Anoka-Hennepin lawsuit spurs petition, tough settlement talks
Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at 10:40 am
- 30 Comments
The Anoka-Hennepin School District and lawyers for six students who sued the district over bullying began talks this week in an attempt to reach a settlement. While those talks were underway, the Parents Action League submitted a petition to the school board urging it not to budge on a policy that limits discussion of LGBT issues in the schools. And PAL came under scrutiny by other parents who questioned the group’s ties to the Minnesota Family Council.
The district and lawyers for the students met early this week in hopes that a settlement could be reached in the lawsuit. Both sides have declined to comment on the talks other than to say they were productive. The dialogue ended Tuesday without resolution, and no more discussions have been scheduled.
On Monday, the Parents Action League, a group of conservative Christian parents in the district, appealed to school officials to maintain its “neutrality policy,” a directive enacted two years ago that limits discussions of LGBT issues in the district and one that the lawsuit alleges creates a hostile environment for LGBT students.
“I’m here on behalf of the Parents Action League to support the sexual orientation policy,” said Lori Thompson at Monday’s school board meeting. “It is an excellent policy. It honors the rights of all parents and guardians. We feel that teachers should not be injecting their personal views in the classroom on any subject.”
Thompson said the group had gathered 1,052 signatures.
“We, the Parents Action League, along with every person who put their name on the petition, are asking the board to please keep the sexual orientation policy in place and keep controversial social issues at home where they belong,” Thompson said.
After Thompson addressed the board, Kevin Peterson of Brooklyn Center also urged that the policy be maintained — and then revealed he was once gay.
“I used to be gay, back in the ’80s and ’90s,” he said. “I used to be a member of Act Up and marched in a few gay pride parades.”
“I was trying to get our agenda into high schools and even elementary schools,” he added.
Peterson claimed that most people who are LGBT don’t want to be.
“Most people with same-sex attraction don’t like this about themselves and don’t want to act on those attractions,” he said. “In other words most homosexuals are not gay, and we gay activists knew that it was very important to reach those sexually confused people. We wanted the young guys top know that they shouldn’t be confused about those attractions that they should understand that they can’t possibly change and gay is good.”
He said it was all about recruitment.
“What I was doing in effect was recruiting them to be gay and get into the lifestyle. That’s what happened to me when i got into college.”
But not all testifiers at Monday night’s meeting were in support of the policy. Parent Melissa Thompson said many forms of diversity are discussed in Anoka-Hennepin schools and questioned why sexual orientation is being singled out.
“You don’t need to take on a belief to respect the person who has it,” she said. “We openly discuss and recognize all kinds of diversity from cultural to religious to economic, so I ask you why we refuse to acknowledge anything gay in our schools?”
She added, “Nobody is asking that homosexuality be taught, quite simply because it can’t be. But just because someone refuses to believe that people are born gay doesn’t change that fact for a gay person. The idea that if we deny something that offends us it will disappear is childish, hurtful and hardly neutral.”
Thompson was also critical of the activities of the Parents Action League.
“I recently received an email directly from Lori Thompson of the Parents Action League soliciting my signature. She received my email address from the Minnesota Family Council, and I have a copy of the email for you all to see that,” she said, holding up a copy of the email. “It was directly solicited from this political group that has made a career out of disrespecting children in our district. I want to show the connection.”
PAL’s spokesperson, at least in the past, has been Barb Anderson who works for the Minnesota Family Council. Anderson recently appeared on the radio program of Americans for the Truth About Homosexuality, an organization the Southern Poverty Law Center lists as a hate group. In that interview, Anderson said she’s tried to get “ex-gay” therapy into the district’s schools and blamed LGBT groups for the bullying of LGBT students.
Thompson raised another concern about PAL to the school board; she says the group has been soliciting signatures from students.
“The other concern I have is the fact that they solicit signatures from children as young as 13,” she said. “Now, they want to paint us as being inappropriate in regard to children, but to put children in that position is beyond unacceptable.”
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Comment posted August 24, 2011 @ 10:45 am
Isnt this Michelle Bachmanns’ school district? Or one of them she represents?
