School Funds, Gay Counselor Linked

Assembly Republicans voted unanimously Thursday to oppose funding for new programs sought by the Los Angeles Unified School District unless it drops support for a Fairfax High School teacher to counsel gay and lesbian students in the district.

The action was taken at the request of Assemblywoman Marian LaFollette (R-Northridge), who said she received complaints from parents after the teacher, Virginia Uribe, spoke recently to students at San Fernando High School.

“This program is unfit for students, and the taxpayers are paying for it,” LaFollette charged. “If they have sufficient funds for this kind of a program, they don’t need any more money for any new programs.

“She describes how gays and lesbians have sexual relationships. She also meets with other counselors and teachers and teaches them how to be sensitive to homosexual youth.”

Informed of the GOP caucus action, Uribe replied: “That is most unfortunate. Equality extends to all of our children, including gay and lesbian children.

“We are a public school system and we should try to meet the needs of all of our students. We are talking about civil rights.”

Los Angeles Unified School District spokesman Bill Rivera said Thursday that the program, known as “Project 10,” was never formally approved by the board, although it was presented to a subcommittee of the board two years ago. He said no special funds were allocated and that Uribe simply was granted permission to devote half of her day to the project.

Rivera said he did not know Uribe’s salary, but that the average annual high school teacher’s salary is $36,624.

He said he knew of few complaints about the program, which is the first to provide counseling for gay students districtwide.

The impact of the Assembly Republican caucus decision, which would not affect present Los Angeles school district funding, is unclear. Some new school spending bills require a simple lower house majority vote (41), but others require a two-thirds vote (54), depending upon the circumstances. The Democrats now control the lower house by a 43-36 vote over the GOP, with one vacancy.

Rivera said he did not know what special funds could be targeted for opposition by Assembly Republicans.

LaFollette also charged that no parental consent forms were required before Uribe talked to students.

“I do not think the project is a proper function for our public school system or any other school system, for that matter,” LaFollette said. “We are talking about teen-agers, not adults.”

Uribe said it is up to the schools whether they want to invite her to speak. She estimated that she has made about 25 on-site presentations at various Los Angeles senior and junior high schools since the beginning of the current school year.

“My reception has been every positive when I have been asked to speak,” Uribe said.

Uribe said in a recent interview that Project 10 grew out of a lunchtime rap session she started for gay students in 1984, after taunts drove a homosexual boy from Fairfax High. At one session Uribe revealed that she, too, was gay. Through the sessions, she said, she became aware of problems gay and lesbian students face.

‘Much Greater Risk’

“We have reason to believe that gay and lesbian students are at much greater risk for alcohol and substance abuse, attempted suicide and dropping out,” Uribe said in the interview. “Loneliness and alienation are universal, and family disruption is almost universal.”

The program went districtwide at the beginning of this school year. Since then, Uribe, who was already counseling more than 200 students a year, has contacted one-third of the district’s 122 high schools and junior highs.

Uribe said she decided to call the new program Project 10 after confessing to a friend, “I’m too scared to call it the Gay and Lesbian Student Project.”

What began as a program to keep gay students from dropping out has taken on added urgency because of AIDS, she said.

For sexually active students, Uribe counsels responsibility, advising students never to have unsafe sex. “It would be ridiculous for me to say to them, ‘Just say no,’ ” she said. But much of her time is spent talking about concerns other than sex. She said she may find a gay soccer team for a student-athlete or pass on the phone numbers of gay and lesbian support groups at UCLA and Cal State Northridge. She often urges students to do volunteer work with local AIDS organizations.

Room Devoted to Program

At Fairfax, a third-floor classroom is devoted to the program. Students browse through its library of gay fiction and nonfiction. Among the most popular books, Uribe said, is “One Teenager in 10,” first-person accounts by 27 gay young people.

Although anything a student says to Uribe is confidential, some students do not want to be seen talking to her or frequenting the Project 10 room. Many students contact her by phone. Some approach her through a go-between.

Most of the students are boys; nearly all say they have known they were gay for years. Girls, on the other hand, more often say they are confused about their sexual identity.

Uribe said that, on rare occasions, a critic accuses her of advocating homosexuality. “That’s simply ludicrous,” she said. “I’m just saying it’s OK to be who you are.”