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Play About Diversity Targeted By Right-Wing Legal Group
In brightly colored costumes and with infectious energy, the Fringe Benefits Theater Company engages students across California with tales of difference, tolerance, and learning to accept others. Their play, “Cootie Shots: Theatrical Inoculations Against Bigotry,” a medley of interactive plays, songs, and poems, has been performed to over 130 audiences, primarily in schools. The group earns rave review from parents, teachers, and students, who appreciate the ebullient and positive messages it delivers. But there are some people in California who don’t want a tomboy Rapunzel to reconsider whether she wants to sit and wait for a prince -- who want to put a stop to the growth of a movement among a people called the “Stimples” to band together for fair treatment.
Now under attack by a right-wing legal organization called the Pacific Justice Institute, Fringe Benefits is fighting – with the help of the ACLU and the National Center for Lesbian Rights – against efforts to label its work sex education, which would require schools to obtain parental consent before they allow the show to go on. That requirement would make it much more difficult to perform Cootie Shots – or, for that matter, to conduct any form of diversity education.
The battle lines are drawn in Novato, a suburban town in Marin County, in Northern California. Four years ago, Adam Colton, a Novato student, was attacked and beaten by his classmates. His classmates carved the word "FAG" into his stomach and arm with a ballpoint pen.
Other incidents followed, and parents, students, and concerned community members organized to promote a climate of greater safety and respect. Armed with the legal cover of a nondiscrimination law passed in 1999, advocates for change made significant strides.
In 2001, Fringe Benefits was invited to two of Novato’s elementary schools. The performances went forward, but the Pacific Justice Institute filed suit, claiming that the performances violated parents’ rights. This year, the ACLU and the National Center for Lesbian Rights intervened in the litigation on behalf of the school district.
"This lawsuit is clearly without merit," says Matthews. "Parents have the opportunity to opt out of issues around sex education, not diversity education that happens to mention gay people in it."
One of the skits performed in Novato features the contributions of four heroes, Rosa Parks, Cesar Chavez, Susan B. Anthony, and Harvey Milk; another adds a twist to the tale of "Rapunzel," so that the heroine learns it’s what’s inside that counts and chooses to play with a new-found friend rather than wait for a prince to save her. A third sketch details the struggles of the "Stimples," who are ostracized and shamed by the "Blimbers" because of the funny noises they make.
Norma Bowles, founder of Fringe Benefits, established the group in 1991 to tackle issues of discrimination affecting California’s youth.
"’Cootie Shots’ was created by over 500 youth, artists, educators and parents to convey the message that every man, woman and child deserves to be treated with dignity and respect,” Bowles says. She recalls a fax she received from a schoolteacher who referred to "Cootie Shots" to defuse a name-calling confrontation on her school playground.
Matthews notes that this kind of lawsuit puts an extra burden on schools, some of which may shy away from educating children on diversity issues
"Schools have a lot to worry about already," Matthews states. "If schools start to feel that they will be punished for teaching diversity, most will be afraid to do it at all."
