By SUSAN NIELSEN and HILLARY GUBLER

susan@du2.byu.edu

A preliminary hearing for the case against homosexual Spanish Fork High School teacher Wendy Weaver drew a crowd of protesters Thursday at the Utah County Courthouse and marked "beginning of the end" of the protracted legal battle over sexual discussion in area schools.

After attorneys presented their arguments in the hearings, the judge said he would consider the arguments and announce his decision later on whether or not to send the case to trial.

Weaver sat with her head in her hands as she listened to the proceedings, and talked with supporters and friends who gathered outside the courthouse after the hearings.

"We're glad this is the beginning of the end," she said.

Weaver's attorney, Richard Van Wagoner, told the Daily Herald before the hearings that he would appeal the case if the judge dismissed his complaint.

Weaver supporters faced protesters from the America Forever Foundation, who presented a manifesto outside the courthouse against the "propaganda of homosexuality."

"Private matters of sexual life should be kept private," Jonas Rodrigues Filho, a founding member of America Forever, told the Daily Herald. "Every time you have to explain to a child what homosexuality is, it's like saying, 'Here is chocolate cake and ice cream, but don't eat it.'"

The furor over Weaver's homosexuality began in 1997, when she was fired from her coaching job and forbidden to speak about her sexual orientation. Weaver sued the Nebo School District, while the Citizens of Nebo School District for Moral and Legal Values filed a lawsuit against her, focusing on Weaver's conduct in the classroom and failure to live up to her duties as a role model.

She is also accused of giving psychological tests to students without certification or parental consent.

Weaver won her lawsuit in November 1998 and was reinstated in her coaching position and awarded $1,500 for the time she was unable to coach.

Defense attorney Van Wagoner, who is being helped in the defense by a lawyer from the American Civil Liberties Union, said he thinks Weaver's victory in the coaching lawsuit generated positive publicity for the current case.

"We think the Judge (Bruce) Jenkins ruling on her federal lawsuit will go some distance in helping in this particular case," he said.

He also said that despite the citizens' group's claim that the case is about the propriety of Weaver's classroom conduct, the case is actually about her status "a lesbian living in a marriage-like relationship."

"Weaver has not spent time in class talking about her sexual orientation," Van Wagoner said.

Jonas Rodrigues Filho, a founding member of America Forever, said the use of the word "homosexual" produces questions in children about specific sexual orientation.

The Foundation suggests replacing "homosexual" with the term "anti-species," a word they say does not pique children's curiosity about sex. Rodrigues Filho, a founding member of America Forever, told the Daily Herald. "Every time you have to explain to a child what homosexuality is, it's like saying, "Here is chocolate cake and ice cream, but don't eat it.'"Ó

The furor over Weaver's homosexuality began in 1997, when she was fired from her coaching job and forbidden to speak about her sexual orientation. Weaver sued the Nebo School District, while the Citizens of Nebo School District for Moral and Legal Values filed a lawsuit against her, focusing on Weaver's conduct in the classroom and failure to live up to her duties as a role model.

She is also accused of giving psychological tests to students without certification or parental consent.

Weaver won her lawsuit in November 1998 and was reinstated in her coaching position and awarded $1,500 for the time she was unable to coach.

Defense attorney Van Wagoner, who is being helped in the defense by a lawyer from the American Civil Liberties Union, said he thinks Weaver's victory in the coaching lawsuit generated positive publicity for the current case.

"We think the Judge (Bruce) Jenkins ruling on her federal lawsuit will go some distance in helping in this particular case," he said.

He also said that despite the citizens' group's claim that the case is about the propriety of Weaver's classroom conduct, the case is actually about her status "a lesbian living in a marriage-like relationship."

"Weaver has not spent time in class talking about her sexual orientation," Van Wagoner said.

Jonas Rodrigues Filho, a founding member of America Forever, said the use of the word "homosexual" produces questions in children about specific sexual orientation.

The Foundation suggests replacing "homosexual" with the term "anti-species," a word they say does not pique children's curiosity about sex



Copyright Brigham Young University 28 Jan 1999