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> James Merrick
 "Teacher
Of the Year" Out of the Closet and Out of the Classroom
Meet
Colin Higgins Courage Award Winner James Merrick
Just two years ago, James Merrick was named "Teacher of the
Year" at the Rio Bravo-Greeley Union School in Bakersfield,
CA. But that was before Jim became vocal about the open homophobia
of a Kern County Human Relations Commissioner.
The
uproar began in May of 1998 when, at the urging of a friend, Jim
attended a meeting of the Kern County Human Relations Commission.
At the meeting, Human Relations Commissioner Rev. Douglas Hearn,
made several hateful and disrespectful remarks about homosexuals.
Outraged by the Commissioner's remarks, Jim took the issue up with
the local newspaper.
Although
Jim had been "out" to his close friends and family for
about a year, he had always remained quiet about his private life
at school. When he began to be quoted in the papers, his support
of gay rights was perceived as an admission of his homosexuality
to some of his students' parents. When he returned to school in
the fall, a small number of vocal parents requested that their children
be removed from his classes - although he was the only eighth-grade
science teacher at the school. While the principal initially tried
to quell their concerns, he eventually caved in to the parents and
pulled the students from Merrick's class.
Forced
into the spotlight, Merrick, who was married for 42 years and has
4 children, bravely chose to come out in the local paper and fight
the discrimination he was facing at the school. While this decision
was ultimately "the most liberating experience" of his
life, the anger of the parents increased as the issue became front
page news. The school became a hostile climate for Merrick to the
point that he felt his life was in danger and his only option was
to take a leave from teaching.
But
he didn't give up the fight. Instead, he chose to take it up with
the state's Labor Commission who ruled in his favor. In a settlement
agreement, James was granted an apology from the school board and
the board agreed to change current policy to include "sexual
orientation" and implement a diversity-training program to
help staff better appreciate diversity of race, religion and sexual
orientation. Terms of the agreement also restored salary, sick leave
and retirement benefits and placed Merrick on the committee for
the next ten years, charged with selecting the diversity training
to be implemented.
"I
received a tremendous amount of support from all over," Jim
said. "I'm particularly grateful that my struggle has made
it easier for other teachers."
Now
retired, Jim continues his work in Bakersfield to end homophobia.
He and his partner of five years have helped to establish a network
of local gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender organizations online
at www.glcn.org.
The web site connects local gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender
persons to a wide variety of support including social, religious,
youth and AIDS care organizations.
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