SYNDICATED COLUMN
By Patricia Nell Warren
(WildcatPrs@AOL.COM)

       NEWS YOU DIDN'T SEE ON TV - THE FIRST YOUTH LOBBY DAY IN
CALIFORNIA - "THEY REPRESENT ME, BUT THEY WON'T TALK TO ME"

By Patricia Nell Warren [Novelist; author of the popular man/boy
coach/athlete trainee novel entitled *The Front Runner*. Ted]

On January 3, the first Youth Lobby Day in California produced what might
have been the largest gay-youth political turnout in state history. The
question is: will unfriendly legislators listen to these young people whom
they are so eager to control or ignore?

Close to 300 Golden State teenagers converged on Sacramento. Their aim: to
lobby for two bills. SB 101, which extends AIDS education to fifth and sixth
grade, was inactivated by its introducer, Sen. Theresa Hughes, because she
knew it didn't have enough votes to pass. AB 1001 adds sexual orientation to
the protections guaranteed by California's education code. Last year AB 1001
was introduced by openly lesbian Assembly Member Sheila Kuehl, and
principally co-authored by Assembly Members Lee, Fasconcellos and
Villaraigosa. The bill failed to get out of the Assembly Education Committee.
With a re-consideration vote slated for January 10 for AB 101, the young
lobbyists hoped they could help change some minds on both bills.

Youth Lobby Day was organized by LIFE Lobby, the only community lobby in the
[California state] capital - veteran of successful AIDS bills and a
post-Omaha bomb scare. The youth-lobby tactic was already tried and true in
Massachusetts, where gay-youth-friendly bills became law because legislators
had to listen to real, live gay kids for the first time in their lives.  LIFE
hoped the tactic would work here.

With chartered buses and donated plane tickets, the California young people
were brought from Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Palm
Springs. They ranged from age 15 into their 20s - all races, all possible
lifestyles, some with college blazers, some with baggy pants and head
bandanas, others with nose-rings and dyed hair. One transgender youth bravely
marched through the long, tiring day in skyscraper heels. Some had supportive
families; others were former runaways and street kids, now living in
shelters. Some were even straight, wanting to support the gay students in
their schools. They were nervous, yet aglow, at the prospect of telling their
gay-bashing stories directly to their elected representatives, and getting a
little power with the American establishment. Even cruising and dating
temporarily took a back seat. "I met this cool guy," one young man reported,
"and...we sat up all night and talked about politics."

A number of adults also attended, including PFLAG members who chaperoned
under-age lobbyists. A large L.A. contingent included the only openly gay
member of the L.A. Board of Education, Jeff Horton, as well as members of the
Gay & Lesbian Education Commission (including myself) and staff from the L.A.
Gay & Lesbian Community Center. Notables among adult youth advocates, such as
Jessea Greenman from Berkeley, were in evidence.

"The legislature doesn't believe you exist," LIFE advocate Ellen McCormick
told the crowd of gay youth during 10 a.m. briefing. She pointed out that it
took a full decade for the legislature to address AIDS issues. Then she and
other LIFE executives went on to explain how some legislators and school
administrations still insist that they know of no homosexual students in
their schools, and therefore they feel there is no need to protect such
students, let alone teach them about the dangers of AIDS.

Further briefing came from Assembly Member Kuehl herself, who held the young
crowd rapt with her wit and charisma. Kuehl likened state government to The
Wizard of Oz. "Remember when Dorothy found out," she grinned, "that the
Wizard was really a little old man behind a curtain, pushing buttons and
turning wheels? Well, this place is like that." The kids grinned too. They
understood.

At 11:30 a.m., a phalanx of network news crews filmed the noisy rally on the
Capitol steps. Grinning gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students held
a long banner in front of the stately Doric pillars. Chants of "Two, four,
six, eight, how do you know your kids are straight!" floated up past the
stately dome. A girl dressed like the Statue of Liberty, wearing a rainbow
toga, waved a rainbow flag...

In the afternoon, the young people got down to the real-world hard work of
lobbying. Splitting into little district groups and pushing behind the
Wizard's curtain, they visited their legislators' officers [offices?].  It
was clear that legislators and staffers were clearly taken aback by the
well-behaved but energetic gay kids whose vibrant presence filled the Capitol
like bees for an entire day.  Most Capitol politicos are used to
schoolchildren who are led around on tours, and don't ask troublesome
questions. These particular visitors were tired of being ignored, bashed, and
treated like dirt. So they poured in and out of elevators, marched down the
long hallways, peered down from the gallery, camped on the Capitol steps to
discuss and regroup. Everywhere they went, some of them carried red balloons
lettered HURTT MAKES HATE - reference to Senator Robert Hurtt, who wants to
re-activate California's sodomy laws.

