Sheltra Bid To Muzzle Schools Absent From Town Meeting Agendas

by Pat Robinson

    In yet another attempt to derail civil rights for gay and lesbian Vermonters, Rep. Nancy Sheltra (R-Derby) has again taken steps to gain access to the Select Boards in Vermont. In a letter sent out to all Vermont towns in January, she and six other state representatives target what Sheltra calls “the homosexual agenda in the public classrooms.” The letter requested that the town authorities endorse a nonbinding resolution asking the legislature to outlaw any positive mention of homosexuality in schools by school personnel.
      The letter was received in the Brattleboro’s Town Hall on Jan. 15, 2002, and according to the Town Manager’s office, was promptly rejected from being put on the ballot.
      Sheltra admitted that as of mid-February, after most towns had published their town meeting agendas (or warnings), only two Windham County towns, Halifax and Wilmington, planned to put it on the town ballots, and only another 8 to 10 towns, including Barre and Brownington, had agreed to put it on their town meeting warnings. Among the towns declining to consider the matter was Derby, Sheltra’s home town.
      According to a report in the Barton Chronicle, Sheltra responded to an Outright Vermont letter opposing the proposed agenda item by charging Outright with “bring[ing] 14- to 22-year-olds together and hand[ing] out pornographic material.”
      Her concern with school personnel or agents “promoting the ‘homosexual agenda’” was apparently triggered by a 1999 Safe Schools conference held by the National Educational Association, the Vermont Department of Health, the Vermont Department of Education, Outright Vermont, and other homosexual organizations to help school administrators and teachers understand how to deal sensitively and legally with sexual identity issues.
     The legality of the warning request and of the resolution itself has been questioned by some. "The Vermont Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights hopes that no school would make this a policy. It is important that schools provide a safe environment for all students and that tolerance and diversity is taught, not hatred,” said Virginia Renfrew, chairwoman of the Vermont Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights. “If a school were to adopt such a policy, we would look to the law to see if this would be considered discrimination based on sexual orientation”
      Vermont law does permit town select boards to place items on the warning when presented with a petition signed by five percent of the town’s voters. However, because the resolution concerned school policies and might be considered an unconstitutional limitation on free speech, some selectboards have deemed the resolution inappropriate for consideration at Town Meeting.
      If there are supporters of the resolution at the Town or School meetings, the issue could potentially be raised at the end of the meeting under an “any other business” agenda item.
      Notorious as the primary sponsor of House Bill 182, Sheltra sought to prohibit same-sex couples from marrying in Vermont, and to deny recognition for same-gender couples’ lawful marriages performed in other jurisdictions. The bill died in committee.
      Some members of the House of Representatives walked out when Sheltra spoke in favor of a bill that would have required HIV testing as a condition of obtaining a civil union license.
      Sheltra is persistent in her pursuit of her conservative religious agenda, but her political influence is discounted by moderate observers because of her history of endorsing extreme views and what some have called “hate speech.”