School Policies Promote Homosexuality, Legal Group Charges

CNSNEWS.com ^ | 5/27/02 | Lawrence Morahan

[kattracks]

CNSNews.com) - California parents are protesting school policies which they say allow teachers and school staff to talk about homosexuality with children and openly discuss their own homosexual lifestyles with students during classroom instructional time.

The California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000 (AB 537) does not obligate schools to tell parents about classroom instruction that might conflict with their religious or moral beliefs and does not give parents the opportunity to take their children out of the instruction, legal analysts said.

The law met one of its first legal challenges when parents of students at Hayward Unified School District (HUSD) in Hayward, a suburb of San Francisco, said recent policies enacted by the school board under AB 537 are in direct conflict with parental authorization required by the state's Education Code.

At issue is an April 10 resolution by the school board directing the adoption of a "safe school plan" to protect students and staff from harassment or violence.

"The 'Safe Schools For All' training is intended to address the issues of school safety for all students and staff, particularly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning youth and staff," the resolution said.

Attorney Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, which is representing parents opposed to the law, said the HUSD resolution unilaterally overrides parental rights guaranteed by the California Education Code and federal law.

"The school board mistakenly believes that allowing teachers to flaunt homosexuality to students is required, and they are wrong. In fact, the district is exposing itself to potential costly litigation," he said.

Supporters say AB 537, which was signed by Gov. Gray Davis (D), prevents violence in public schools by adding actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity to the nondiscrimination policy in the state's Education Code.

Kimberly Hammond, the HUSD chief administration officer, said the intent of the resolution is not to "teach about homosexuality."

"The curriculum and the training for the staff is intended to help them address issues of school safety," she said. "So there is not per se a curriculum for teaching about gays and lesbians."

Under the law, school district employees, "like those of all public entities, are prohibited from discriminating against individuals on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, age, religious creed, sexual preference and/or orientation, marital status, physical or mental disability, ancestry or national origin.

"HUSD has an obligation to provide proper training to comply with applicable laws and board policies to support safe environments for students and staff that are free from discrimination, violence or abuse," the resolution said.

Nancy Moore, a Hayward parent with two children in local schools, said the interpretation of the school resolution conflicted with the values she teaches her children.

"As a parent, I want academics taught to my child," Moore said. "If they want to socialize the kids as far as family issues or sex education issues are concerned, put it in sex education curriculum, send a note home to the parents letting them know they're going to have a speaker to discuss this. Let me know what's going on."

Instead, the attitude of school district officials was that they were going to integrate homosexuality into the normal curriculum, that they were under no obligation to inform her, and if she protested, it was because she was prejudiced, Moore said.

"And that's not the truth. What I'm asking is for Hayward Unified School District to stick to the Education Code. I'm asking for every student and every teacher to be respected. I'm asking for the law to prosecute individuals who harass or commit violence against another individual," Moore said. "But don't force something down my throat."

After being contacted by Hayward parents, Dacus sent a letter to the Hayward school board saying the resolution lacked legal justification and demanded that the policy be rescinded.

However, Dacus said he anticipates more and more California school districts to adopt similar policies. He rejected the contention that such policies are needed to protect students and teachers from being harassed.

"The fact is, the safety umbrella is what is being used to justify all of these aggressive campaigns that do nothing less than openly promote homosexuality to students who are working through very sensitive gender identity issues in their early adolescence," Dacus said.

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[Paul Atreides]

Oh no, homosexuals aren't going to indoctrinate your kids. They are just like normal people.

[UbIwerks]

Of course homosexuals are like normal people. And they keep gerbils for the same reason normal people do (/sarcasm)

Crafting Gay Children (long report)

[Thorondir]

Stoolpacking sodomites cannot breed so they must recruit.

[Sabertooth]

Kimberly Hammond, the HUSD chief administration officer, said the intent of the resolution is not to "teach about homosexuality."

