Opinion > Columnists > Randy Scholfield

  Randy Scholfield  

Not 'gay' to want respect in schools

Are our public schools doing enough to protect gay students from harassment? The case of Jimmy Iniguez makes me wonder.

Iniguez, a 17-year-old junior who is openly gay, was accused last week of harassing another student and suspended from Wichita's Metro-Midtown Alternative High School.

Iniguez fought the charge, saying he was the one who was being unfairly accused and harassed because of his sexual orientation.

At a formal hearing this week, the district dismissed charges against Iniguez that could have led to his expulsion.

He's glad the controversy is resolved.

"I care about my education," he told me. "So I wanted to fight to stay in school."

But Iniguez said he'll never set foot in his old school again. And he doesn't want other gay students to go through what he said he endured.

Iniguez told me he's known since fifth or sixth grade that he was gay. Middle school was tough.

"There was a lot of name-calling and bullying," he said.

His experience in high school has been mixed. Part of the problem, he said, is that schools aren't consistent in the messages they send about anti-gay harassment.

He attended Northeast Magnet, he said, and found it very tolerant and accepting. The principal there, he said, made a point of saying in orientations that bullying of students for any reason -- including sexual orientation -- wouldn't be tolerated.

By contrast, he said that he never heard at Metro-Midtown that specific, schoolwide message about not harassing gays.

Student groups have been lobbying the school board for months to change the district's anti-discrimination policy to include specific language about sexual orientation.

Nicole Cross, a junior who's involved in the Gay/Straight Alliance student club at East High, said gay students face harassment or bullying "every day" in our schools.

She pointed out that students often throw around the word "gay" as a term meaning "stupid" -- as in, "That's so gay." It's become a pervasive slang term.

"I'm straight," she said. "And I'm offended by it."

Or a student will call someone a "faggot."

She said some teachers speak out when they hear students use such insults. Other teachers "hear it and don't say anything."

Would they look the other way if it were a racial slur?

Her larger point: Some schools and teachers seem sensitive to gay harassment issues. Others aren't.

District officials argue that they already have anti-harassment policies that cover these situations.

"Harassment is harassment, and we write that broadly to apply to all students," school district spokeswoman Susan Arensman said last week.

Students make a compelling argument, though, that unless the district's anti-discrimination policy specifically cites sexual orientation, school officials might not take it seriously.

In a phone interview, school board president Connie Dietz told me she couldn't discuss the Iniguez case.

But she said the board has adopted and plans to implement this year new anti-bullying training for school staff that includes specific material about sexual orientation.

That would be a good start.

At the very least, the board should make sure that every principal gets the message -- and communicates it to teachers and students -- that harassment of gay and lesbian students won't be tolerated.

Every student deserves a safe, supportive learning environment.

To be sure, this is an tricky, uncomfortable topic for school officials -- incidents such as the one involving Iniguez often come down to "he said, she said" evidence.

"That's so gay" isn't always used with malicious intent.

Moreover, many parents aren't eager for schools to deal with sensitive issues of teen sexuality.

But like it or not, our schools are increasingly diverse -- it's one of their strengths. And more and more students are open about their sexual orientation.

Schools have no choice but to tackle these tough issues. They can start by making sure every school models tolerance and respect.

Randy Scholfield is an Eagle editorial writer. His column appears on Fridays. Reach him at 268-6545 or rscholfield@wichitaeagle.com.