Comment posted August 24, 2011 @ 11:31 am
Why is it that the Anoka-Hennepin Gay Equity Team and other gay advocates can enlist the help and services of gay advocacy orgaizations such as the Trevor Project, GLSEN, Family Equality Council Midwest Office, National Center for Lesbian Rights, Minnesota United for all Families, OutFront Minnesota, It Gets Better Project, PFund Foundation, the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, etc., …but the Parents Action League can’t enlist the help or services of the Minnesota Family Council or any other pro-family organizations if they so choose to without being persecuted from those who have a different viewpoint? Gee, could it be the typical double-standard mentality that we so often see from those on the left? Obviously!! As far as children 13 and older being allowed to sign the petition. I’m all for it. Let’s not forget that the homosexual agenda that gay advocates are working so hard to get into our schools affects these children the most. After all, they’re the ones sitting in the classrooms.
Comment posted August 24, 2011 @ 11:31 am
Kevin Peterson, utter bullshit. A polygraph will prove it.
Comment posted August 24, 2011 @ 11:32 am
Kevin Peterson was once gay? What is he now, miserable?
Comment posted August 24, 2011 @ 11:55 am
The ultimate origin of the “recruitment” myth: a simpleminded mischaracterization of a complex situation. Of course it’s the religious conservative position.
Fact 1: People are born gay, just like most people are born heterosexual. There’s no serious disagreement about this. Many religious conservatives however, too dimwitted to discover otherwise, still maintain that sexual orientation is a choice.
Fact 2: Homosexuals have and still face all sorts of ill treatment.
Fact 3: All people who face poor treatment will want to avoid it, even to the point of denying who they are. Few people want to feel like an outsider or rejected.
Fact 4: Historically there has been no support for LGBT people are facing poor treatment and discrimination, which can add enormous stress, cause feelings of isolation and alienation, and cause psychological and physical harm.
So…when a growing number of out LGBT people sees this process happening to others again and again and again, when they see this seemingly eternal recurrence of avoidable pain and suffering, and sometimes even death, they realize that the only way to stop this evil is to reach out to LGBT people with a message of support and hope.
The claim of “recruitment” thus becomes a lie. It ignores the above absolutely undeniable reality, and substitutes for it the malign myth that LGBT people are doing nothing more than recruiting other people for sexual purposes.
I’d be very curious to know if Kevin Peterson, quoted above, is now an evangelical or fundamentalist Christian. This is vastly more relevant information than whether he was involved with gay rights at some point.
Comment posted August 24, 2011 @ 12:08 pm
@Jean,
It is not a view point to endanger people and the family council is a bigoted hate group discriminating against a particular portion of society.
The other LGBT groups you mentioned are support groups working at supporting individuals looking for help and acceptance.
So the difference is one group is a hate group and the other groups are support groups.
Comment posted August 24, 2011 @ 12:12 pm
Jean wrote,
—-”… but the Parents Action League can’t enlist the help or services of the Minnesota Family Council or any other pro-family organizations if they so choose to without being persecuted from those who have a different viewpoint?”
There is no “persecution” going on, there’s criticism.
PAL can, if it so chooses, and no one is stopping them, work with the MN Family Council. But, if it does so, it runs into a problem. It will then be known to be associating with an organization that willfully uses false information, information that’s slanted and unfairly characterizes a subset of the population. So, if PAL is fine with being associated with discredited, dishonest and disreputable organizations, that’s its choice. But then it must face the consequences for its catastrophically poor judgment.
Comment posted August 24, 2011 @ 12:20 pm
The typical response I was expecting. Why is it when homosexual activists read something that disagrees with their views that they automatically cry “hate”?
Is that because they have nothing of substance to say? Obviously!!
Comment posted August 24, 2011 @ 12:24 pm
Jean,
“Is that because they have nothing of substance to say? Obviously!!”
For the record, I’m straight (and married), but I would consider myself an activist for LGBT equality.
So, let’s test your assumption that gay rights advocates having nothing of substance behind their views. And let’s also agree that ‘substance’ refers to reasoned and evidence-based viewpoints that exist beyond mere slogans. Is that agreeable to you?
