Anti-homophobia' conference seeks to mold narrow minds: School board rallies gay activists

So what will the kids learn and take home? What lessons are the taxpayers paying for? According to the conference mission statement, organizers want to “plan a world without homophobia or gender stereotypes.”

A world without gender stereotypes. Say it ain’t so. I’ll miss them. Millions rely on them. Western culture was built on them. But all good things must come to an end.

More importantly, organizers claim the conference targets bigotry–homophobia, to be exact. Obviously, any fruitful discussion about bigotry in public schools must include a diverse panel representing a wide array of cultural backgrounds. To promote tolerance and understanding, differing opinions must be discussed and respected. So who’ll speak at the conference? Mulligan and company have compiled an impressive list of speakers, dubbed “advocacy heroes.”

There’s Janine Fuller, manager of Little Sister’s sex shop/bookstore, whose scholarly knowledge of dildo history is sure to stimulate young minds. And Morgan Brayton, a columnist for gay newspaper Xtra! West, who in a 2006 column detailed her experience in a public orgy. Foul-mouthed lesbian comic Kimothy Shaughnessy will make an appearance, as will Vancouver Pride Society president Ken Coolen.

Not only is the speaker list inappropriate for young teens, but much like Coolen’s stream of stereotypes on display each summer in the gay pride parade, it provides a narrow view of Vancouver’s gay population.

Conference co-architect Jeremy Dias, an Ontario resident who parlayed a human rights commission complaint (and an eventual lucrative out-of-court settlement) into one of Ontario’s most ubiquitous gay lobbying groups, will conduct a “panel discussion on ethnicity, religion and sexuality.”

Oddly, Mulligan, the aforementioned anti-homophobia consultant, didn’t know who’d join Dias on the religion panel. A pastor? Priest? Rabbi? Imam?

“No, not pastors,” cautioned Mulligan. “I’m not sure exactly who makes up that panel.”

Speaking of religion. Before the speakers take centre stage, Berend McKenzie, an actor/social commentator, will perform a one-man show in the Queen Mary gymnasium. McKenzie’s no stranger to Vancouver crowds. His X-rated puppet show titled Get Off the Cross, Mary! ran at the 2007 Vancouver Fringe Festival. While details of the show aren’t worth repeating, it featured raunchy re-enactments of the Last Supper and the Crucifixion, which puppet Jesus likened to “losing your virginity on prom night, except with a little more blood.” (Remember, this is an “anti-bigotry” conference.)

You might wonder why the Vancouver School Board greenlighted Dare To Stand Out.

I wondered that myself.

Mulligan said the conference will create more tolerant school hallways in Vancouver and cited a 2001 study from the United Kingdom that “reflected that homophobic language was the most commonly heard form of verbal bullying in schools.”

Confused, I contacted school board chair Patti Bacchus, who quickly granted the conference her full–albeit somewhat blind–support. “I haven’t looked at it in great detail, but I can tell you that the board is very supportive of the work Steve Mulligan and the folks he’s working with are doing.”

Indeed. Our democracy depends on citizen participation including organized political activism and advocacy–gay, straight, right wing, left wing, whatever. But there’s no room in the public school system for an activist jamboree laughingly veiled as an anti-bigotry conference.

However, on the bright side, Dare To Stand Out offers a revealing glimpse inside the Vancouver School Board and another argument for private schools.