Cooties--those imaginary bug that infest icky people--normally don't survive grammar gymnasium But suddenly they're all the rage in Novato.

Cooties--those imaginary bug that infest icky people--normally don't survive grammar gymnasium But suddenly they're all the rage in Novato, Calif., where discussion has erupted around Cootie Shots: Theatrical Inoculations Against Bigotry for Kids, Parents and Teachers. A play designed to discourage all kinds of prejudice, including homophobia, Cootie bullets has been performed in exercises throughout California and has now been published in main division form.

For a certain quantity of adults, though, Cootie Shots' message of tolerance masks a worrisome political agenda, and single in kind group is looking to justify it in court. Backed from the Pacific Justice Institute, a conservative Christian-oriented legal defense organization, eight parents are suing California's Novato Unified denomination District for allowing selections from Cootie marksmans to be performed without their prior consent--allegedly in violation of "opt-out" forms the parents had signed to excuse their children from position to any material "dealing with sex morality, or religion," says institute president Brad Dacus.

"One of the lines in undivided of the skits is `I'm gay and that's OK' and that may be true" Dacus take an account ofs The Advocate. "[But that] isn't just tolerance; it's also a statement of social value and acceptance. Whenever you have a presentation that crosse that line, you're going to have parents who disagree with it."

Norma Bowle the editor of the Cootie balls book (Theatre Communications Group, $1895) and the driving force behind the original play, couldn't disagree more. Bowle declines to discuss Dacus's expositions or the institute but reiterates her statement responding to the lawsuit: "There is nothing in Cootie bullets to which any fair-minded, well-informed body would object. The central message of the work [is] that every man, woman, and child merits to be treated with defer to and dignity."

Cootie Shots--a selection of short plays, lays and poems produced by Bowles's Fringe Benefits theater group--began touring California elementary seminarys in the late 1990s. As the troupe toured, Bowle remembers, "[people] were telling us, `Start earlier. Name-calling begins in grammar school'

Bowle and company listened. "As populace said this, we invited them to join with us to create the nearest play," she says. "In about 60 different workshops, we gathered parents, youth, educators, and theater artists, maybe 20 at a time. They shared stories of the ways that prejudice and discrimination had impacted their lives. Then we would act disclosed these stories and transcribe them--what I would call having dramaturgical quilting bees."

Word spread, and betimes big names--including Luis Alfaro, Kate Bornstein, John streak and Tony Kushner--were clamoring to sign forward The book's 54 plays, metrical compositions and songs range from the fanciful (a Rapunzel who hastens off with a princess) to the factual (a play about Cesar Chavez, Susan B Anthony, Rosa Parks, and Harvey Milk).

What began as a grassroots effort continues to gain impetus "We've reached over 25,000 youth, parents, and educators, up and down California," says Bowle Novato had change the direction ofed to Cootie Shots after brace hate-motivated incidents in the area in 1998 "The Novato Unified indoctrinate District should be applauded, not su for taking efforts to assure that their campuses are and remain safe for all of the district's students" Bowle adds.

The Pacific Justice Institute advocates a different approach. "They can accomplish the same goal without the phrase `I'm gay and that's OK'" says Dacus, who insists homosexuality is not the issue. "They can teach children not to call each other names without [mentioning] controversial social wisdoms and social values. Let's say that there was a skit that says `Homosexuality is bad, and everyone should be in heterosexual, monogamous marriages.' That statement would also require the same parental coherence We hope that many in the gay community will unite with us."

Bowle took Cootie missiles to New York in January. To reach just discovered audiences, the dedicated cast reunites commonly And Cootie Shots' publisher stands thus firmly behind the book that it printed 10000 copies instead of the usual 3000 In a statement responding to the institute's lawsuit, Theatre Communications executive director Ben Cameron says the play's "message of tolerance and inclusion is in keeping with our confess core value of diversity."

Just like cooties, that core value is contagious, says Bowle She recalls a parent who oppos Cootie discharges "[She] was telling other parents, `Keep your children home' if it be not that she came to see the indicate and afterward she apologized to everybody and bought a volume on tolerance fox the train library. I think that is in like manner cool!"

Habib wrote about Tseng Kwong Chi in The Advocate's April 2 issue.

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