by Ed Oliver

Massachusetts News called Ford Middle School Principal John Tavares in Acushnet to inquire about the holocaust unit at his school. He was asked if he was aware that Hoyle talked about him in her workshop as an "obstacle" that she overcame to bring homosexuality into the middle school curriculum.

Tavares was initially incredulous that Hoyle’s GLSEN workshop even took place. "To my knowledge, Christine Hoyle did not even do a presentation, I don’t know where you got that information," he said.

When informed that she was a speaker at Fistgate, he stated that the holocaust unit at his school was gradually expanded to include the "common prejudices" such as race. But he maintained that the unit was not essentially developed by Hoyle, who is only an "inclusion teacher" for the seventh grade. He confirmed, however, that Hoyle did bring the gay and lesbian subject into the "prejudice unit." He also said students are given the opportunity to pick their projects and speakers.

One of the tactics Hoyle taught the teachers at Fistgate is to make requests for speakers and topics appear to originate with the students.

Principal Tavares confirmed that two years ago, Christine Hoyle asked if gays and lesbians could come speak to the students. He then added that "all the teachers" from the unit requested that. He denied that he initially opposed bringing in homosexual speakers, as Hoyle said. He stated what he did was to qualify the nature of the information that would be shared with youngsters by the speakers. He said he did not want someone coming in and advocating a point of view or veering from the topic at hand, which was "prejudice."

Despite his strictures on the speakers, Hoyle viewed the very inclusion of homosexuality in the middle school curriculum as a great victory, according to what she said at the workshop. Once she was able to get past the "obstacle" of the principal, her subsequent, successful indoctrination of the students was apparent in the video shown to the workshop participants.

‘Safe’ Material from State

Tavares said, "What we did was go to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and get a state representative to come speak to the kids. We didn’t go to a private group. The state has an organization that deals with harassment of gays and lesbians. I can’t think of the name of the organization but it’s under the Governor."

This also was in line with Hoyle’s tactics, to ease fears by bringing in "safe" materials and speakers.

The principal said that the speaker, under specific guidelines, spoke about "prejudice" and was monitored by the school nurse and by the teacher.

(Massachusetts News published two articles in the May 2000 issue about similar presentations in Needham High and Assabet High in Marlboro. Both presentations, purportedly about "prejudice," were similarly monitored but resulted in complaints from parents afterward that speakers described their first lesbian kiss and the nervous excitement of going into a gay bar for the first time.)

The second year, according to Tavares, at the request of the teachers they continued the same unit and brought in representatives from the same group. One of the speakers, however, made an "offhanded comment" that was "unacceptable" in Tavares’ opinion. Tavares said the school nurse reported to him an "improper use of terminology" by the speaker. He said he informed the teacher afterward that they would no longer bring in representatives from that group or any other group who fell outside the parameters and they would narrow the discussion of prejudice regarding homosexuals to the research of students.

"We don’t need, nor do I want, individuals coming into the school who have access to our kids, espousing either terms or points of view which are not acceptable to our school community."

Massachusetts News began to ask Tavares about the fact that the homosexual activist agenda uses "prejudice, "tolerance" and "school safety" to get discussion of homosexuality into the schools. Tavares interrupted, however, and said he was not interested in their agenda and was only interested in the narrow subject of prejudice.

In the July issue of Massachusetts News, John Paulk, a well-known author and former homosexual is quoted saying that GLSEN’s agenda is to normalize homosexuality to schoolchildren from grades K through 12. He said activists use gay straight alliance clubs to get into the schools to reach children. Other leading homosexual activists advise using code words such as "school safety" and "teaching tolerance" to get into the schools.

Massachusetts News asked Tavares if it concerned him that the activist agenda manifested itself, even in a "limited" class about prejudice. This was seen in the video Hoyle played of seventh grade girls speaking about the normalcy of pedophilia in ancient Greece and the normalcy of homosexuality in general, without any opposing viewpoint.

