Teacher sues lesbian mom who said son was improperly disciplined

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A year after a lesbian mother said her son was disciplined in a Lafayette, La., school for merely talking about what the word "gay" means, the teacher at the center of the dispute is fighting back with a lawsuit.

Terry L. Bethea and her husband Kenneth claim in their suit that the mother, Sharon Huff, along with the American Civil Liberties Union and several ACLU employees, publicly made numerous false claims. The Bethea's say they suffered more than $50,000 in damages — including physical and emotional pain and damage to their reputations. They seek a jury trial in the lawsuit filed in state court here by former state Sen. Max Jordan.

Louisiana ACLU director Joe Cook, a defendant in the suit, called it a "SLAPP" — meaning "strategic lawsuit against public participation" — designed to keep Huff and the ACLU from speaking out.

"We won't be silenced. We do not believe that this suit has merit and we plan to get it dismissed," Cook said.

Huff, through Cook, declined comment to The Associated Press. She told The (Lafayette, La.) Advertiser on Tuesday that Bethea's lawyer had demanded an apology. "I didn't feel like I should do it," she said.

The lawsuit lists an array of accusations made publicly by Huff or the ACLU that the Betheas say are untrue. They include allegations that:

• he was forced to repeatedly write, "I will never use the word gay in school again."

Huff's accusations made national news and led to the teacher getting hate mail and telephone calls from around the nation, leading to her taking a sabbatical, the lawsuit said.

ACLU defends student’s use of word ‘gay’
Teacher reprimanded 7-year-old for discussing mother’s lifestyle
Sebreana Domingue
sdomingue@theadvertiser.com

December 2, 2003

Brad Kemp/The Lafayette Daily Advertiser

Sharon Huff, left, with partner Heather Manley, was recently contacted by her child’s school and told that he used inappropriate language when explaining that his mother was gay.

LAFAYETTE — The American Civil Liberties Union demanded an apology Monday from the Lafayette Parish School District for disciplining a child who described his mother as gay.

The second-grader at Ernest Gallet Elementary School was sent to the principal’s office Nov. 11 and forced to attend a “behavioral clinic” a week later, where he repeatedly had to write “I will never use the word ‘gay’ in school again,” the ACLU said in its complaint to the district.

School officials said that the child, whose name is being withheld by The Daily Advertiser, used inappropriate sexual language.

Parent Sharon Huff said that she was contacted by Assistant Principal Nicholas Thomas, who told her that her child had used inappropriate language in school.

“He introduced himself to me and said (name deleted) got into a lot of trouble because he was using inappropriate foul language to another child,” Huff said.

Huff said that Thomas also told her he didn’t feel c! omfortable repeating it over the telephone.

“He said it would be in the paperwork he sent home ...” Huff said.

That paperwork states: “(name withheld) decided to explain to another child in his group that his mom is gay. He told the other child that gay is when a girl likes a girl.

“This kind of discussion is not acceptable in my room. I feel that parents should explain things of this nature to their own children in their own way.”

The child was also made to sign a “Student Behavior Contract,” where he wrote, “I sed bad wurds.”

Superintendent James Easton said that the child wasn’t disciplined for using the word “gay.” Ernest Gallet Principal Virginia Bonvillian and Thomas, the assistant principal, could not be reached for comment Monday.

“It was an inappropriate description of personal activity,” Easton said. “I don’t know exactly what was said, but that is what was reported to me.”

Easton said that the issue will be investig! ated seriously before the district responds to the ACLU’s! complaint.

“It would surprise me if that accusation is accurate,” he said. “A child can’t be disciplined for using the term ‘gay.’ If one were, it would be a violation of their rights.”

Huff contends that’s exactly what happened.

“I was almost in tears when (name deleted) got home,” she said. “I had no idea what he had picked up from somewhere. I am very meticulous about what he watches on TV. I knew he must have said something really bad.”

After reading the report, Huff said that she was shocked.

“I was floored,” she said. “I think I sat at the table for a couple of hours.”

Then, she said that she got mad.

Ken Choe, ACLU staff attorney for the Lesbian and Gay Rights Project based in Washington, D.C., said his office wants to send a clear message that getting disciplined for describing a gay relationship violates the constitutional right to free speech.

“We reached out to the school in this case to try to work with it to! resolve the problem without litigation,” he said.

Choe called this case was one of the most “egregious” he has ever seen.

“I have to say here the law is secondary,” he said. “What is of the greatest concern to us is that the school is sending a message to a 7-year-old boy that he can’t talk about his own mother.”

The ACLU’s complaint asks the School Board to ensure that:

Ernest Gallet will refrain from taking further disciplinary action against the child for using the word gay to describe his mother;

Give assurances that the school will not engage in censorship or discrimination in the future.

Offer apologies to the child and his mother.

Huff said that all she wants is for her son to avoid punishment because she is gay.

“I don’t want any other child going to elementary school and being taught prejudice of any sort,” Huff said. “This is one thing I hate most in the world.”

The way things have been going, kids aren't allowed to discuss their parents religious beliefs in school. How is this not a violation of "free speech?" Sexuality is a touchy subject, and children as young as 7 discussing it without proper adult supervision could prove very confusing to other children. This takes educating out of the hands of teachers and parents, and puts it in the hands of strangers and other children who may not share the beliefs and values of the parents.

Just as a child who talked about his mother and father and what they did together should be a suspendable offense, so should a dissertation of mother and other and their "relationship".

When discussing lesbians, how does one explain where babies come from? "The mommy and the...mommy get together in the doctor's office with a list of prospective donors..."

"Donors? Of what?"

"Uhh.... donors of...uh... semen"

"Seamen? Like sailors? Why do they need a list of sailors?"

"No, not sailors, semen, like...uh...the stuff that daddies make babies out of."

"Why? Why don't they just get a daddy?"

Good question kid.

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