CA court: 'gay-appearing' students can be expelled by religious schools

It Stinks. However ...

... This is a private school, so they can set whatever rules they like. Just like the Boy Scouts: Yes, they're shits, but they're entitled to be shitty, as long as they're private.

Morally, of course, this is another case of homophobic bigots hiding behind religion. I'm talking about law, and about the right of private groups to control their membership.

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by: S1 @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 09:54:51 AM CST

And remember,

the parents deliberately put their kids in this school.  SO it isn't just the school being shitty, it is the parents first and foremost.  Shame on them causing their own children to fell bad about being in love and for being honest.

Lurleen on Twitter

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by: Lurleen @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 12:13:01 PM CST

[ Parent ]

it's private and religious

But it is a perfect example of why we should not have vouchers, why taxpayers should not pay for religious schools that discriminate.

"Liberals feel unworthy of their possessions. Conservatives feel they deserve everything they've stolen."- Mort Sahl

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by: Jersey Girl @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 22:21:34 PM CST

[ Parent ]

guess they had better wipe Naomi and Ruth out of the OT

The gals in the Old Testament appear pretty dykey to me and many other people.  And it looks damned Queer when a single man is running around Judea with 12-plus other single men and a couple "fallen women."

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by: greatwhitebear @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 09:55:13 AM CST

Taxpayer money?

Anybody know if this school receives local, state or federal money or is the beneficiary of the vouchers?

If any taxpayer money is in the mix, seek relief by ending taxpayer subsidies to this discriminatory school and others like it - a la the Boy Scouts post-Dale decision.

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by: HunterC @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 10:01:50 AM CST

According to the Heritage Foundation

California does not support private school choice.
http://www.heritage.org/resear...

Interestingly enough though Indiana is trying to rally support for a choice program that will allow individuals and corporations to receive a tax credit for donations they make to "scholarship organizations" established to provide tuition assistance to students attending secular and non-secular private schools. They claim that secular schools who receive scholarship money will retain their autonomy from government intervention.  

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by: Donna @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 12:53:09 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Having attended parochial school in the state...

At the (Catholic) school I attended in California fifteen years ago, parents had to sign papers that gave the school the right to do things like cancel non-school-related parties if they found out about them and did not approve, or if they thought that the party would somehow reflect poorly on the school.

I tracked down the actual text of the policy:
"A necessary condition of continued enrollment at [the school] is that students behave in a manner, both on and off campus, that is consistent with the principles and Christian philosophy of [the school.] These principles include but are not limited to, any policies, principles or procedures set forth in our Student-Parent Handbook. It is also a condition of enrollment that the parents/guardians of each student conform to these standards of conduct as determined by [the school]."

I find it pretty damn creepy that someone would sign such a thing. If parents donated to "No on 8," would that qualify as sufficiently "un-Christian" for the school?

OK, gotta stop thinking about this because I'm getting angry!

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by: cbear @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 10:21:47 AM CST

"It is also a condition of enrollment that the parents/guardians of each student conform to these standards of conduct as determined by [the school]."

Wasn't it in California last year that a court ruled that a private evangelical school was within its rights to kick out a student after it discovered the child had lesbian parents?  As someone said above, it sucks, and they're shits, but it's legal.

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by: Pollyanna @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 12:28:09 PM CST

[ Parent ]

yes, i think you're right.

in fact, until you mentioned this, i was confusing this case for that in my mind.  

when i lived back east, all the interesting faculty positions in my field of science were at private conservative religious colleges.  they all had similar rules for employees, where you not only had to act straight on campus, but they had the right to fire you for living your own normal life off campus.  and most required you to make a statement supporting their religious belief before being hired.  needless to say i did not apply for those jobs, and they lost a chance at hiring one of the best faculty they ever dreamed of.

Lurleen on Twitter

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by: Lurleen @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 12:38:14 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Belmont U

Belmont University here in Nashville does that.  My partner was pretty nervous about not finding any adjunct work once and considered applying there.  When she found out that they required faculty to sign a form saying they would abide by the Southern Baptist Convention principles on morality both on and off campus she refused to apply.  Ironically, there quite a few GLBT faculty and students there.

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by: callie @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 13:40:14 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Which means...

Ironically, there quite a few GLBT faculty and students there.

