Posted on 07/12/2006 11:03:23 AM PDT by DBeers
(CNSNews.com) - An executive in the nation's largest teacher's union has denied that the group supports homosexual marriage and said a resolution to that effect had been mischaracterized.
Delegates to the National Education Association's annual convention in Orlando, Fla., - held June 25 to July 6 -- approved a resolution stating that "sexual orientation and gender identification ... should not affect the legal rights and obligations of the partners in a legally-recognized domestic partnership, civil union, or marriage."
NEA member April LeBlanc complained to NEA leadership about the resolution, stating in a July 7 email to her NEA representative that she was "morally opposed" to homosexual marriage and felt that the issue "should not even be on our agenda."
In a July 8 email reply obtained by Cybercast News Service, NEA Resolutions Committee Chairman Brent McKim told LeBlanc that the resolution "has nothing to do with taking a position on the legality of same-sex marriage."
"The point of the Resolution is to say clarify (sic) that (sic) rights and responsibilities we believe should be insured in legally recognized relationships, such as marriage, civil unions, and so forth," McKim added.
He wrote that the group "does not have a position either for or against the legalization of same-sex marriage" and that it "is not seeking a position on same-sex marriage."
However, as Cybercast News Service previously reported, the NEA leadership originally hoped that delegates would vote on language supporting homosexual marriage and civil unions in all 50 states.
When an NEA delegate leaked the amendment to conservative groups, the American Family Association issued a statement in protest. That apparently prompted the NEA leadership to substitute the amendment with a weaker version, asking for and gaining an endorsement of homosexual marriage in states where it already legally existed.
In a July 6 interview with Cybercast News Service, NEA spokesman Andy Linebaugh confirmed that the intent of the substitute resolution was to endorse homosexual marriage laws currently on the books.
It was natural for union delegates to support enforcement of pro-homosexual marriage laws, Linebaugh said, because the association "has had a long history of supporting human and civil rights and they've had a long history of opposing discrimination and stereotyping."
Massachusetts is currently the only state that legally recognizes marriages between individuals of the same sex. Connecticut and Vermont have legalized civil unions with marriage-like benefits. Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, California and the District of Columbia offer homosexual couples some of the same benefits offered to heterosexual married couples.
In the Cybercast News Service report from July 7, Linebaugh said the NEA substitute resolution would not apply to states where same sex marriage rights did not exist. He added that the resolution before the delegates would have no impact in classrooms.
But Sissy Jochmann, president of the Conservative Educators Caucus, said that while the substitute resolution did not support nationwide legalization of homosexual "marriage," she thinks the resolution did voice support for the concept. "I understood this to mean wherever it's legally recognized ... that's where they want these legal rights," she said.
The CEC is an officially recognized NEA caucus with approximately 50 dues-paying members, according to Jochmann.
McKim declined to elaborate on his charge, expressed in the email response to LeBlanc that the original Cybercast News Service report "ranged from misleading to completely false." He also refused to comment on Linebaugh's confirmation that the resolution did encourage the enforcement of pro-homosexual marriage laws.
LeBlanc also declined to comment beyond her complaint to McKim, indicating that she no longer believed the NEA resolution supported homosexual "marriage."
But others, like Jochmann, still are not satisfied, believing that NEA leaders and voting delegates "really need to stick to educational issues and stay away from these peripheral issues that just cause controversy and make us look bad."
Oh, sure, they were misunderstood. After all, words have no fixed meaning to liberals. They mean whatever the liberal wants them to mean at a given moment.
This is "Scrappleface," right?
I don't see how that could be misinterpreted.
so they're AGAINST gay marriage?
Sissy Jochmann, McKim, and LeBlanc...
Yes, this has to be Scrappleface. Good call!
In a July 8 email reply obtained by Cybercast News Service, NEA Resolutions Committee Chairman Brent McKim told LeBlanc that the resolution "has nothing to do with taking a position on the legality of same-sex marriage."