By way of getting things rolling, I’d ask the question as to why, if in fact you do, oppose same sex marriage?
Comment posted August 24, 2011 @ 12:28 pm
Jean wrote:
“or any other pro-family organizations”
Don’t you really mean “only family as we define it”? This type of crap pisses me off to no end. These so-called pro-family groups use that term to give legitimacy to any hateful view that have. But because they label themselves as pro-family, who could be against them?
Sorry Jean, there’s nothing pro-family about you or the organizations you seem to love. These are HATE groups because they preach their way of viewing the world is the ONLY way to view the world and screw everyone else who doesn’t step in line.
If the Anoka/Hennepin Board caves in to this group, I hope to hell they are sued for every dime the district has in its coffers. Maybe then people will wake up.
Comment posted August 24, 2011 @ 12:32 pm
Oh and Jean, please define “gay agenda”. I’m curious if you actually have one.
(I know, I know. I’ve posted the same question about a million times with never a response. I’m hopeful someone will respond……. eventually. )
Comment posted August 24, 2011 @ 12:43 pm
Kevin,
Agreed.
This “pro-family” label is self-serving, self-congratulatory, and even after the merest analysis, just bullshit. It’s tantamount to “we’re more moral than you sinners” and “we understand god’s will better than you do.” It’s a label that substitutes for thought in many cases.
What “pro-family” really means in practice: anything my little church, religious sect, or idiosyncratic reading of the Bible convinces me is true. And if you don’t agree with my little church, my pastor, my faith or my reading of the Bible, you then by definition are ‘anti-family.’
Comment posted August 24, 2011 @ 1:03 pm
Fact, the Family Research Council is a certified Hate Group NOT a “profamily” group that spreads mythology against gay people and their families that has been peer-repudiated by over 477,000 credible medical associations!
Comment posted August 24, 2011 @ 1:17 pm
It would appear that PAL has one issue to present and that is conformity. Of course they feel they have a right to define that too. The neutrality policy is a conformity policy.
Dump the neutrality policy and adopt a supportive policy. Help the straights with their issues, help the GLBT with their issues. Society will be better.
Jeff Wilfahrt, Rosemount, MN
Comment posted August 24, 2011 @ 1:21 pm
Because parents are being willfully lied to about people and their own children and its dangerous.
Because MFC and FRC and numerous other ideological groups distort credible research to fit their own narrow world view.
Because MFC and FRC lies KILL.
Because MFC and FRC wont tell you the truth. Fow example, you wont see these facts…
Being gay is not a “condition”. It is a human trait no more changeable than race, hair color, eye color, etc. You may have been told, persuaded and now believe otherwise. However, those professionals who study such matters disagree vehemently with your beliefs.
You asked about science. Here are some resources.
These professional bodies unanimously state:
1. Homosexuality is an normal, naturally occurring trait in a minority of the population.
2. “Reparative therapy” or “conversion therapy” does not work and is harmful to those subjected to it.
AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
Sexual orientation and homosexuality
http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/sexual-orientation.aspx
Homosexuality: Nature or Nurture
Ryan D. Johnson April 30, 2003
http://allpsych.com/journal/homosexuality.html
APA Officially Rejects Reorientation Treatment for Homosexuals — Overwhelming research from the past hundred years rejected due to “serious design flaws.”
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09080608.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION
POSITION STATEMENT Homosexuality and Civil Rights
Approved by the Board of Trustees, December 1973
Approved by the Assembly, 1973
POSITION STATEMENT Therapies Focused on Attempts to Change Sexual Orientation (Reparative or Conversion Therapies)
Approved by the Board of Trustees, March 2000
Approved by the Assembly, May 2000
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
AMA Policy Regarding Sexual Orientation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS
Policy Statement: Homosexuality and Adolescence (RE9332)
http://web.archive.org/web/20031212181440/http://www.aap.org/policy/05072.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SOCIAL WORKERS
Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Issues
http://www.socialworkers.org/resources/abstracts/abstracts/lesbian.asp
Position Statement: “Reparative” and “Conversion” Therapies for Lesbians and Gay Men
http://www.socialworkers.org/diversity/lgb/reparative.asp?print=1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UNITED PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS REJECT “REPARATIVE THERAPY” also called “CONVERSION THERAPY”
http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_expr.htm
The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Counseling Association, American Association of School Administrators, American Federation of Teachers, American Psychological Association, American School Health Association, Interfaith Alliance Foundation, National Association of School Psychologists, National Association of Social Workers, and National Education Association formed the “Just the Facts Coalition.” They developed and endorsed “Just the Facts About Sexual Orientation & Youth: A Primer for Principals, Educators and School Personnel” in 1999.