Tavares said projects have to be approved by a teacher and if there is something that was inappropriate, he should be notified so he can review it with the teachers. He said he couldn’t comment on the video because he didn’t see it. After reading to Tavares the account of the video from the workshop participant, he said it sounded like the students were presenting the results of their own research.

Dangers Not Discussed

Massachusetts News mentioned to Tavares that conspicuously missing in the video was any mention of health dangers or the other consequences of homosexual activity such as pedophilia, and the teacher should have made sure the opposing viewpoint was presented. Tavares said we are probably right that the entire story was not presented.

Massachusetts News asked if that was not an encouragement of homosexual activity, to which Tavares said, "If you are asking if we at Ford Middle School encourage homosexual activity, the answer is, no we do not. Please understand that homosexuality is not the focus of the unit of instruction. If one teacher has a perception and an attitude, that is not shared by the whole team of teachers who oversee that unit."

Tavares continued, "You are taking one group of youngsters and their project and you are trying to read something into that project because they left something out that you would like to have seen. That is about as unfair an analysis as one could possibly make."

Asked where his outrage is, Tavares said he is outraged that Massachusetts News or anyone else would want to paint a school as being an advocate for a group of people or a way of life that is inappropriate and unacceptable to a majority of people. "We do not teach homosexuality. If you are trying to create a case about Ford Middle School doing that, you are being unfair and prejudiced."

Massachusetts News said Ms. Hoyle gave her workshop as a model to demonstrate that the school is doing exactly that and other schools should follow its example. Tavares said he did not share her point of view and did not share the accuracy of what we are assuming.

Massachusetts News reminded Tavares he is the principal, yet he wasn’t even aware his teacher was showing that video to teachers from across the state as a trophy. Tavares said he didn’t see that specific video because he didn’t see all the projects the kids made, and he does not agree that one particular teacher is dominating the curriculum.

Massachusetts News told Tavares that according to the teacher who attended the workshop, Hoyle presented herself as a lesbian. Tavares’ confrontational demeanor softened somewhat after that. He said he did not know that, it was news to him. He then asked, "Do you think she’s trying to put something over on us?" He commented that from what he had read in the Globe, the whole GLSEN conference went sour from what he understands.

Tavares said Ford Middle School is definitely not involved in advocating homosexuality. "If Christine Hoyle has a point of view that is different from ours, then ours will prevail, not hers."

Asked if he would investigate or make any changes, Tavares said that there would not be any changes in the unit on prejudice. He said it is a long-standing and good unit that has grown. But he said he would, in fact, monitor very closely any kinds of issues dealing with homosexuality from now on.

Massachusetts News asked if we could see the video, or if Tavares would look at it now that he had heard about it. Tavares said he doesn’t have it; and from our description, there is not anything outlandish on it.

He said it appears as though the students presented facts as they researched a particular topic but the issue seems to be that it wasn’t a balanced presentation. He was reminded of the part about normalcy of pedophilia.

Encouraging Molestation?

Tavares asked if we think the kids were encouraging pedophilia in the video. Massachusetts News replied it appears Ms. Hoyle was. The teacher who attended the workshop said she was allowed to look at Hoyle’s files which she makes available to students for research, and it was overwhelmingly pro-gay literature. Tavares replied that the students probably researched their project on the Internet, although he said they have filters on what they can access. He then said the students probably got their information right out of the encyclopaedia or a history book. "You have the same kind of information on PBS or the History Channel," he said. Tavares said it is not the kind of information one has to go looking for in dark corners of the world, it is historical data.

Tavares said the question is, do we allow students to do presentations that espouse a point of view that runs contrary to the community. The answer is no. He said if this video fell through the cracks, he’ll find out. He added that he hopes the teachers who set up the criteria for the presentation and who monitored and graded it, did so with that in mind (that they do not espouse a view). He said Christine Hoyle and two other teachers are involved in the unit.