Which means the ACTUAL policy (as opposed to the written one) is "Don't ask, don't tell," and if they want to fire you for any other reason, they will suddenly "find out" you're gay and feign shock.

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by: popebuck1 @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 14:33:53 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Exactly!

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by: callie @ Thu Jan 29, 2009 at 10:05:02 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Respond as they did to BYU in the 70s

The penalty for such actions should be the same as happens with the Boy Scouts now, in fact - the public schools should have nothing to do with such schools. They have the right to be bigots, but the public and the government have the right to refuse to support their bigotry. Parents and schools who support justice and equality should refuse to play against such schools until and unless they change their policies.  

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by: CPT_Doom @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 13:20:13 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I hate the precedent of Boy Scouts v. Dale, but...

I'm not sure this decision is as far off that mark as Raw Story made it out to be.

Here's a link to the actual opnion: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/op...

I think that, if anything, this is a lesson in what is NOT private information: namely, anything you might happen to reveal about yourself on My Space (or Facebook.)

As far as analysis goes, I'm with S1:

Yes, they're shits, but they're entitled to be shitty, as long as they're private.

Of course, I'd wondered if there wasn't some sort of anti-woman attitude in play (such as, perhaps, the perception of them as lesbian came from the girls simply refusing  to defer to men).  Here's a passage from the court opinion:

Lutherans also believe that women should not be placed in a position of authority over men. Accordingly, only men serve on the School's board of directors, which is responsible for expulsions. Plaintiffs allege that, as a result, female students have been disciplined more harshly than male students. Their evidence showed that some male students had been involved in incidents of drug or alcohol possession or use that had resulted in, at most, temporary suspensions.

That - I think - deserves a bit more investigation.

>^..^<

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by: KatRose @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 10:52:51 AM CST

Does anyone trust Obama on this issue? I don't

Obama claims to be against school vouchers, but...
"I will not allow my predispositions to stand in the way of making sure that our kids can learn," Mr. Obama, who has previously said he opposes vouchers, said in a meeting with the editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "We're losing several generations of kids, and something has to be done."

http://www.nysun.com/editorial...

Obama also wants to expand faith-based initiatives - Government funding of social services provided by religious organizations.

Right-wingers want to allow taxpayer funding of private school vouchers and faith-based initiatives AND they want to allow the religious organizations to be exempt from civil rights and employment laws so that if they are a white-supremacist church operating a private school which accepts vouchers, they can hire only white teachers and admit only white students. Same goes for sexual orientation and any other protected class - including women.

Does anyone trust Obama to oppose private school vouchers? I don't.

Does anyone trust Obama to oppose civil-rights and employment exemptions for taxpayer funded schools and charities? I don't.

Don't be surprised if we see private schools with discriminatory policies such as in this article being funded by our taxes under Mr. Obama's administration.

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. -- John F. Kennedy (inspired by Dante's Inferno)

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by: oldbrit @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 11:02:06 AM CST

Uhh no...

I don't know how this turned into Obama's fault but even if Obama wanted to allow discrimination, as you suggest, it wouldn't stand up in the courts.

I'm not saying organization wouldn't try to get around the issues(or keep it tied up in courts), but anti-discrimination laws would prevent the use of tax dollars for such use.  This has been proven in Boy Scouts and Adoption Placement Orgs (Catholic) cases.  Although the rulings do sometimes get complicated because of Fed/State differences in law and where funding sources come from.  And there might be some states where some sort of taxpayer money could get through for such funding, but these loopholes get more and more scarce each year.  

In this case, even if the promises of passing ENDA and discrimination for LGBT at the fed level were not followed through, this organization could not recieve Fed/State dollars due to their discrimination against women (see ruling).  State money would also fail in this case because of LGBT discrimination laws in CA.  If fed passes such laws...well you get the picture.  

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by: Will St. James @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 12:09:08 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Not True!

Repugnants have been trying for years to exempt religious organizations that receive taxpayer dollars from having to follow civil rights and employment law in taxpayer funded programs such as school vouchers and faith-based initiatives.

All it takes is for congress to pass funding for faith-based initiatives or school vouchers and write the exemption into the legislation -- just like civil rights legislation has exemptions for churches, etc.

The Boy Scouts still receive federal funding for the NASA Space Scouts program - unless that has changed very recently.

