Abstinence-only funding was refused, but that didn't stop a state school-board member

But while the APA did review WAIT Training materials, "we never conveyed any sort of approval to WAIT Training as being adequately inclusive or appropriate for lesbian, gay and bisexual students," says Clinton Anderson, associate executive director and director of the APA's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns Office.

Several years have passed since he reviewed WAIT Training's materials, Anderson adds, but he recalls that his main concern was "if the theme is delay of sexual behavior until marriage that the trainers needed to be clear that marriage for same-sex couples was affirmed."

When he was still the Colorado Commissioner of Education, Dwight Jones abruptly changed course on the federal anti-abstinence funds.

Although then-Governor Bill Ritter turned down the anti-abstinence funds, Colorado Board of Education member Peggy Littleton decided to go after them.

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At the time, Mackenzie told Anderson she supported affirmation of LGBT relationships, but he says he "did not feel the materials or the trainer training and selection processes were clear enough to ensure that all trainers would be as affirmative as she indicated she was."

WAIT's misrepresentation of his organization's stance is of "personal concern," Anderson says now. Although he acknowledges that the word "vetted" on WAIT's application leaves room for interpretation, "no one likes to be used inappropriately for gain."

Luis Toro, the director of Colorado Ethics Watch, an extension of the Washington D.C.-based Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, has his own concerns about WAIT Training and Littleton's role in the Title V funding and award process.

According to the State Board of Education Code of Ethics, "Although mere appearance of impropriety will not invalidate a board action or subject a board member to liability every board member shall be aware of the appearance of impropriety and its consequential damage to public confidence in government and all board members shall conduct themselves accordingly. Board members will conduct the affairs of the board impartially in the absence of personal, financial, or other official stake in the decision."

After looking over CDE e-mails, Toro suggests that the State Auditor's Office may want to "look at the whole procurement process from start to finish."

He's particularly interested in Mackenzie's claim of LGBTQ inclusiveness and the APA's response. "Regardless of the technicalities that would come into play if the WAIT contract were challenged, Colorado statutes about contracting establish an ethical standard that one should not make misrepresentations when submitting grant applications to the state," Toro says. "It looks like WAIT violated that ethical standard here by claiming that the APA 'vetted' WAIT's LGBT inclusiveness criteria when the APA says that did not happen."

While looking at the documents, Toro noticed that the signature line of Mackenzie's e-mails bears a quote from Maggie Gallagher, chairman and co-founder of the notoriously anti-gay National Organization for Marriage, a New Jersey group. "It is impossible to imagine that an organization whose director uses a quote from Gallagher is going to create a safe and inclusive environment for lesbian and gay youth," Toro says. "Obtaining government dollars by falsely claiming to be inclusive and tolerant of gay and lesbian youth actually hurts those young people."

The CDE has limited resources to monitor grantee activities, Colsman says, since its one reviewer also spends time on many administrative duties. "Within the confines of the resources we have, we approach this with the highest level of sensitivity and with a sense of rigor," she notes. "If we find in any school district under any grant program that there has been intentionally misleading or misinformation, of course we address it with the district or the grantee. That kind of behavior is unacceptable, and we'll work it through within the confines of the law and within the confines of the grant parameters."

Tracy Phariss, an openly gay teacher at Golden High School and chair of GLSEN Colorado, says strides have been made in other areas of school curriculum, but more has to be done. "We have got to make sure that all curricula — be it social studies, history, English or sexual health education — are inclusive of all," he says.

And his group will be keeping an eye on WAIT Training, he adds: "We will work to ensure school districts in Colorado implementing WAIT Training are inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, and that it lives up to a district's non-discrimination policies."

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Sources close to the process of obtaining and distributing Colorado's Title V money say that Mackenzie's pursuit of the funds was relentless, and that she and Littleton called Jones constantly.

Mackenzie declined to be interviewed over the phone, but she did agree to answer questions via e-mail.

Asked about the role her group played in Colorado's applying for the abstinence-only grant, Mackenzie responds with her own question: "Why would Governor Ritter reject Title V when there are so many teen pregnancies in Colorado? Don't we need all the help we can get?"

 As for the APA's adamant denial that it approved WAIT Training curriculum as being LGBTQ-inclusive, Mackenzie writes: "Two gentleman there who were in charge of LGBTQ issues reviewed WAIT Training, had a conference call with me, asked me to change some wording, I did and that is about the extent of it."

Questioned about how she became so involved in the state's push for Title V funding, she replies, "All I know is that the school board voted to go after Title V."

Then she ends the conversation with this: "I have no idea why this is an issue. All we are doing is trying to educate, equip, and empower young people to have healthy relationships and healthy lives."