Story originally printed in the Vernon Broadcaster or online at www.vernonbroadcaster.com
Published - Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Diversity Day at VHS cancelled: Outside group sought to have ‘ex-gay’ speak
Faced again with controversy over plans for a gay speaker, Viroqua High School officials have cancelled Diversity Day.
The event, held every two years since 2000 for juniors and seniors, had been set for Thursday.
Scheduled speakers included Hmong, Jewish, Muslim, American Indian, African American, Latino, Buddhist, gay, physically disadvantaged and economically disadvantaged people.
But it was called off late last week after a legal group raised a potential challenge to include a formerly gay or Christian viewpoint.
In 2004, about 400 people signed a petition asking that speakers on gay, lesbian and transgender issues not be included in the school’s Diversity Day. The school board cancelled the event, but it was reinstated after spring elections changed the board’s makeup.
While pressure in 2004 came largely from within the community, this time, much of the challenge was from outside, said Gregg Attleson, a Spanish teacher at Viroqua who was on the Diversity Day planning committee.
A copy of a March 8 fax to David Johnston, Viroqua district administrator, from the Liberty Counsel, stated that Don Greven, pastor of Bad Axe Lutheran Church, and Charles Lind, grandfather of a Viroqua High senior, had raised concerns about no Christian or formerly gay viewpoints being among the Diversity Day speakers. The Liberty Counsel is a national public interest law firm with offices in Florida and Virginia.
The fax pointed out a federal court in Michigan had ruled a similar exclusion at Ann Arbor Public Schools event unconstitutional.
“By excluding the Christian and ex-gay viewpoints, the (Viroqua) District violates the Establishment Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of equal protection,” the Liberty Counsel argued in the fax.
“Diversity means, in our understanding, that the various views are presented, and that was lacking,” Greven, 61, said Monday.
Planners said they hoped the day would bring students face to face with minorities and those living alternative lifestyles.
“Our students are not going to be living their lives out in Viroqua,” said Attleson. “They’ll be out and about in the world — in jobs, in the military, in the university —and they’re going to come into contact with people of different backgrounds. And we feel it would be real helpful for them in a nice safe place, like a high school, to have contact and be able to dispel some of the stereotypes.”
Attleson said students would have heard two keynote speakers, seen a movie and gathered with three of 10 speakers for small group discussions during the day. Students could choose which small groups they wanted to attend, he said, and wouldn’t have to participate if their parents contacted the school in advance.
When committee members heard some wanted the ex-gay viewpoint presented, they contacted the homosexual couple who would be speaking. Bob and Kevin Gross, who are parents of five children in the Viroqua School District. were also presenters at the 2002 Diversity Day and were set to participate again.
Kevin Gross said the pair told the committee they would participate at the event, but not if confronted by the ex-gay speaker in the same room.
“We thought it was a little ridiculous that the idea was to put us in a room where someone else would talk about being able to be ‘healed’ of being gay,” Kevin Gross said.
The committee eventually decided the best course of action was to cancel the whole event.
“Non-positive groups were not what we were going for,” said Ellen Byers, an English teacher on the committee.
She said it was important to have homosexuals represented because a lot of misunderstanding exists about the issue and because Viroqua has gay students.
She said the day was not supposed to be about “proselytizing,” or alienating anyone.
“It’s ironic, because we’re trying to be tolerant and at the same time we might be accused of being intolerant,” Byers said.
(Matt Johnson contributed to this story.)
All stories copyright 2006 Vernon Broadcaster and other attributed sources.