Since Obama is sucking up to people like Rick Warren and James Meeks, I have no reason to believe Obama wouldn't push for these exemptions.

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. -- John F. Kennedy (inspired by Dante's Inferno)

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by: oldbrit @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 15:54:17 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Uhh no again

You are mixing many different things here including Executive Orders and Legislation and they don't always mix.

Repugnants have been trying for years to exempt religious organizations that receive taxpayer dollars from having to follow civil rights and employment law in taxpayer funded programs such as school vouchers and faith-based initiatives.

And they never succeeded and are no longer the majority.

All it takes is for congress to pass funding for faith-based initiatives or school vouchers and write the exemption into the legislation -- just like civil rights legislation has exemptions for churches, etc.

Civil right legislation does not have exemptions for churches.  Private organization have exemption from civil rights.  There is a big difference.  Churches do not get federal money and therefore are considered private.  Private organizations can control their membership any way they want.  Public institutions can not.  They are bound by civil right legislation.  If Congress passed laws that allowed public money to be used in private religious based schools they would no longer be private and thus would be bound by civil rights laws.  This has been shown over and over again in the courts.  For instance, the religious school receiving public funds could not discriminate on the basis of religion.  If a secular student wanted to attend they would have to let them.  LBGTs may not necessarily be protected in all situation which is why ENDA and discrimination laws are important to us.  Most of the issues with private organizations getting access to public money have revolved around non-direct areas, like using public buildings at reduced prices etc.  More and more, these instances are being brought out into the open and they are losing the battles.

The Boy Scouts still receive federal funding for the NASA Space Scouts program - unless that has changed very recently.

Has anyone went to court over this?  I bet the funding would be pulled if it is proved that the Boy Scouts refused a potential scout access to this program based on religious grounds (gender might also work).  I also don't think that this is legislation but executive order stuff because I know about the relationship between Scouts and the military branch and the special perks they have gotten.  After the 2000 ruling for BSA though, these and other public funding loopholes for the Scouts have slowly started making their way through the courts and they have been losing.  And as I brought up in my previous message, a similar case is the Catholic churches losing public funding in certain states for adoption programs based on gay anti-discrimination issues.  Those programs already could not discriminate based on religious grounds.

Since Obama is sucking up to people like Rick Warren and James Meeks, I have no reason to believe Obama wouldn't push for these exemptions.

Hmm...let see what Obama has said about this (From NYT)..

"If you get a federal grant, you can't use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can't discriminate against them - or against the people you hire - on the basis of their religion," Mr. Obama said. "Federal dollars that go directly to churches, temples and mosques can only be used on secular programs."

I have more but bound max length here, but you get the idea.

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by: Will St. James @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 17:01:06 PM CST

[ Parent ]

And, I say, Obama is a liar

And, I don't believe him.

WHEN and IF he establishes an actual track record on equal rights for all people, I will take him more seriously.

UNTIL THEN, Actions speak louder then words and he has made his hatred of gays abundantly clear by sucking up to Rick Warren, Donny McClurkin, and James Meeks.

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. -- John F. Kennedy (inspired by Dante's Inferno)

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by: oldbrit @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 18:02:22 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Actions do speak louder than words...

And Obama actions so far through his voting at the state and federal level have all been positive.  Your assessment that his "hatred for gays is abundantly clear" is based on people who he has associated with and their actions--not his.  By your guidelines he is also associated with Bishop Gene Robinson who endorsed and consulted with Obama during his campaign.  I guess Gene was duped because Obama really hates him.

Look I'm all for holding Obama accountable, but let's not make up stuff about him.  If he pushes legislation that is anti-gay then I will be the first in line to rake him through the coals.

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by: Will St. James @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 23:02:38 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Tell that to the families

Who gay or lesbian children attempted suicide, succeeded at killing themselves after attending Obama rallies in S. C. and listening to Donny McClurkin denounce gays, or the parents whose children were beaten up by those who listened to Donny McClurkin.

Same goes for James Meeks - Obama's "close spiritual adviser."

Or, how about those who voted for Proposition 8 after Obama announced he opposes same-sex marriage.

Sorry, but Obama is promoting hatred of gays.  

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. -- John F. Kennedy (inspired by Dante's Inferno)

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by: oldbrit @ Thu Jan 29, 2009 at 03:45:55 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Our country is so screwed up

for a multitude of reasons, including stories like this one.

