Posted on 10/22/2004 7:20:11 AM PDT by Taggart_D
Public School Must Pay for Censoring Christian Student 10/21/2004 By Anne F. Downey, Esq.
Panel discussion bans traditional Biblical viewpoint on homosexuality.
A federal district judge has ordered Michigan’s Ann Arbor Public Schools to pay $102,738 in attorney fees and costs in a case involving a high school’s refusal to let a Christian student express her views on homosexuality.
In March 2002, at Pioneer High School’s “Diversity Week” program, Elizabeth “Betsy” Hansen, then a senior, was told she could not express her Roman Catholic viewpoint at the school’s “Homosexuality and Religion” panel discussion. The school also discriminated in limiting members of the panel to religious leaders who endorsed homosexuality, refusing to permit access to the panel for any clergy who would express another view.
A school official testified that he was concerned Betsy’s view would be “negative” and would “water down the view that the school’s Gay/Straight Alliance was trying to convey.” School authorities told Betsy that neither she nor a clergyman of her choice could participate in the panel, purportedly because she had missed one of two mandatory planning meetings.
Yet the evidence showed that Betsy was ill on the day of the first meeting, that she had sent a friend to communicate her desire to be on the panel, that she herself had met with the faculty adviser the next day to reiterate her desire to participate, that others who missed the meeting were allowed to participate in activities, and that following the missed meeting school officials continued to communicate with Betsy as though she would be allowed to participate. It was only after one faculty member concerned about a civil rights lawsuit canceled the panel, which was then reinstated by another school official after the Gay/Straight Alliance’s outcry, that Betsy was informed that her absence from the first mandatory meeting prevented her or her clergy representative from participating.
While the school allowed Betsy to give a two-minute speech at a separate assembly, the school censored it to exclude a passage in which she said that she could not “accept religious and sexual ideas or actions that are wrong.” The school district’s attorney argued that the school edited her speech to promote tolerance and acceptance of minority viewpoints.
In July 2002 the Thomas More Law Center – a nonprofit organization devoted to defending religious liberties, time-honored family values, and the sanctity of human life – filed a federal civil rights case against the school district on Betsy’s behalf. This resulted in a favorable decision in December 2003, when Judge Gerald Rosen ruled that the school had violated the Constitution’s prohibition against establishing a religion, as well as Betsy’s constitutional rights to freedom of speech and equal protection under the law.
As stated by Judge Rosen, “This case presents the ironic, and unfortunate, paradox of a public high school celebrating ‘diversity’ by refusing to permit the presentation to students of an ‘unwelcomed’ viewpoint on the topic of homosexuality and religion, while actively promoting the competing view. This practice of ‘one-way diversity,’ unsettling in itself, was rendered still more troubling – both constitutionally and ethically – by the fact that the approved viewpoint was, in one manifestation, presented to students as religious doctrine by six clerics (some in full garb) quoting from religious Scripture.”
"This case is another example of blatant anti-Christian bigotry masquerading as 'tolerance,' and 'diversity,'" said Jan LaRue, chief counsel for Concerned Women for America (CWA). "It's why CWA works long and hard to fight 'sexual orientation' being added to so-called hate crime statutes. It's loaded with potential for abuse such as this."
The lawsuit requested a ruling on the constitutional issues and reimbursement of Betsy’s attorney fees and costs. In early October 2004, Judge Rosen ordered the district to pay approximately $87,000 in attorney fees and $15,000 in costs. The award will assist the Center as it takes on future cases in the arena of liberty, life and family values.
Like the Biblical story of Esther, the case illustrates a young woman’s courage in standing up for her beliefs in the face of strong resistance. The resistance came in the form of a call for “diversity,” which too often today attempts to silence Christians.
As Betsy experienced, it is not easy to speak out in an era when many call evil good and good evil. One can only hope that public school officials will now think twice before setting up their own religious panels and censoring those who dare to speak out against the gay rights agenda.
Anne Downey is a Christian attorney who practices law with her husband in New York state. She is a member of the Christian Legal Society, an Alliance Defense Fund "ally," and is volunteering her services to CWA's Legal Studies Department.
Let's hear it for the Thomas More Law Center!!!! Glad you're out there defending freedom!
BUMP!
I remember this story. I'm so glad they prevailed.
The Articles below was sent to hundreds of Ministers:
I am so sick and tired about the Gay Debate. There simply should be no debate. Homosexuality is wrong, same sex marriages are wrong, and gay adoptions are wrong, period. The fact that people claim that they were born that way is bull. If this were true, we would also be seeing other creatures being born gay and we would see animals of the same sex pairing off…”And we don’t”. This is simply because man was born with the ability to choose between right and wrong. So, in true reality, homosexuality is a choice.
To this day I wonder why the churches of this country aren’t preaching against homosexuality, when according to the bible they should be.
God’s Laws On Homosexuality: God (The Lord) talks to Moses in Leviticus:20, Verse:13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. “Wow, this is scary. I believe God is meaning that Aids will fall upon them.”
