Contentious debate continues to rile Anoka-Hennepin School District
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 at 7:25 am
- 9 Comments
The Anoka-Hennepin School District is defending its policies in light of lawsuits by six district students, unfavorable coverage on the editorial pages of area newspapers and a renewed national spotlight on the accusation of an unsafe environment for LGBT youth in the district’s schools. The district says its policies are not to blame for bullying in the district, but others have charged that the schools’ policy that limits LGBT discussions in schools is harmful to students.
Last week, the Star Tribune editorial board called the school district “gutless.”
“While polls show that Americans increasingly favor tolerance and equal rights for gays, Anoka-Hennepin is stuck in the past, hiding behind an ambiguous policy in the name of neutrality,” the paper wrote. “It’s simply wrong not to do everything possible to prevent harassment or bullying of children who may strike some of their peers as different.”
Albert Lea Tribune columnist Alexandra Kloster echoed those sentiments.
“Most teachers know the difference between leading a discussion and promoting personal opinions,” she wrote. “To think that inviting a frank exchange about relevant and urgent topics into the classroom is the same as endorsing a top-secret gay agenda (whatever that is) exposes an overly simplistic leap into faulty judgment. Children, especially teenagers, crave openness and candor.”
Supt. Dennis Carlson
District superintendent Dennis Carlson penned his own response to critics in a piece at the Star Tribune.
“In spite of all our efforts to be truthful and accurate, the wrong information was repeated in the media yet again,” he wrote. “So far, the role of those in media has been to pick a side and ignore all who might present information that doesn’t conveniently fit the one-sided story or editorial they are creating. We do not see gay students as living an abnormal lifestyle or as sinners. We see them as our students, accept them as they are and are proud to have each of them in our student body.”
While the district says it doesn’t see LGBT students as sinners, some who have rushed to the district’s defense do.
Janet Boynes, a self-described ex-lesbian whose book has been promoted by presidential candidate Michele Bachmann’s husband Marcus, penned a letter to the editor of the local paper.
“I rejected men and for 14 years lived in lesbian relationships. It was a counterfeit to God’s plan for my life. No one should be promoting Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender (GLBT) behaviors. They are not born that way. There is no scientific evidence that proves they are. None,” she wrote. “If we really care about our young people, we will do everything to steer them away from homosexuality and transgenderism, and the unhealthy sexual acts that are a part of these lifestyles.”
On the other side, LGBT students in the district have taken matters into their own hands and hosted the first ever Anoka LGBTQ Youth Pride. About 300 people showed up to the event which was intended to show the district’s youth that the area is welcoming to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual and queer people.
Last Monday, a student filed a lawsuit against the Anoka-Hennepin School District, the state’s largest district, alleging that her school failed to adequately respond to bullying by classmates. It brings the number of students suing the district to six. CNN reported last month that the federal Department of Justice and the Department of Education are investigating reports of civil rights violations in the school district.
Follow Andy Birkey on Twitter9 Comments
Comment posted August 16, 2011 @ 9:08 am
Janet Boynes is proven wrong; there is a LOT of research showing that gay and trans identities are hardwired. all that she demonstrates is that ex-gays need to stick religiously to the script.
You can behaviorally suppress who you really are, but all you’re going to do is cause yourself pain.
Comment posted August 16, 2011 @ 9:21 am
There isn’t a credited medical association that approves of anything ex gay and states that it is potentially dangerous to the health of someone going through a therapy that trys to do so.
You can go around and not support anyone that is gay, you can preach to your children at home that you do not support gay people.
BUT YOU MUST ACCEPT THAT THEY ARE HERE. To deny and play “neutral” is dangerous to our society.
Comment posted August 16, 2011 @ 9:31 am
It should be noted that Janet Boynes works in the district, sadly. She’s a special Ed para in one of the elementary schools.
Comment posted August 16, 2011 @ 9:58 am
Christians always seem to conveniently forget that their god explicitly told them to seek out and love people that frighten them.
They also always seem to forget that this was actually pretty orthodox Jewish (small-o orthodox) theology at the time – Jesus was part of the Pharasaic movement… his rants against the Pharisees were not “look at these evil people,” but “GUYS, YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG!”
Comment posted August 16, 2011 @ 1:56 pm
Janet Boynes – Muff Diver extraordinaire..now enjoys the Cock….or so she says……So Janet, just cause you force yourself to Like sausage under the guise of Divine Intervention aka LIES – doesn’t mean others have too…..go live your miserable fake religious life on someone elses dime.
Comment posted August 16, 2011 @ 3:03 pm
Howard Bloom’s book “The Lucifer Principle” is a must read. Truly an amazing insight as to why people form groups and take sides for their own self serving (reproductive) purposes. I personally believe that nature has the human species hard-wired to produce a percentage of homosexuals in the event that the global race starts to over-populate causing the beginning of it’s own demise from using up resources and creating pollution. The homosexuals aren’t the problem, they are natures way of creating a solution… it’s rather genius when viewed through the evolutionary lens of species and biology on this planet. Humans aren’t the only species on the planet to show or exhibit gay behaviors, so in a sense, it has been proven that instinctively, yes, indeed we as one of many species are hard-wired and genetically created to have a percentage of homosexuals.
Comment posted August 16, 2011 @ 8:52 pm
The problem with Anoka-Hennepin’s curriculum position is that it confuses neutrality (not taking a side) with objectivity (taking the side supported by the facts), the latter of which should form the foundation of any education. As one commentor already noted, no credible professional or scholarly organization supports the notion that being gay is somehow “unnatural” and in need of “curing.” The district’s policy is therefore a naked attempt to placate religious conservatives even in spite of scholarly consensus.
I wrote a blog post on this topic at the website listed with my name for anyone who is interested.
Comment posted August 16, 2011 @ 11:56 pm
Mike, gay people are perfectly capable of reproducing, and in fact do. Even by natural means at times. In fact, gay teens are more likely to get pregnant than straight teens. I will have to check that book out, though.
One book I read recently is Gay, Straight, And The Reason Why by Simon LeVay. It’s the research on the biology of sexual orientation. In it, he talks about the evolutionary purpose for homosexuality. He doesn’t speak in terms of population control, but rather the opposite – the genes and hormone levels can increase libidos in straight folks, ensuring reproduction.
Comment posted August 17, 2011 @ 11:17 am
“The district says its policies are not to blame for bullying in the district”
To the extent that the policies do not actively and directly promote bullying gays, probably true. But they are clearly inadequate to the task of discouraging bullying, and seem to be designed that way.
Not to blame for bullying, but to blame for not stopping bullying. Big moral and functional difference.
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