As well as this: a drummer drummed out for ... what? Being overwhelmed by his new preisdent?

"It goes on one at a time, it starts when you care to act, it starts when you do it again after they said no, it starts when you say We and know who you mean, and each day you mean one more."

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by: Louise @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 12:18:13 PM CST

P-R-E-S-I-D-E-N-T

"President".

To use in a sentence: "Former President George W. Bush mowed the lawn today and tomorrow Former President George W. Bush will trim the hedges."

Sigh... bliss achieved.


"It goes on one at a time, it starts when you care to act, it starts when you do it again after they said no, it starts when you say We and know who you mean, and each day you mean one more."

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by: Louise @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 12:21:46 PM CST

[ Parent ]

OMG, Off with his head!

wtf is wrong with people?  suspend a FIREFIGHTER for acknowledging the new president in a parade?  how utterly stupid.  i know the rules of such parades - been in numerous ones myself (although not an inaugural one).  guess what people, most of us are NOT military, and neither is a firefighter.  he broke a tiny rule of military decorum in favor of a greater rule of human decency.  string him up!

Lurleen on Twitter

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by: Lurleen @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 12:31:53 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Don't bite my head off, but

1.  He was suspended for 6 months from participating in the pipe band, not his firefighter job.

2.  They were all warned beforehand to NOT break traditional discipline by waving and such, but he did it anyway.

3.  As the drum major, he was, like, the leader.

Slightly OT - I really liked the service academies corps and bands.  Those folks know how to march in straight lines and play kick-ass marching music!  At the other end of the spectrum, I was embarrassed by the marching lawn mower guys from Illinois.  Oh well, they were from downstate.

 

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by: Pollyanna @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 13:08:19 PM CST

[ Parent ]

LOL!!!

I was sitting here wondering wft THEY were about and where were the clown cars?

Up here, our local parades inevitably show a line of all the farmers' various tractors- I half expected a row of John Deere or others to be be-bopping along...

"It goes on one at a time, it starts when you care to act, it starts when you do it again after they said no, it starts when you say We and know who you mean, and each day you mean one more."

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by: Louise @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 13:34:46 PM CST

[ Parent ]

WTF ? This goes beyond Glbt discriminations

I understand the concept that the courts use. But I wonder what will come from this decision, Will Racist now form church's and Schools that say only one race may attend. And expel anyone who has ethnicity out side the accepted views of their religion? Or a student dare show signs of enjoying the culture of another ethnic group.

Principal X. " So Robert ! Sister Rachel informs me you have been listening to Rap?  and doing so we deem you unfit to attend our school, for violation of our religious views of separation of races.

Is this what were headed to?  Yet they the churches draw federal funds to enforce the discrimination threw faith based initiatives.

its a god damn outrage, and things like this are why the founding fathers seperated chruch and state powers.

A Revolution was started because of the Kings church and forcing people to pay a tax to the pastors of the kings church when they had no funds to pay.  Well things like this make me think there is a civil war of freedom of religion coming to the shores soon again.    

Pain is Inevitable .
Suffering is Optional  

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by: Ana @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 12:35:28 PM CST

When I was a kid...

A girl in my high school was suspended for...

...get this...

...coming to school with a Farrah Fawcett hairstyle.

She was called a whore and told that her new do was "too provocative" for school.

This was over 30 years ago, folks. We can all laugh about it today.

Now, kids are being expelled for looking too gay. In a few decades, people will see that as being just as ridiculous as what happened at my school in 1976.


When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 12:45:49 PM CST

Gee, that's why I was thrown out of ALL of the "Christian" schools I went to...

And I'm sure the girls said "good riddance". No kid with any sense wants to be stuck in those schools, and for good reason. I'm with Lurleen-any parent with any sense wouldn't put their kids in a "school" like that. Of course, those private "Christian" schools talk about giving your kids a good education-thing is, I got a BETTER education in my PUBLIC high school than I ever got in either one of the "Christian" schools I was in. The teachers-with one exception-were too busy trying to shove their religion down our throats.  

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by: Mindyinlongbeach @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 12:53:24 PM CST

[ Parent ]

And one more thing....

THIS sounds rather suspicious...

