| |
A Picture Is Worth a
Thousand Words
Report for December 20, 2003
A group of parents in
Beaverton, Oregon do not want their children to be exposed to a sodomite
propaganda display. Too bad for them. The school psychologist adroitly
draws a straight line from the parents' objections right to Hitler's
holocaust. The display will go on. Sit down, parents, shut up, and cough
up the $1,600 we need to brainwash your children with homo-propaganda. What
will it take for Christians to get their children out of the government
school system and educate them properly and righteously?
Minister decries school exhibit
Beaverton schools will offer the show that honors diverse families, a show
that some parents say promotes a homosexual agenda
By David R. Anderson
The Oregonian, December 10, 2003
http://www.oregonlive.com/metrowest/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/metro_west_news/107106126528320.xml
BEAVERTON - A group of parents led by a Baptist minister is vowing to
fight plans by the Beaverton School District to present a family diversity
photo exhibit that includes images of gay parents.
The exhibit's presentation started out as an attempt by the district to
address a controversy last year over the removal from classrooms of
posters for a countywide support group for gay teenagers.
The solution is threatening to eclipse the original debate.
Steve McCracken, senior pastor at Tigard First Baptist Church who has
three children in Beaverton schools, said he tried to talk the district
into canceling the display scheduled for February.
Superintendent Jerry Colonna told McCracken last month that the district
was going ahead with the 20-photo exhibit with photos of families with gay
or lesbian members. Other images include single-parent families,
mixed-race families and children being raised by grandparents.
McCracken started e-mailing friends and encouraging them to contact other
parents and district taxpayers. He has not preached to his congregation on
the subject, he said.
About 20 parents joined McCracken on Monday night at the school board
meeting to demand the exhibit, which several characterized as promoting a
homosexual agenda, be canceled.
"I'm here to voice my outrage and sadness at this ridiculous idea of
forcing this agenda on our children," Kari Tertadian said. "I
believe homosexuality is morally wrong. You will not teach this to my
kids. I will opt out.
"It just boils my blood, to be honest."
Also Monday night, the Lake Oswego School Board voted to allow a
gay-lesbian tolerance club, reversing a policy that required clubs to be
tied to coursework.
Despite the opposition, the Beaverton district is going ahead with plans
for the photo exhibit, Colonna said Tuesday. In addition, students at Arts
& Communication Magnet Academy will create a Beaverton version of the
photo exhibit.
The exhibit doesn't promote homosexuality, but reflects a diverse
community and will promote understanding, Colonna said.
School board members, who approved the exhibit in August, didn't respond
to the testimony during Monday's meeting. Afterward, chairman Craig Irwin
said he didn't see any reason for the board to reconsider the exhibit,
which has a few images of gay parents.
"I don't think it's right to focus on any one piece of the overall
project," Irwin said. "It doesn't bother me at all. It is truly
a very broad quilt of what makes a family."
Board member Ann Jacks said the board should have a public discussion on
the exhibit.
"I'm in favor of tolerance," she said, "but whether this is
the right direction, I'm not sure."
Several parents also criticized the district Monday night for allowing
posters for the Washington County Pride Project, an advocacy group for
sexual minorities, in classrooms.
Last year, a gay high school teacher was ordered to remove the group's
poster from his classroom.
School administrators now allow the posters, although Colonna said there
is no districtwide policy on posters. The only rule is that they should
not disrupt teaching.
Colonna said he wanted to take the poster controversy and use it to make
the district stronger.
The district considered creating its own photo exhibit, but found one that
had appeared at The Catlin Gabel School. The nonprofit group Family
Diversity Projects of Amherst, Mass., has created "In Our Family:
Portraits of All Kinds of Families." It pairs photos with essays by
family members.
The exhibit will be displayed at Arts & Communication from Feb. 2 to
13 and at the central administration offices from Feb. 16 to 27.
The district hasn't decided how many children will be bused to view the
exhibit, but it will be limited because of cuts to field trip budgets. The
main purpose of the exhibit was not to show it to all students, but to
create a model for the district's own display, Colonna said.
The district is paying $1,600 to show the exhibit.
The exhibit has been traveling to schools, churches, colleges and
corporations for about three years, said Peggy Gillespie, co-founder and
co-director of the project.
In that time, there have been only a few mild controversies with the
"In Our Family" exhibit at public schools in Connecticut and New
Jersey, she said. But the exhibit has never been canceled.
Depending on the collection, the 20-photo "In Our Family"
exhibit includes about three photos with gays or lesbians, Gillespie said.
"Our agenda is civil rights and respect for all people,"
Gillespie said. "Some people say, 'Where are the normal families?'
and I consider the question to be the reason for the exhibit."
Not all the speakers Monday opposed the exhibit. Randy Koval, a school
psychologist whose three sons have attended Beaverton schools, said there
is a painful silence in the schools on the issue. When he visited the U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., it reminded him of the
treatment of sexual minorities.
"When we start picking on one group, every group is vulnerable,"
he said. "This is not a gay issue, it's a people issue."
Homo-Fascism
Watch Main Page |
|
