "The O'Reilly Factor," which featured Mrs. Cariani and a local gay activist debating this controversy.
Having succeeded in forcing these inquisitive parents from their children's school, the principal then proceeded to try to bar the press - this columnist - from the event. So in the presence of police officers, school staff and assorted students, (i.e., plenty of witnesses) I stated to her, "Principal Huntington are you barring me, a member of the press, from entering this public forum?" Huntington, "Yes." "Why are you barring me from this event?" Huntington, "For the safety and security of the students."
For the safety and security of the students.
There you have it folks. The principal of Newton North has declared this TAB columnist a security risk and a danger to the children (I hope my little league board and mother don't hear about this one.)
Maybe the principal will now post pictures of me around campus with a warning label attached. It's reasonable to speculate if perhaps years of exposure to the poor air quality of the school's decrepit HVAC system has somewhat clouded her judgment. Regardless, one has to question the mentality of a school principal who can state something so bizarre to a member of the media. It's also revealing that this principal can forcibly eject parents for the simple act of videotaping a school event, since, as Bill O'Reilly noted to his national audience, it's common for parents to videotape all types of school events.
Nevertheless, Superintendent Young went on record to state that it was a violation of school policy to videotape students without their parents' permission. Based on this logic, you'd better get the consent of all the other parents before you start taping your child's winter concert, or school play, or sporting event or...
It was selective enforcement. And the same line of reasoning that Young and Huntington barred this columnist from this event. They wanted to hide the forum from the public, and were paranoid of suspicious parents taping the event and leaking it the press. And the last thing they wanted was for me to show up and write a column about it.
But there is something morally depraved about a school administration that can treat parents in such a despicable manner. There is something egregious about a school superintendent who would try to deliberately deceive the public about why these parents were really ejected. And there is something alarming about a principal who will defiantly stand at the door and deny the press entry into a high school forum.
But they all have plenty to hide - from the parents, the public and the press. Plenty.
Stay tuned.
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