Homosexual program recruits high school students at taxpayers’ expense

Susan Detlefsen

A local club for homosexuals is recruiting teens in area high schools and your tax dollars are helping to pay for their advertising.

According to its web site, District 202, is a "meeting place for hundreds of sexual minority youth who have come to get involved in community, find resources, make new friends, dance, or to just hang out."

The non-profit group was founded in the early 1990s with a grant from the Minneapolis Foundation. Since then, District 202 has grown into a large organization funded by several hundreds of thousands of dollars from private contributors and, yes, the government.

According to its web site, District 202's mission is "to work with youth in creating opportunities, building strengths, and fostering empowerment among sexual minority youth." Now District 202 is aggressively taking this message to high schools around the metro area.

District 202 held a "GLBT College Fair and Drag Show" on Feb. 22. According to the promotional flyer which was distributed at high schools, the college fair was a chance to speak to college recruiters, talk to "queer students from campuses, learn about queer life on campus and experience a fabulous drag show."

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Programs Office of the University of Minnesota also sponsored the event. A worker at the office told a reporter for PFN that the college fair was aimed at students ages 18-21, but they expected that most of the people attending the fair and drag show would be younger.

Several Minnesota colleges, including the U of M, St. Paul Technical College, St. Cloud State University and the College of St. Catherine, had booths at District 202. Many of these booths offered pamphlets on "queer life" on college campuses and services for homosexual students. When a reporter from Pro-Family News visited District 202, the booths were staffed with friendly people eager to talk, but students were nowhere to be found inside. However, a large crowd of teens were milling around the parking lot, as were three men (their ages weren't apparent) who participated in the "drag show," wearing flamboyant dresses, wigs and make-up. Few of these students looked college age, which might explain their disinterest in the college fair. It seems that the fair was simply a footnote to the drag show.

District 202 claims to be a center for cultural activities like "theater, dance, community education, conferences, art, and much more," but the place appears to be simply a pick-up place for teenagers. The main activities at the District 202 building are dances for teen-agers who consider themselves homosexual, bisexual, “transgendered” or “questioning.”

One such dance, held Oct. 29 of last year, was advertised at Southwest High School as a "Gaydie Hawkins Dance." Flyers invited students to the "alternative dance event for GLBT youth and their friends" at District 202. According to the flyer, the event was for high-school age people only, and a student I.D. was required to enter. However, District 202’s regular dances are open to a wide range of ages, from 13-21. Although the club is alcohol-free (people who are intoxicated while at the club are reportedly thrown out), minors and adults are allowed to mingle in a sexually-charged atmosphere.

Several charitable foundations also support District 202. The Pillsbury Foundation, Dayton Hudson (now Target) Foundation, the St. Paul Companies, Norwest Found-ation, General Mills Found-ation, and the Minneapolis Foundation have all supported District 202 with thousands of dollars in contributions over the last five years.

Taxpayers are giving their share to help District 202 advertise and hold these events. Since 1995, Hennepin County has contributed $40,000 to District 202’s aggressive programs. The state of Minnesota has given District 202 over $180,000 of taxpayer-funded contributions.

Call your legislator and tell them you don’t want taxpayer money spent on programs like District 202 that recruit teens into homosexuality.

Minnesota Family Council / Minnesota Family Institute
2855 Anthony Lane South, Minneapolis MN, 55418-3265
phone 612.789.8811, fax 612.789.8858, www.mfc.org