"The curriculum and the training for the staff is intended to help them address issues of school safety," she said. "So there is not per se a curriculum for teaching about gays and lesbians."

"Not per se" is standard acadamic jargon for "I'm actually lying to your face right now."

I recall the parents' screening of the sex ed film that my daughter's school wanted to show when she was in the 5th grade... at 8:30 AM on a Friday morning around a table that seated a dozen (this at a school that routinely drew 100 plus parents for evening PTA meetings).

When I referred to it as a "sex ed film," the smarmy school district rep told me it was "not a sex ed film per se" because it talked about deodorant during the introduction to puberty, so it was really a "health film."

...Nevermind the cartoon picture of an ejaculating penis several minutes later.

Of course I opted my daughter out. Teaching sex ed in a peer context that deliberately excludes parents is "not a stupid idea, per se."

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

Stoolpacking sodomites cannot breed so they must recruit.

Or adopt

[Celtjew Libertarian]

California parents are protesting school policies which they say allow teachers and school staff to talk about homosexuality with children and openly discuss their own homosexual lifestyles with students during classroom instructional time.

Why should any teacher -- homosexual, heterosexual, or other -- openly discuss their own lifestyle with students during classroom time?

[Sabertooth]

Why should any teacher -- homosexual, heterosexual, or other -- openly discuss their own lifestyle with students during classroom time?

They need something to do while waiting for the parent aide to correct the math homework.

[Bubba_Leroy]

For the natural extension of school policies such as this, see http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/690236/posts.

[Hacksaw]

Why is your tiger leaping? He used to be sitting down. Is he pissed about something?

[Sabertooth]

Why is your tiger leaping? He used to be sitting down. Is he pissed about something?

Nahhh... the link busted to the previous image, so I got a new one.

[Torie]

Yikes. Sometimes I think that the educational establishment is rather fixated on delving into these periferal topics to education because they find it entertaining, and "easy." What is not so easy is teaching kids how to read with comprehension and logic in a culture so filled with more entertaining ways to spend one's time.

[mvpel]

The alternative to this curruculum is expressed by this quote from a teacher: "...it would be impossible to protect his safety, short of hiring an armed guard to escort him from class to class."

As long as it's seen as acceptable to beat, torture, and kill another human being for any reason, we'll see this kind of effort. This curriculum doesn't point to pushing of a homosexual agenda, it points to the rotting, threadbare moral fiber of this nation, where brutal murder is seen as acceptable if the vicitm "deserved" it for being different, while the teachers and administrators look the other way.

What makes him much more concerned is that he has approached teachers and administrators about the problem and, he says, "no gains have been made in eradicating these patterns of thought and behaviour." - High School Confidential

Apparently, since it's no longer socially acceptable to lynch black people, the savagery of our young people has turned to gay people.

Matthew Shephard's killer pleads guilty
Gay student beaten to death at Gallaudet
British Sailor beaten nearly to death

[Torie]

I don't think those inclined to kill will be much helped by sensitivity training. My main problem is that mission creep in the public schools has degraded its core responsibility. Of course schools should not tolerate bad behavior. It is a pity that expulsion is no longer a viable option absent extreme circumstances. That I think is one element leading to the downward spiral.

[Eva]

When I went to review my son's 5th grade sex ed. material, it was during the height of the AIDs epidemic and the material looked clinical and harmless.

Boy was I wrong. What I discovered was that kids were not even ready to handle a clinical description of biologic functions, let alone any mentions of homo-sexual activities. The boys went around for weeks later, teasing each other about having ovaries and vaginas.

[mvpel]

There's a vast spectrum of psychological and physical torture leading up to murder. It's that which creates the climate in which murder becomes acceptable, or drives its victims to suicide. I'd lay odds that Matthew Shepherd's murderes would have felt right at home among those taunting and bullying a gay kid (or an efeminete heterosexual) in high school.

[Salvation]

BTTT!

[Salvation]

NEA and GLSEN Seek to Stifle Free Speech

Just talk their way!