The primer says, in part:
“The most important fact about ‘reparative therapy,’ also sometimes known as ‘conversion’ therapy, is that it is based on an understanding of homosexuality that has been rejected by all the major health and mental health professions. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Counseling Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, and the National Association of Social Workers, together representing more than 477,000 health and mental health professionals, have all taken the position that homosexuality is not a mental disorder and thus there is no need for a ‘cure.’
“…health and mental health professional organizations do not support efforts to change young people’s sexual orientation through ‘reparative therapy’ and have raised serious concerns about its potential to do harm.”
Quick Facts About Homosexuality
by C. Ann Shepherd
Sexual orientation can not be caught or taught.
“Family fears of catching homosexuality, or of being recruited at school
or elsewhere are utterly without scientific foundation.”
~ Dr. Jack Weinberg, President American Psychiatric Association,
October 6, 1977.
Sexual orientation is not a choice.
Sexual orientation is deep-seated and not something one chooses to be
or not to be.
~ Dr. Alan P. Bell, senior author of “Sexual Preference”, Bell, Weinberg
& Hammersmith, Indiana University Press, 1981.
Research suggests that the homosexual orientation is in place very early
in the life cycle, possibly even before birth.
~ Taken from the American Psychological Association Statement on
Sexual Orientation, July, 1994.
It is believed that there are several factors which determine sexual orientation.
Sexual orientation is likely to be the result of several different factors,
including genetic, hormonal, and environmental. None of these factors
alone are responsible for determining sexual orientation. Psychological
and social influences alone cannot cause homosexuality.
~Tineke Bodde’, “Why is My Child Gay? ” Federation of Parents and Friends
of Lesbians and Gays, Inc., 1988.
“There is evidence that parents have very little influence on the outcome
of their children’s sexual orientation under normal upbringing conditions.”
~June Machover Reinisch, Ph.D. (Response from brochure) “Why is My
Child Gay?” Federation of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays,
Inc., 1988.
Gays & lesbians discover their sexual orientation. They are not recruited or brainwashed into the “gay lifestyle”.
Gay and lesbian children are often aware of being different at a very early
age. They generally become aware of their sexual orientation during
adolescence or early adulthood.
~ R.R. Troiden, “The Formation of Homosexual Identities”, The Journal
of Homosexuality, 17, 43-73.
Homosexuality is not a mental or emotional disorder.
The research on homosexuality is very clear. Homosexuality is neither
mental illness nor moral depravity. It is simply the way a minority of
our population expresses human love and sexuality. Study after study
documents the mental health of gay men and lesbians. Studies of
judgment, stability, reliability, and social and vocational adaptiveness
all show that gay men and lesbians function every bit as well as
heterosexuals.
~ The American Psychiatric Association and The American Psychological
Association, July 1994
Efforts to change sexual orientation are ineffective and can be harmful.
Research findings suggest that efforts to repair homosexuals are
nothing more than social prejudice garbed in psychological accouterments.
~ Taken from the American Psychological Association Statement on
Sexual Orientation, July, 1994.
No scientific evidence exists to support the effectiveness of any therapies
that attempt to convert homosexuals to heterosexuals.
~ John C. Gonsiorek and James D. Weinrich, eds., Homosexuality:
Research Implications for Public Policy, Newbury Park, Calf.: Sage, 1991.
All attempts fail when gay people try to become heterosexual.
~D. C. Haldeman, “The Practice and Ethics of Sexual Orientation Conversion
Therapy”, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, p.221-227, 1994.
