Local News in Brief : End of Gay Project Urged

A group claiming to represent 100 South-Central Los Angeles ministers called Monday for the end of a Los Angeles Unified School District counseling program for homosexual students.

At a press conference called by the South Los Angeles chapter of the Traditional Values Coalition, several black ministers attacked “Project 10,” a counseling program established four years ago by a gay teacher at Fairfax High School, calling it a means of “recruiting” students to be homosexuals.

“I’m against taking valuable time in our schools . . . to (help students) figure out if they are homosexual or lesbian,” said Rev. Sam Steel, a member of the coalition.

The program attracted attention recently when a GOP assemblywoman persuaded the Assembly Republican caucus to oppose funding for new programs for the district unless it drops the counseling program.

District officials subsequently withdrew two books from use in the program that were found to be inappropriate and established an ad hoc committee to review other materials. The district still considers Project 10--which derived its name from the 10% of the population researchers believe to be homosexual--”a viable program” that will be continued, said Mort Tenner, a district administrative consultant. “It is not a recruitment or an advocacy program.”