Massachusetts News read to Tavares the quote from the teacher who attended the workshop, asking what if a young boy saw that presentation and concluded sex with an older man is normal. Tavares said he did not draw that conclusion from what the students said on the video. He said he sees only the presentation of facts.

Massachusetts News asked Tavares if including homosexuality in a class that teaches against prejudice does not automatically prevent students from presenting the other side, which says pedophilia or homosexuality is wrong or dangerous. Those who express such views would be immediately denounced as prejudiced, haters or homophobic. Is that the reason the "prejudice" video by the students was one-sided? Isn’t Tavares promoting homosexuality and pedophilia when he defends including it in a curriculum about prejudice?

Tavares said there are federal laws against prejudice, and pedophilia is not a legitimate subject of inquiry in his prejudice unit. "You are trying to drag this school into a situation we are not a part and parcel to."

Massachusetts News reminded Tavares that Christine Hoyle dragged the school into it. Hoyle is the one who presented a workshop for teachers from around the state, boasting how she succeeded in bringing homosexuality into a middle school curriculum, then showed a video of her students touting pedophilia and homosexuality as normal.

Tavares admitted that it is true that she did drag the school into it. He said it is unfortunate that she twisted a good unit for another purpose, a unit she initially had nothing to do with. "I won’t allow that to happen. I don’t know how much clearer I can be."

"You have to understand," he continued, "these kids select from a large group of various kinds of prejudices." What you are saying is, you think this teacher has perverted that process"

After describing Hoyle’s workshop and GLSEN’s goal to normalize homosexuality to Tavares, he responded, "If I’ve got an individual who has an ulterior motive, in what should be nothing more than a legitimate learning activity, then I need to deal with that and you are right. If that is where she is coming from, then that needs to be addressed. I will in fact do that. I will not allow my kids to be used for any ulterior motive by any group. If what you say has grounds, I won’t let her get away with that. I am a rather direct person, and I would like to confront Miss Hoyle with the statements you are attributing to her. I’m not going to let our kids be used as pawns by anybody. I’m not going to turn what has been an excellent unit of study for kids into something that is perverse or degraded. I’m not going to allow that to happen. If there is an ulterior motive involved, I will confront the individual and put a stop to it."

Massachusetts News conveyed to Taveres how Hoyle posed her question to students about what sort of speakers to bring in. She gave them choices between a gay teen or a gay adult, etc. Taveres said it sounds like she was manipulating the kids and it is very easy to manipulate kids. The teacher who attended Hoyle’s workshop told Massachusetts News the same thing. She said when she heard Hoyle say it, she thought how kids are easily manipulated and how that was being done by the way Hoyle posed the question to them. Tavares said if that is accurate, the teacher needs to be confronted with it and he will not let anybody do that for any reason or any cause. "It violates a professional responsibility and an ethical responsibility to this system, our kids and our school."

Tavares requested a copy of any notes from the workshop and the Massachusetts News article about it. He said he intends to talk with the teacher.

Tavares emphasized, "What is really a major concern to me, is whether or not Miss Hoyle is using her position as a teacher for an ulterior motive at our school. That is of extreme concern to me. That is an issue I need to deal with because I will not let anybody do that to our kids."

A Blueprint for Teachers

Hoyle offered the following ideas at the workshop:

• Get approval from your administrator beforehand.

• Take baby steps while incorporating information about homosexuality into the existing curriculum. Don’t overtly "promote" homosexuality, keep it balanced.

• Don’t go it alone. Find and educate allies who are comfortable with this topic.

• Have all requests for speakers and topics come from the students.

• Have meetings regarding the topic. Solicit written comments, a technique, which is "safe for students and staff."

• Use "safe" materials and speakers, I.E. state or student sponsored or from reputable newspapers and magazines.

In writing this article, Mr. Oliver relied upon a teacher who attended the Conference and upon her notes taken at the session.

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