“Groups who try to change the sexual orientation of people through so-called
conversion therapy are misguided and run the risk of causing a great
deal of psychological harm to those they say they are trying to help.”
~Dr. Raymond Fowler, American Psychological Association Executive Director
Clinical experience suggests that any person who seeks conversion therapy
may be doing so because of social bias that has resulted in internalized
homophobia, and that gay men and lesbians who have accepted their sexual
orientation positively are better adjusted than those who have not done so.
~American Psychiatric Association
The incidence of homosexuality is constant regardless of new laws or social attitudes.
It [homosexuality] is found in about ten percent of the population, a figure
which is surprisingly constant across cultures, irrespective of the different
moral values and standards of a particular culture.
Contrary to what some imply, the incidence of homosexuality in a population
does not appear to change with new moral codes or social mores.
~ Taken from the American Psychological Association Statement on
Sexual Orientation, July, 1994.
Gay and lesbian youth are at greater risk of committing suicide.
Gay and lesbian youth are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide
than their heterosexual peers. Due to homophobia and stigma.
Gay and lesbian teens account for thirty percent of all completed suicides
among adolescents.
~U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Report of the Secretary’s
Task Force on Youth Suicide”, Washington D.C., 1989.
Gay and lesbian people are just as capable of being good parents as are heterosexual parents.
Children who are raised in gay or lesbian homes are no different in any
aspects of psychological, social, or sexual development from children in
heterosexual families.
~C.J. Patterson, “Children of Lesbian and Gay Parents”, Child Development,
63, 1025-1042.
Thirty-five different studies have shown that children of gay and lesbian
parents are no more likely to become homosexuals than children of
heterosexuals, and are just as well adjusted.
~Jane Gross, “New Challenge of Youth: Growing up in Gay Homes”,
New York Times, February 11, 1991.
Gay men and lesbian women are rarely involved in child sexual abuse.
In the U.S. ninety percent of all sexual child abuse is committed by
heterosexual men. The molesters are almost always family members,
close family friends or the mother’s boyfriend.
~P.J. Falk “Lesbian Mothers: Psychological Assumptions in Family Law”,
American Psychologist, 44, 941-949, 1989.
~Mary Koss, et al. “No Safe Haven: Male Violence Against Women At Home,
At Work, And in the Community”,
American Psychological Association, 1994.
Gay people are not obsessed with sex.
Gay men and lesbian women share the same amount of interest in sexual
activity as heterosexual persons, neither more nor less.
~Alan P. Bell and Martin S. Weinberg, for the Institute for Sexual Research,
“Homosexuality: A Study in Human Diversity”, Simon and Schuster, 1978.
There is no single Gay Lifestyle.
The lives of gay men and lesbian women are just as varied as the lives of
heterosexuals.
~Linda D. Garnets and Douglas C. Kimmel, “Psychological Perspectives on
Lesbian and Gay Male Experiences”, Columbia University Press, 1995.
©1996-1998 C. Ann Shepherd
Comment posted August 24, 2011 @ 1:23 pm
Over 477,000 credible medical and psychological associations DISAGREE with MFC and FRC. Thats why.
Comment posted August 24, 2011 @ 6:55 pm
@Jean, you ask “why can’t PAL enlist MFC?”, well besides the fact that they are one-in-the-same, PAL was founded, and is likely funded by Barb Anderson or the MFC. It’s unconstitutional for a “public” school district to impose the religious beliefs of small group of parents on the students, staff and community. Just because you don’t agree with the fact that gay people exist doesn’t mean you or PAL or MFC have the right to deny their existance and more than that insist that everyone around ascribe to your belief. You can believe whatever you, no one is disputing that but you don’t have the right to impose your religious beliefs on anyone else. Acknowledging the rightful existance of gay people and respecting their right to freedom from harrassment in no way infringes on your right to your own private beliefs, we simply ask that you keep them to yourself, however if a parent is so bound by a personal belief that they don’t want their child/children exposed to anything outside that narrow system perhaps they should home school or have them attend a religious school.
