Letters

Conover Hunt
Former Project Director/Chief Curator
Sixth Floor Museum

Editor's note: Ms. Hunt did indeed get a call from Caruth Byrd in 1988--not 1987, as the Observer reported, and she did not see the window until 1994, when Byrd agreed to loan it to the Sixth Floor Museum. We regret the errors.

The rest of Ms. Hunt's arguments are matters of interpretation.

Team effort
Thank you so much for doing the recent story on the Walt Whitman school ["School's out," November 13]. That school means so much to those young gay and lesbian students who feel that they cannot be themselves in other institutions of learning. At Walt Whitman they feel safe--physically and emotionally.

In that article, I was given credit for DISD's adding sexual orientation to its non-harassment policy. However, I only played a small part in that; I did speak to the DISD board requesting that sexual orientation be added. But Cece Cox and Steve Atkinson from the Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance were the driving forces behind it.

Thanks again for doing a story on the Walt Whitman school.
Pat Stone
Co-president, PFLAG/Dallas
Dallas

I appreciate Jimmy Fowler's wonderful article on the Walt Whitman School and its students. However, I must correct an inaccuracy in the story that attributed the work done to secure passage of an anti-harassment policy by the Dallas school board to only two people: DISD trustee Jose Plata and Pat Stone, co-president of the Dallas Chapter of PFLAG. The driving force for inclusion of language in the school district policy that would protect people based on sexual orientation was actually the Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance (DGLA). Trustee Plata worked with us on the issue.

DGLA has successfully worked to protect and advance the rights of lesbians and gay men for the past 20 years. It is important that people understand the key role DGLA plays in these battles since we are--as is true for most nonprofit organizations--always working to raise needed funds and keep a strong volunteer base. Please be sure your publication gives credit where it is due when you include such facts in your stories.

Steve Atkinson
President, DGLA
Dallas