Portland School District's Attorney Fires Back at WW's Cheerleading Story
8:34 AM December 24th, 2009 by Mark Zusman
http://blogs.wweek.com/news/2009/12/24/portland-school-districts-attorney-fires-back-at-wws-cheerleading-story/Jollee Patterson, the Portland Public Schools' general counsel, sent a letter recently to WW and Oregon Women Lawyers, blasting WW for its cover story last week on Lincoln High School's cheerleading team.
Here's Patterson's letter, dated Dec. 18:
Dear Editor,
I have grave concerns about your article about one of our transgendered
students. At Portland Public schools, we take very seriously our responsibility to provide a
safe, welcoming environment to our gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and
questioning students. In particular,our transgendered students are increasingly coming forward to embrace
their identity and ask for a school enviromnent that does the same, and we welcome this trend.
Unfottunately, the message Willamette Week has sent to transgendered
students is that if your story is interesting enough, you risk being outed to the entire city.