Comment posted August 25, 2011 @ 5:57 am
David and Jonathan
“David loved Jonathan more than women” 2 Samuel 1:23, 26-27
“Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was wearing, and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.” (1 Samuel 18:1-4)
“David rose from beside they kissed each other and wept with each other; David wept the more. Then Jonathan said to David, ‘Go in peace, since both of us have sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, “The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants, forever.” (1 Samuel 20:41-42)
Ruth & Naomi
“Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die — there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!” (Ruth 1:16-17)
Jesus said some choose to be gay and some are born gay. “Let anyone accept this who can” Matthew, 19:11-12
This is the real truth and the real threat. It’s time to grow up everyone…. Christian or otherwise. 9 suicides in one school district in 2 years. A policy that threatens to fire a teacher for defending the stance of an openly gay kid. Scary. Fix it.
It’s not o.k. to be anti gay in public… “all men are created equal” or in church… The bible and Jesus himself damns those that are ant-gay. Spin the story, cloak the reality some more. Why not, it’s worked this long hasn’t it. Just be clear with yourself about where your ideas are coming from. Hatred originates in the heart which is your sole responsibility.
Comment posted August 25, 2011 @ 6:59 am
using the words Pro-family is the same as using the words Pro life….sorry Jean (and Kevin), the way MFC and PALS and You Can Run (Bradlee Dean) use the word “christianity” is not how I was raised christian (catholic).
Comment posted August 25, 2011 @ 7:20 am
The PAL is another hate group with an activist anti-gay agenda that’s harming our children. They need to keep their bigotry our of our schools.
Comment posted August 25, 2011 @ 12:36 pm
Andy – thanks for writing about Anoka-Hennepin Schools!
When my two kids were young, I researched school districts to find what I felt was the best Twin Cities schools. We moved across town so my kids could attend Mahtomedi Public Schools. They have since matriculated.
Last spring, in response to increasing reports of teen suicide and bullying, Mahtomedi High School and the district chose to be proactive and discuss the matter openly and honestly with students and teachers. The district, along with the involvement of students, staff, administrators, alumni and parents arranged for an all school panel discussion and viewing of the movie Bullied.
Mahtomedi High School does not have an auditorium capable of seating all students at one time, so at the appointed time, students and staff walked across the parking lot and through the woods to a neighboring church with a large sanctuary. The church was filled to near capacity. Well over 1000 students and staff voluntarily chose to take part – all were given the opportunity to opt out. Students were invited to ask the panel any question they wanted – they did. Questions went directly to the heart of the matter and those in attendance were touched by the openness, honesty and matter-of-fact discussion that prevailed.
Anoka-Hennepin High School and School District would be wise to seek advice and counseling from Mahtomedi High School and School District.
Comment posted August 25, 2011 @ 3:59 pm
Jean,
I am not a gay parent, but I am a parent. I am a heterosexual married parent, of more than a couple decades. I have small children, we waited to have them, I stay home with them. we are fiscally conservative and do not leave outside our means. I volunteer about a hundred hours a month.
I will tell you that the normalizing of hate with the veil of religion and the extreme religious agenda that is going on in politics right now, is the real danger to our society. The indoctrination of personal life style choices such as your evangelistic lifestyle within our laws is unconstitutional and mostly certainly the most unpatriotic thing going on within our boarders today.
I am very tired of the GOP of pandering to the special interest groups of the extreme fringe religious groups such as the MFC and PAL.
You made your lifestyle choice, and I do not support it at all, I will accept it for it is the constitutional thing to do, but I would NOT allow you to be alone with my child.
Comment posted August 25, 2011 @ 5:29 pm
Steve & board,
Matthew, 19:11-12 refers to castrated men, not gay men. You do not need to accept the word, but you also do not need to disrespect those who accept the word by altering it to fit your personnel agenda.
LGBT people desire the same rights and dignity that everybody else enjoys. They do not deserve to have the private beliefs of other forced upon them.
The school policy, while not be perfect, stipulates all students are treated the same and nobody should have somebody else beliefs pushed upon them.
That, however, is exactly what NCLR and other groups are up to. Sadly, there is a real problem with bulling in the school, and the NCLR actions at this moment are not helpful.
