CORRESPONDENCErnLetter FromrnMassachusettsrnby Eugene NariettrnOur Mr. BrooksrnHometown of John F, Kennedy, Brookline,rnMassaehusetts, blends small-scalerncharm with a shabby urbanity. Pluggedrnlike a weak rib into Boston’s west edge,rnBrooklinc is laced with picturesquerntrollevs and dotted with quaint buildings.rnIts citizenry is an odd mix ofrnrecent immigrants from Russia and thernCaribbean, college students, seniors, arntasteful dollop of minorities on welfare,rnand hip singles battening on rent-controlledrnapartments. Brookline is homernbase for Planned Parenthood and forrngail i^roud Congressman Barney Frank,rnfamous for dancing with his husband atrnBeltwa balls. All in all, the town boastsrna ferocious political correctness rarelyrnseen outside Cambridge, Berkeley andrnAnn Ad)or.rnMv primary example of Brookline chicrnconcerns a lifestyles initiative at the RunklernSchool, a K-8. It was a sort of unofficialrnpilot project, a counseling programrnnot vet packaged for national distribution.rnAs of this writing, the story hasn’trnspread much beyond the boutiques ofrnBeacon Street. And no wonder; the ke”rnplaers prefer it be a secret, for in itsrnsmall, ugly way it exposes the heart ofrnour contemporary darkness. Perhapsrnsimilar initiatives are at work in yourrnneighborhood.rnIn fall 1993, about a year into BillrnClinton’s term, Craig Goddard was surprisedrnwhen his kids came home fromrnschool talking about how a woman couldrnturn into a man. The mommv of one ofrntheir classmates was becoming a daddv,rnthe said. The school guidance counselorrnwas telling them all about it. Goddardrnasked around and learned that otherrnparents were hearing similar stories.rnAlarmed, several of them contactedrn.school principal Martin Sleeper for furtherrninformation. “We weren’t challengingrnthem at first,” Goddard said. “Wernwere just trying to get information.”rnSleeper verified that Brenda Stern,rnRunkle school guidance counselor, wasrnspeaking with first-grade students aboutrnthe sex-change. The physical appearancernof the parent in question was muchrnaltered. She was dressing like a manrn(“like a teenage boy,” Goddard recalls)rnand developing facial hair. I ler voice wasrncracking.rnPrincipal Sleeper confirmed to parentsrnthat the transsexual had been meetingrnregulariy with himself and Stern tornlobby for the meetings with the firstrngraders. The transsexual had insisted onrnbeing present when the children wererncounseled so that she could answer theirrnquestions directly. Sleeper refused tornprovide concerned parents of other childrenrnin the class with any verbal detailsrnor written notes on the contents of thesernmeetings. He did confirm, states Goddard,rnthat “they were trying to convey tornthe kids that the sex change was justrnanother type of normal experience.”rn”Counseling” was deemed necessaryrnpartly because the lesbian was often atrnthe school, “helping out” four or fiverndays a week in the kindergarten and firstgradernclassrooms. So her mutation wasrnon display as a kind of show-and-tell.rnWhy not make it formal counseling?rnGuidance counselor Stern defendedrnher talks with the children. “We wantedrnthem to hear it from one source,” shernsaid. “Not from 18 sets of parents.”rnGoddard recounted that parentsrnasked Stern whether she had anv professionalrnexperience or training with thisrnkind of counseling. She acknowledgedrnshe did not, but said she felt it necessaryrnto be “sensitive” to the concerns of therntranssexual parent and “to any questionsrnthe kids might have.”rnWhile Stern and Sleeper were attentivernto the transsexual’s urgent agenda,rnthev were less sensitive, though not lessrncurious, about the other kids’ families.rnIn the course of discussions with thernprincipal that continued into springrn1994, Goddard learned that not onlyrndid Stern and Sleeper counsel the firstrngraders on the normalcy of the sexrnchange, but that they solicited informationrnabout the personal lives of the otherrnparents. “In my son’s ease,” said Goddard,rn”they wanted to know about myrndivorce.” Religion and other “lifestyle”rntopics were compared to the sex changernas examples of cultural diversity.rnPrincipal Sleeper and guidance counselorrnStern may have been diligent inrnpursuing their therapeutic mission andrncurious in soliciting personal data aboutrnthe students’ families. But they were notrnthorough in all matters. For one thing,rnthey had failed to alert parents to thernlatest item on the public school eroticrnagenda. Little surprise, perhaps, but likernmany schools in Massachusetts and elsewherernin these days of expanded lifestylerncounseling, each grade at Runkle has arnparent designated to act as intermediaryrnbetween families and administrators. Inrnthis case, however, the parent was kept inrnthe dark. When finally alerted to the situation,rnthe intermediary’s response wasrninstructive, for it was strictly a proceduralrnone. While critical of the school for failingrnto contact parents in advance, she refusedrnto criticize the fact or content ofrnthe counseling itself.rnAfter several months of largely fruitlessrnmeetings (the transsexual continuedrnto work several days a week at the schoolrnas a volunteer), the story leaked to thernpress. A couple of cable stations picked itrnup and it briefly was a small media event.rnAt this point, Brookline’s Superintendentrnof Schools ordered Sleeper to apologizernto parents. He did so, for failingrnto notify them in advance about therncounseling. The limited nature of thernapology was neither an accident nor anrnoversight. At a Parents and TeachersrnOrganization meeting, the treasurer, arnmember of the state teachers’ union,rnstated that his primary concern was torn”protect the Brookline public schools”rnand to “get it [the eontrovers}] out of thernmedia.”rnI received a similar message when researchingrnthe story. Counselor Sternrnfailed to return my calls. When I finallyrngot through to Martin Sleeper andrnasked if I could have his view of thernevents, he said brusquely, “I have norncomment. That situation is finished. Irnhave nothing at all to sav. Nothing.”rnThen he hung up.rnBut perhaps the matter is not finished.rnI asked Goddard whether he and thernother parents had sought redress beyondrnthe partial apology. Had they consultedrna lawyer, I asked. Had they requested therndismissal of the principal or guidancernSEPTEMBER 1995/37rnrnrn