By Don Frances
RUTH GIBBS, advisor to Los Altos High School’s Gay-Straight Alliance, says she never wanted a parade. But that may be in the offing after the Los Altos City Council once again denied her group what it seems to want most: for the city to declare June 7 Gay Pride Day.
“I think it reeks of homophobia,” she told me over the phone last week.
A mild-mannered woman, and a 51-year resident of Los Altos, Gibbs nonetheless does not mince words when it comes to the ongoing actions of the council. That’s because, she says, “These kids think this is a human rights issue.”
The Gay-Straight Alliance functions as a “safe place,” Gibbs said, for gay kids at Los Altos High. It currently claims 20 members, and Gibbs estimates that about half of them are from Mountain View.
She said the group meets every Monday during lunch for 20 to 25 minutes. During those meetings, “usually we have a project that we’re working on.” Sometimes that project means putting together a gay film festival (see below). Three years ago it meant asking the council to declare a Gay Pride Day. That’s when the trouble started.
In 2004, the council rejected the group’s request, opting instead for a “Tolerance Day.” But this seemed like a hedge, and nobody likes a hedger — so they made it a day for both gay pride and tolerance, drawing jeers from all sides.
The next year, when it came up again, they rejected it outright. More negative attention.
This February, seeing the problem on the horizon, the council approved a specifically worded change to city policy: Proclamations “such as Gay Pride Day” will not be considered. The media flocked from miles around.
One council member told a TV news crew that “we never said they couldn’t have a parade.” Now Gibbs is considering it.
“I didn’t ask for this. They’re just saying, ‘Go for the parade,'” she said.
I’m not sure what a few dozen kids marching down Main Street will do for the group — or for the kids’ self-esteem and safety, which I thought was at the heart of this debate. But it sure seems like a lot of the council’s problems would go away if they just declared a “Gay Pride Day” and moved on.
As for the film festival, it’s being held Saturday, March 4 at the high school theater. The first movie starts at noon, last one at 5:20 p.m.
Don Frances is editor of the Mountain View Voice. He can be reached at dfrances
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