Gabe Aderhold, Graham Luterbach, Tammy Aaberg, and Justin Anderson, from The Advocate.
A short follow-up on yesterday's post on Tammy Aaberg's visit to Representative Michelle Bachmann's office yesterday. Aaberg lost her son in 2010 when he took his life after a prolonged episodes of bullying, a particular problem in Bachmann's district, more details in yesterday's diary. Aaberg brought along a petition sponsored by Credo Action that had collected 130,000 signatures, 500 said to be from the district. Among supporters, she was accompanied by a Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter, from their report:
The hourlong meeting with Bachmann staffer Deb Steiskal included Aaberg; Edina senior Gabe Aderhold, who heckled Bachmann during an Iowa State Fair appearance last month; his mother, Audrey Kingstrom; Edina classmate Graham Luterbach; Justin Anderson, a gay graduate of Blaine High School, and constituent Denny Smith, a St. Cloud resident. They shared their stories and views as Steiskal took notes and asked questions.
Bachmann representative Becky Rogness issued a statement Thursday afternoon saying that Bachmann will review the petition and respond later. Although Bachmann is a GOP presidential contender, Rogness noted that her congressional office could not respond on that level.
Aaberg said that she felt confident Steiskal will deliver their message to Bachmann, but that she was skeptical the congresswoman would take a stand.
"I wanted to give her a chance to do the right thing," Aaberg said.
More details from The Advocate, who reports the Star Tribune reporter was asked to leave about half-way through the meeting when the office realized she was from the press. This is a detail the Advocate confirmed with the Star-Trib.
In a meeting that she described as cordial and productive, Aaberg talked about the pervasive bullying her son had faced. The problem was compounded by a school policy that did not adequately counter such harassment, she said. To the contrary, Justin’s school allowed such events as the “Day of Truth” to occur: The annual antigay event is organized by the social conservative legal group Alliance Defense Fund, though the ex-gay group Exodus International has also supported Day of Truth in the past.
Justin Anderson, a 2010 graduate of Blaine High School in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis, also spoke about an antigay culture within the school district — an atmosphere perhaps not unique in the country, but one now the subject of federal investigations by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education as well as a lawsuit filed by the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of bullied students. The two groups claim that Anoka-Hennepin’s "neutrality" policy on sexual orientation creates a hostile and dangerous environment for gay youth. Eight students in the district, the state’s largest with 38,000 students, have committed suicide in the last two years.
“I talked about how, when I was a student, I got harassed and bullied, and that I believe that staff weren’t responding as well as they should have,” Anderson said of the meeting. “I can’t count a single day since middle school where I didn’t hear ‘that’s so gay’ or ‘fag.’ And I remember a student saying gay people should just go kill themselves, and the teacher just told them to be quiet.”
Also among the supporters that accompanied Tammy was Gabe Aderhold. Earlier this summer the high school senior seized the occasion of Bachmann stumping at the Iowa state fair to confront her on her anti-gay bigotry, more details here from the Des Moines Register. Bachmann was said to have made a hasty retreat.
Becky Bonds, political director for Credo Action was clear to The Advocate about the goal of the event.
“This was a meeting, not a protest. The point was to try and get [Congresswoman Bachmann] to actually listen to her constituents, and people around the country who are concerned about this issue,” Bonds said.
The Advocate reports that the Bachmann staffer shared details of the loss of her own child in a drowning accident.
Aaberg will travel to Washington, D.C. next week for a second-annual summit on bullying held by the Department of Education. More information on this event from the Department of Education here.
Probably not co-incidentally, The Minnesota Post has today published a rather frightening Interactive Timeline of Bachmann's career. It's all kinds of scary, showing how her Christianist agenda has driven her from day one, and how she seized on opposing marriage equality way back in 2004 and using it to fuel her career.
KSTP-TV has coverage here as well. Sorry, video won't embed on Kos.... (will embed if any techies can help?).
Update: More local coverage from the CBS affiliate, WCCO:
(Sorry, once again, video will not embed.)
“I loved him so much and I care so much about the other kids. I don’t want them to be in the same position,” Aaberg said.
“Her office was really great,” said Aaberg. “I am very hopeful that Bachmann will either reach out or come up with a positive response for the country.”