Again in Deuteronomy:22, Verse:5, The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.
More Bible verses against homosexuality: I Timothy:5,Verse:22 and I Timothy:6, Verse:5.
Also, II Peter:2, Verse:6 people were committing sodomy in the cities (Sodom and Gomorrha) the name of the city is where the word sodomy came from (Sodomy comes from a Latin word meaning “The sin of Sodom”. That is why God dammed them and turned the cities into ashes.
Proverbs:29, Verse:8 Scornful men bring a city into a snare: but wise men turn away wrath.
I Thessalonians:5, Verse:15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
Mark:16, Verse:9 Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and in this verse it clearly says that he had cast seven devils from her. That alone tells you that people who do unclean acts with their body are full of demons.
The biggest mistake that people make is that they believe they worship a loving, caring, and forgiving God and that he loves them no matter what. I’m telling you, this is the worst mistake people are making nowadays…believing that God is not also a God who gets angry, even though the bible talks over and over about an angry God who destroys and punishes those who displease him.
I'm not thrilled with this, because it clouds the issue. The issue, as far as I'm concerned, is that the schools shouldn't be teaching or discussing anything to do with homosexuality - good, bad, or indifferent - or any other sexuality. It's a waste of time and resources. These are the same schools that can't teach reading, writing, math, history, geography ...
Good intentions at the Thomas More Law Center, but I think the resources would be better used fighting for separation of school and state.
OK, let me see if I have this straight (no pun intended): This school had a forum to discuss homosexuality and religion, but Betsy couldn't express the proper religious view of homosexuality?
How bizarre is that? What fools these liberals be...
Yes, precisely.
If public schools were otherwise perfect, the Gay/Straight Alliance would be sufficient for any thinking parent with sufficient resources to place their kids in private schools.
Slow down a minute.
As a mother that has a three kids being taught human sexuality/biology in science class, I've kept up on what the left's agenda is for the classroom in this regard.
Three years ago, heard on a talk show radio in NJ, a mother of a 5th grader calling in to complain about the "Sex Talk" given to her son's which consisted to a teacher answering questions about sex to the class.
One question from a 5th grade boy was "how do gay people have sex". So the teacher explained in detail how to do such a thing.
Also heard in NJ, junior high school programs of off-site, no parents allowed "discussions" about sexuality that included the gay life style.
As a parent you need to watch out for the school districts that teach "Johnny has two daddies".
I don't see how standing up for someone's right to speak clouds any issue.
Knowledge without morality is not wisdom. I would prefer my child to be educated....not indoctrinated. As long as there is fairness and decency truth will be preserved.
1 Corinthians 6:9-13
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
"Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything. "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"--but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
I emphasized the past-tense there. "That is what some of you WERE". Meaning that, like any other sin, people can leave it behind if they desire to live clean.
Goes on to clarify that just because someone CAN do something, doesn't mean they SHOULD. This section of scripture tears down both of the Big Lies put forth by the Sodomites - 1) That they're "born that way", and 2)that "there's nothing wrong with it".
We can thank the Clintons for this crap - they and their Political Correctness movement. A school in my state (Washington) just cancelled a Halloween event because they were afraid it would be offensive to the "Wiccans". Unbelievable. Maybe after 4 more years of Bush we can get this Nation back to some core values and rid ourselves of this PC BS. Thank you Hillary, for indeed it does take a village to raise a village idiot like you.
I don't want my children taught about sex in a co-ed classroom, by people other than their parents, at a time someone else considers "age-appropriate," in a way someone else feels is "open-minded." It's not the schools' proper role; it's the parents'.
I don't think the truth will prevail because one person is allowed to present a traditional religious viewpoint during a weeklong celebration of homosexuality.
It's good this case was won, but to me, it's like killing the ants you find on the counter ... there's no real improvement until you find the nest and nuke it.
I'm confident the school administration feels they won. Betsy didn't get to speak the truth, so the others are still left with falsehoods.
Someone with no moral standards whatsoever? Someone who is mentally confused?
Who would choose something that leads them to be ostracized from their families, friends, and workplace? To open themselves up to discrimination, hate, and religious demonization?
Prostitutes, Strippers, Drug addicts/dealers, Thieves, Pedofiles, Alcoholics, Democratic presidents/presidential nomonees, etc. etc. etc.
Discrimination: is a word whose political redefinition originated in the civil rights movement.
In normal usage, discrimination is synonymous with discernment, but as used in a civil rights context it means irrational bias against a person. "Irrational" is the hidden qualifier in the term that distinguishes appropriate discernment from prejudice.
In an enlightened society there can be no rational basis for discrimination on criteria such as race, skin color or ethnicity. However, as with multi-culturalism, the introduction of morally significant criteria changes the analysis of discrimination. Discrimination against harmful conduct is entirely rational, and in many cases necessary.
Discrimination is now synonymous with racial prejudice in the public mind. The Radical homosexual movement has exploited this association to legitimize its own claims by adding itself to the list of minorities in anti-discrimination statutes.
Moral discrimination is "rational" justifiable discrimination.
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