Connie Wuerth tells her Cole Valley story

Topics include having an LGBTQ son, anger, grace, encouraging other parents to speak up, and wanting Cole Valley to do the right thing

I published a blog post reflecting on my Cole Valley experience and why I have such negative feelings about it. Since then, a support group has started, there’s a dedicated website, a joint statement has been published, and we delivered it to Cole Valley in an unofficial meeting. We’re trying to discuss our ideas with the administration (example, example), but they’re ignoring us.

Connie was a parent of Taylor Wuerth (Class of 2008), and she wanted to tell her story for the benefit of anyone that wants to listen.

This is the uncut conversation. Below are hyperlinks to highlights if you don’t want to watch it in full.

• Context of the Cole Valley Speaks movement (0:00)
• Connie’s reactions to this movement (5:46)
• What Connie read in the support group shocked and infuriated her (8:25)
• They put Taylor in the school because that was what you did if you were upstanding Cole Community Church congregants (10:42)
• Some people aren’t willing to believe the stories. How many does it take? (14:20)
• Shame on the administrators, teachers, and parents that knew about these stories and kept their mouth shut (16:20)
• Connie’s still a believer, and she goes to churches that are gay-affirming, like Cathedral of the Rockies (18:50)
• Connie thinks other parents need to stand up and speak out (21:45)
• Connie was horrified to learn that one teacher that she respected the most, was one of the cruelest (27:39)
• Connie said the greatest blessing of having a gay son is that she now truly understands what grace is (28:55)
• Memories of how Taylor was treated differently than other kids (30:32)
• The culture taught Connie to deny her suspicions that Taylor was gay. He was outed by a child of a school administrator. (32:50)
• Connie had no idea so much of this was happening. Taylor didn’t want to talk about it, and Dave wasn’t trusted with a lot of information, even though he worked there. (35:05)
• It’s mean a lot if silent supporters spoke up (39:50)
• Connie and Dave both predicted, independently, that Cole Valley would never work with us. 3 months of efforts show no progress. So far, they’ve been right. (44:20)
• Connie’s message to Cole Valley administration — grace and doing the right thing (58:37)
• Connie’s message to LGBTQ students — don’t carry everything yourself. Tell you parents if you can. (59:38)
• Connie’s message to parents with LGBTQ students — ask the school point blank what their policies are (1:02:18)