Helen Moser held up her beautiful family portrait.
”
This is my daughter here, and here’s my sister
… here’s my other sister, and she’s married to this guy up here
– he used to be a pastor in Los Gatos, but he’s retired now.
Helen Moser held up her beautiful family portrait. “This is my daughter here, and here’s my sister … here’s my other sister, and she’s married to this guy up here – he used to be a pastor in Los Gatos, but he’s retired now. In the middle here you can see my mom – she’s 93 years young. Now, can you look at this picture and tell me which two guys are gay?”
It stops Gavilan students in their tracks. “I think it’s this one here in the middle,” one student says, “He looks the most different.”
“Nope,” says Helen, “That’s my son-in-law.”
A number of the students attending the 10th Annual Health Fair gamely give it a try, but not one can guess which two in the family portrait were Helen’s son Mark who died from AIDS, and which one was his partner, Todd, who also died of AIDS after taking loving care of Mark.
This was my first time attending the Gavilan Health Fair, and it was a lot different than I expected. Since when do health fairs offer colorful Guatemalan hats and flutes for sale? I was surprised. As I walked in, I saw many students getting their blood pressure and blood sugar levels checked by the Allied Health Nursing Program. The range of agencies represented was truly impressive. There were people being led around blindfolded on a blind/visually impaired par course. I visited tables for everything from the South Valley Pregnancy Care Center, to the American Lung Association, the Hepatitis C Advocacy of Gilroy, the Gilroy Police Department, the American Cancer Society, and PFLAG: the Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. Which is where I was sitting with PFLAG volunteers Helen and Michael.
At the PFLAG table we passed out brochures and information about the support group. Usually it is parents who call PFLAG in utter panic upon learning that their son or daughter is either gay or lesbian. The parent needs assurance that it’s not the end of the world and advice on how to handle the situation. PFLAG offers understanding and support at their meetings every third Saturday of the month at 9:30 a.m., held at Kaiser (7520 Arroyo Circle). For more information, go online to www.pflagsanjose.org or call 846-9105.
Unfortunately, when Gilroy’s branch of PFLAG asked whether they could give an educational presentation about their support group to Gilroy’s local high school, they were turned down and informed, “We have everything under control.” Can anyone who works with teenagers realistically think that they have “everything under control?” Try explaining to the parents of the next gay or lesbian teen who is attacked or the next one who commits suicide that the school has “everything under control.”
When school nurse Alice Dufresne-Reyes started the health fair 10 years ago, she only had 15 participants who came to set up tables, but over the years the fair has grown to more than 50 participants. She says that because she sees the holistic approach as the ideal way to organize a health fair, it leaves a lot of room for expansion. Every aspect of health and safety should be made a part of it, including the spiritual component. “Once you start excluding anyone, you’ve lost it,” she tells me. “10 years ago when we started the fair, a student attended who was planning to commit suicide. Because of the help received at the fair, that student changed her mind. If we can save even one student each year, if we can save one student from suffering the pain of mistreatment,” Alice says passionately, “All this is worth it.”
