Adoption of a National Education Association resolution urging teachers to acknowledge the contributions of homosexuals and bisexuals throughout history won't have much impact in Utah.
That's the view of local directors of the Utah Education Association."This is not an NEA mandate," said Ross Moore, president of the Weber Education Association. Anyone is allowed to bring a resolution to the floor of an NEA meeting, but individual teachers and associations do not have to abide by it.
"They can't tell school boards what to do," he said.
A majority of delegates to last summer's annual NEA meeting in Minneapolis supported the resolution, while all 110 Utah delegates opposed it, Moore said.
The resolution arose out of concern about the high rate of suicide among homosexual youths, said Kalyn Denny, president of the Davis Education Association.
"No association dues are used on a resolution," Denny said. "It is simply a statement of philosophy."
Under Utah law it would be difficult for educators to teach about gay and lesbian contributions, said Carol Lear, legal counsel for the state school board.
Utah law dictates that teachers must promote sexual abstinence until marriage and fidelity after marriage, Lear said. It also states that teachers should teach morality and obedience to the law.
It is against the law to engage in homosexual behavior in Utah.