Comment posted August 26, 2011 @ 12:28 am
That is not a universal interpretation, speaking of disrespecting. That is ideology.
Comment posted August 26, 2011 @ 10:29 pm
Fred: Excellent comment. Unfortunately Radical Right Wing Conservative Christians have control in Anoka, they do not seek truth and solutions, they seek to have their own agenda become school policy. Truth, facts and solutions are not part of that agenda. Law suits will continue and the district’s meager resources will be wasted. Funds that should be going to better schools, facilities teachers will be spent instead on defending a Radical Anti-Gay agenda in court.
Comment posted August 28, 2011 @ 8:02 pm
George writes
“LGBT people desire the same rights and dignity that everybody else enjoys. They do not deserve to have the private beliefs of other forced upon them.”
Such as putting or trying to put religious opinions and lifestyles into law? There is no private beliefs being pushed, you are welcome to not support a Gay person but you must accept that they are indeed real and living here, and are families. One doesn’t have to support what one must accepts.
“The school policy, while not be perfect, stipulates all students are treated the same and nobody should have somebody else beliefs pushed upon them.”
No one is being treated the same when one can not address the reasons why kids are bulling others, and why it should stop. The only thing being pushed down anyone’s throat is the personal christian choice of lifestyle which I do not make as a choice of my own. I do not support your lifestyle, although I do accept you have the right to make the choices you have made to be a christian. For all religion is a choice, not something you are born. One can change religion at any given time in ones life.
“That, however, is exactly what NCLR and other groups are up to. Sadly, there is a real problem with bulling in the school, and the NCLR actions at this moment are not helpful.”
These groups are demanding that the bully’s are stopped and the actions addressed with and the acceptance of who they are in society. You can continue to not support them with your choices of religious lifestyle. The bully problem is a real problem correct, the reason there is the “neutrality” rule put into place is behind that problem. For the hate, and bigotry is taught at home, and in no way does the one indoctrinating the bully into being a bully against the GLBT society wants to have to stand up to their crimes which is considered a crime of hate.
Comment posted August 29, 2011 @ 2:53 pm
Wendy Leigh in her comment posted August 24, 2011 @ 1:23 pm said:
“Over 477,000 credible medical and psychological associations DISAGREE with MFC and FRC. Thats why.”
There are not 477,000 medical and psychological associations in existence in the whole world, let alone in the U.S.
There are only about 800,000 active physicians in the U.S, and only about 10,000,000 in the world. If her statistic is to be believed, that means each of her medical associations boasts a membership of 1.6 doctors in the U.S., or about 20 members per organization in the world. Hardly enough to call themselves “credible medical organizations.
Typical exaggeration of those who are close minded and need support for their weak arguments. They simply don’t like homosexuals. So, Ms. Leigh; how many more homosexuals does God have to make before you will acknowledge that they exist and that they deserve the exact same rights as every other person in our society?
Perhaps you should talk a poll of the “477,000 credible medical and psychological associations” you cite so they can tell you what to think.
Comment posted August 29, 2011 @ 2:59 pm
Oops, sorry Wendy. Here’s why I don’t like acronyms. Your comment (quoted above) led me to believe you were arguing on the side of the hate mongers because you used acronyms of the groups you were speaking about. Next time I’ll read more carefully, but still, although you argue eloquently for your position later on in this thread, you still exaggerated wildly the number of “credible medical and psychological associations” out there. It is a point where your arguments are weak and vulnerable to attack. Perhaps using a more accurate number? Just a suggestion mind you, but part of my reaction came from the use of inaccurate statistics by the other side also and how frustrating that can be. Sorry for misunderstanding the intent of your post.
Comment posted August 29, 2011 @ 8:15 pm
George said in hi comment posted on August 25, 2011 @ 5:29 pm:
Steve & board,
Matthew, 19:11-12 refers to castrated men, not gay men. You do not need to accept the word, but you also do not need to disrespect those who accept the word by altering it to fit your personnel agenda.
Gee George, isn’t that what Christians do every day? Pick and choose what to believe and what to preach and what to force on others?
Sorry dude, but that argument holds no water.
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