It was the first day of the session, and many legislators were tied up in
party caucuses. A few gay-unfriendly politicos behaved as if they were afraid
of the young people, or believed they carried dangerous germs. They gave the
kids a wide berth as they passed, even hugging the walls ridiculously or
walking very fast and pretending they didn't see the kids.

Sen. Robert Hurtt found his office under virtual siege. The senator was "not
available" when the first polite but grim group of lobbyists showed up at his
door, carrying red balloons.  Joel Feldman, 19, of L.A., insisted that they
be able to speak to someone. Finally Hurtt's chief of staff snapped, "I'll
give you five minutes." Joel got his five minutes, then was shown the door.
Later in the day, Hurtt's office reportedly slammed the door in the faces of
a second group. However, these teens also stood their ground. They
buttonholed a Hurtt staff member and pointed out firmly that they were the
Senator's constituents from Orange County, and some of them were old enough
to vote. The staff member reportedly got the message, and sat down with them
to listen.

A far warmer response came from Anthony Villaraigosa's office. The Assembly
Member himself was tied up in caucus, and his staff were already on our side.
But his aide sat for a while with the large L.A. delegation, and they gave
her fresh ammunition.  One nervous Latino honors student, Fabian, told the
staff of his wars with homophobic school administrators, who finally forcibly
transferred him out of his home school because he was the first out student
there.  Fabian made some telling points, including the fact that the students
themselves, as well as the teachers, were not opposed to his presence in the
school. Commenting on AB 1001, Fabian said: "If we had that bill, this
wouldn't have happened to me in my school."

A common profile emerged from the stories, as they were told throughout the
Capitol. These teenagers revealed that they are some of California's
brightest and best. Among them were top students and athletes, poets and
artists, doers and organizers. They told of publishing underground papers,
organizing Project 10s and gay-straight student alliances. Among them, too,
were survivors, who had gone through hells that would break the heart of the
most hardened adult.

As the day passed, I talked with different individuals whose progress I had
watched for a couple of years.  When I first met one 16-year-old from Palm
Springs, he was struggling with pain, confusion, and parental opposition at
home.  Now, with a job and a handle on his home situation and school, he was
there in Sac[ramento] with an eager expression in his eyes.  Rhiannon
Pollock, a lesbian girl I'd met while teaching at L.A.'s gay continuation
school, EAGLES Center, was equally excited.  "I am definitely considering a
career in the law and human rights," she said.

Unfortunately, that same day, a bi-party struggle over the Speaker's seat
resulted in Republicans gaining a choke-hold on the Capitol. "You can forget
about your AB 1001 for this session," one Democratic chief of staff told a
group of young visitors.  In the Democratic offices, several staff expressed
fears over their jobs, as the Republicans start to slash the state budget.

Unfortunately, too, the [media] networks ignored this historic moment for gay
youth. Later that day, the TV news aired the squabble over the Speaker's
seat. Not a single sound bite for the teenage lobbyists that I could find.
The media grandes believe that it's not news unless they say so.

Nevertheless, that night, as everybody adjourned to the LIFE office for a
pizza fest and final de-briefing, a crowd of tired but inspired youth shared
their experiences and their eagerness for more. "Next is Washington," said
one girl, making a victory fist.

Said Joel Feldman: "It was absolutely awesome. What a chance to find out how
things work and be a part of it. I'm organizing a bunch of us to keep in
touch with legislators who need to hear from us. Like Keith Olberg from
Victorville, the Republican senator who heads the education rules committee.
You know, his chief of staff wouldn't even talk to me...said they weren't
going to change their position. These people represent me, but they won't
talk to me? It makes me want to rewrite the system."

Indeed. Our country talks endlessly about young people, but ignores them as
much as possible. We are remiss in giving our young people any real access to
the halls of power.  For example, in the December E95 Congressional hearings
on homosexuals in education, gay youth were discussed at length, but no gay
youth were allowed to testify in person. Yet the growing controversies in
American society all focus on youth, and the rightful place of gay youth in
American schools. The laws being passed right now - or not passed, as in the
case of SB 101 and AB 1001 - will affect our young people profoundly for
years to come.

More and bigger Youth Lobby Days in state capitols all over the country, and
in Washington D.C., are in order. Whether or not the media choose to report
them, their impact will surely be felt.