Petition signed by 12,000 presented to District 11 School Board
by Sue Austreng
Staff Writer
A Blaine High School graduate and the mother of a suicide victim presented a 12,000-name petition to Anoka-Hennepin School Board members July 11.
The petition, signed by people from around the world, according to school district spokeswoman Mary Olson, requested that board members rescind the district’s sexual orientation curriculum policy, something members of the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and questioning) community call a “gag” policy.
The policy allows teachers to discuss issues related to sexual orientation in the classroom, but requires them to remain neutral.
Justin Anderson, 19-year old Blaine High School graduate who presented the petition, said he believes the policy “is dangerous to LGBTQ students and their allies.
“It creates a hostile environment,” Anderson said. “We’re asking you to rescind this policy.”
School Board Chairman Tom Heidemann said after the meeting that he and other board members have heard from both sides of the issue.
“There are very strong opinions on this topic and we’ve heard from both sides over the years… The board’s position is we’re going to leave this to parents’ discretion to talk to their children when they feel they’re ready,” Heidemann said. “We’re respecting parents’ rights to choose when and how to talk to their children about this topic.”
Last fall, after a number of Anoka-Hennepin students committed suicide, LGBTQ advocates argued that some of those deaths were caused by bullying and that students were targeted because of real or perceived LGBTQ orientation.
The district has an anti-bullying policy in addition to the neutrality policy, Heidemann said.
“They are two distinct policies, two distinct topics,” Heidemann said.
According to school officials, people have different opinions on homosexuality and that neutrality doesn’t prevent teachers from stopping bullying based on sexual orientation.
The petition was accepted July 11 without comment or discussion by the board.
Later Heidemann said the petition wouldn’t likely cause a change in the sexual orientation curriculum policy.
“The (1995) policy was reworked and accepted by a 5-1 vote in 2009,” Heidemann said, adding that it takes a four person vote to rescind it.
“The way things look now, I don’t see that happening,” Heidemann said.
“We worked with groups on both sides of the issue when we wrote that policy and we’ve received petitions from both sides,” he said.
“We haven’t heard anything that really tells us we’ve got a bad policy,” Heidemann said.
Sue Austreng is at sue.austreng@ecm-inc.com
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