Tulsa: Hiding the Gay Scene

Cavan Conley (the one in the middle, with the...um...) recently became a soloist for the San Francisco Ballet.  Previously he worked for the Tulsa Ballet.













Ballet?  Tulsa?

Tulsa?

The buckle of the Bible Belt, the home of ultra-fundy Oral Roberts University.  Oral, by the way, is the televangelist who blackmailed his followers into sending money -- if he didn't get enough, God would kill him.  That's right, the Creator of the Universe takes hostages.

Tulsa, Oklahoma, where 60% of the population voted for the Orange Goblin, where 2/3rds of church adherents are Baptist, where the violent crime rate is triple the national average. where the Bixby Cubs pre-teen baseball team holds an annual raffle to win an AR-14 rifle.

Where high school history teachers are forbidden from teaching that slavery was wrong.

Where comments on a question about "Tulsa's Gay Life" say things like "there are lots of homosexuals here, but they don't shout it from the rooftops."

Homosexuals?

Tulsa Ballet even has a youth program for budding ballet dancers.  They don't discriminate against LGBT people in placement, which is probably a good idea.  Homophobic policies would severely cut down on program enrollment.

What else does Tulsa have that is non-homophobic?






There are three gay bars in Tulsa.a gay organization, a youth organization (which is holding its January meeting at the Angry Axe Throwing Club), and an annual "Block Party and Parade."  Sort of like Iowa in the early 1980s.

By the way, it's not metaphorical.  You really do throw axes.

We know that the university in Tulsa is homophobic.  Let's take a look at the high schools.










1. Broken Arrow.  It was almost impossible to find the list of activities.  First Broken Arrow Public Schools website, then the High School page, then the Activities page with a lot of mishegas about promoting student growth, then finally the clubs page.   What are they trying to hide?  The fact that there's a Gay-Straight Alliance?

There is,but it's just called the GSA.  You have to click on the name to see the word "gay."














2. East Central.  It posts school clubs under "Things Parents Should Know," but the page is blank. Nothing to see here, folks.  Move on.


















3. Jenks Public Schools is a registered trademark, so don't go using it to advertise your personal bell schedule.  It has clubs named Knowledge Masters and Odyssey of the Mind, and a Pre-Med Society, but no Gay-Straight Alliance.













4.  Thomas Edison Preparatory School sounds intellectual, but it doesn't offer Knowledge Masters or Odyssey of the Mind.  Or for that matter a Gay-Straight Alliance.  It does offer Pom-Pom and Serteens.


















5. Bixby  High doesn't list student activities, but it has a search page. "Gay" revealed a Spanish teacher named Gayla, the BEEF Awards (Gayla won), Child Nutrition (a Gayle is in charge), and...

wait for it...

Extremely well hidden behind pages and pages of crap, a Gay-Straight Alliance.