*****************
Uh. OK.
-the question: Did this NEA Official attend the John Kerry school of "nuance"?
ROTFLMAO
It is all too real. LOL
LOL!
"I will start representing the interests of children when they start paying union dues."
-Al Shanker (former head of the American Federation of Teachers)
NEA Delegates Endorse Same-Sex "Marriage"
The National Education Association (NEA) has voted overwhelmingly to endorse same-sex "marriages." The action goes beyond "tolerance" to "acceptance" of the homosexual lifestyle as "normal" and "beautiful."
Critics of the measure have suggested that the union is venturing far afield from the objectives of educating the young and obtaining better pay and working conditions for teachers. "This whole issue is controversial and
tangential to our goals," said Norman Person, an NEA member from California. "I don't see how it helps kids or teachers."
Franklin Butz, a gay member from New Jersey had the opposite view. "Educating the young about alternative lifestyles is central to our mission," said Butz. "Acceptance of alternative ways of living is more important than the mastery of mundane topics like math or reading. After all, computers can do our math. Television can supplant reading. But these devices can't replace the feelings we need to instill in our students."
Cynics assert that the foray into controversial political issues is aimed at diverting attention from poor test scores among public school students. "The endorsement of non-academic causes is symptomatic of the rot that pervades the NEA," said a disgruntled NEA member who asked to remain nameless. "I suppose if we get people riled over these issues they'll forget about the more fundamental failures of the system."
The NEA leadership's push for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues as a requirement for teacher credentialing has been impeded by the low reading comprehension of so many NEA members. It is a delicate matter since it is feared that the normal procedure of converting the message into pictographs might be too pornographic in this particular case
read more...
http://www.azconservative.org/Semmens1.htm
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Members of the Conservative Educators Caucus within the National Education Association have mounted evidence to refute claims made by NEA leadership regarding the union’s stance on “gay marriage” in the wake of the NEA’s recent annual meeting.
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23616
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The word “tolerance” will be replaced by “acceptance and respect” in current NEA policies, including those covering “gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered” behaviors, orientations, etc. among students, teachers and staff. So the concept of cross-dressing third graders must now be “respected.” Your twelve- year- old boys who want to practice homosexual sex together, deserve “acceptance and respect.” Does this mean new textbooks? New sex ed curricula?
http://www.missionamerica.com/
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Because of the efforts by AFA Online supporters, the National Education Association was forced to drop their proposal to endorse homosexual marriage.
http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?p=1731321#post1731321
A partial list of ideologies that the NEA promotes
Funds must be provided for programs to alleviate race, gender, and sexual orientation discrimination and to eliminate portrayal of race, gender, sexual orientation and gender identification stereotypes in the public schools.
Full-day, every day kindergarten programs should be fully funded.
The National Education Association supports early childhood education programs in the public schools for children from birth through age eight.
http://blogs.answersingenesis.org/nea/
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - A legislator who sponsored the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriages is urging Alabama delegates to the National Education Association convention to vote against a measure he says would promote homosexual marriage.
State Rep. Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa, said Monday the NEA proposal is part of a "cultural war" to capture "the hearts, minds and souls of our children."
http://www.wpmi.com/news/state/story.aspx?content_id=B8AD3546-1E22-4B57-933E-1439C702BB2C
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(AgapePress) - A former homosexual says he and other ex-"gays" were verbally harassed by a homosexual at the recently adjourned National Education Association convention in Orlando.
Homosexual activist Wayne Besen was in Orlando on Friday (June 30) at the NEA convention, protesting a booth hosted by the NEA Ex-Gay Educators Caucus. Besen, a former spokesman for the pro-homosexual Human Rights Campaign and author of the book Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth, tells the Orlando Sentinel that ex-"gay" groups pose a threat in schools because they "misinform people" about homosexuality.
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/7/62006g.asp
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