The dispute started when a student at the school told a teacher in 2005 that one of the girls had said she loved the other. The student advised the teacher to look at the girls' MySpace pages. One of the girls was identified as bisexual on her MySpace page, the other's page said she was "not sure" of her sexual orientation.

That school doesn't look like a place of education-IT LOOKS LIKE A PRISON. Any parent willing to put a kid in a place like that needs to be visited by Social Services.  

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by: Mindyinlongbeach @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 12:57:37 PM CST

[ Parent ]

A counter-example

My sister has her daughter in the local Catholic school where she lives, precisely  because they did their research and the parochial school DOES offer a better curriculum than any of the local public schools.  She's had to bite her lip a few times since then, and she's had to sit my niece down after school a few times to "deprogram" her of some bit of Catholic propaganda she'd been fed in class, but overall she agrees it's been well worth it.

Of course, the Catholic parochial school system has been in place for a lot longer than most of these fly-by-night fundamentalist "Christian schools," so it stands to reason there are some excellent Catholic schools out there, as opposed to your average "Brother Jed and Sister Cindy, who got their teaching credentials via mail order from Oral Roberts University, opened this school in 2003 because of their horror at the liberal agenda foisted upon our children in the public schools..." yadda yadda yadda.

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by: popebuck1 @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 14:41:00 PM CST

[ Parent ]

OK, the catholic schools perhaps, but I still don't buy that...

The parochial schools may be better at some things, but the public high school I went to beat the hell out of ALL the local Catholic AND "Christian" schools when it came to SAT scores-and the curriculum was ten times better, without the religion bullshit. In fact, my old high school was one of the first to be given the All-America school award that the federal government gives out. From what I've heard, it still continues to smear the parochial schools all over the pavement when SAT time comes up.
I was lucky enough to live in a fairly upper middle class community that actually paid attention to it's schools-I realize not everyone's that lucky, hence the decision to put kids in religious schools. However, I don't think the so-called "better education" these schools allegedly give is worth the psychic damage given the kids who go to these schools.  

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by: Mindyinlongbeach @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 20:54:27 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I knew a girl in high school

that was suspended for dying her hair blue. This was three years ago that she told me this. Things haven't changed that much.

Fetch my pearls, I need to clutch them!

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by: RainbowPhoenix @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 13:07:13 PM CST

[ Parent ]

When I was in Catholic School in the 80s

The high school had a standing, but unwritten, policy to expel any female student who got pregnant, but not the father of the child. The thinking was that a) boys are too horney to control themselves, so girls are responsible for putting the brakes on and b) any girl that would have sex with one boy is clearly a whore and can't be trusted as to the father's identity. This policy even applied after a boy in my sister's homeroom (they were juniors) got his own girlfriend pregnant AND got her little sister pregnant (she was in my freshman home room). There was some question of how consensual the sex had been with the younger sister, but they still kicked them both out. The father was not disciplined in the slightest. The next year my own cousin had to hide both her pregnancy and her marriage plans so she could graduate.

Of course, the end result of this policy was a high number of abortions by girls who got pregnant and didn't want to get expelled.  

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by: CPT_Doom @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 13:27:20 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Catholic School

When my twin brother and I were in Catholic School in the early '70s, a bunch of us boys slipped into the auditorium where the girls in our grade were getting a special lecture from the nuns. I'll never forget what I heard:

(Imagine this being delivered in a think Irish accent.)

"Now, girls. You mustn't wear make up or shorten your skirts because it tempts the boys. And, you know, the boys can't help themselves. It is up to you to make sure that they aren't tempted to sin. You mustn't tease them or touch them or sit too close."

We all thought it was very funny.  

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 13:48:46 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Yep, sounds like the nuns

from when I went to Catholic middle school.

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by: kevinchi @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 14:06:18 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I went to a public "magnet" school in Detroit in the 80's

and they relocated one of the students that became pregnant. She was allowed to go to her neighborhood high school for the balance of the school year. She returned in our junior year.

Many of my classmates were resentful that she was allowed to return because her neighborhood HS was MUCH easier academically.  

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by: kevinchi @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 14:04:36 PM CST

[ Parent ]

These two alledged lesbian girls got ratted out by some other girl

and they checked their Facebook info.
BIG BROTHER and snitches...I'd rather have dykes.

What have you done today, to make ya feel PROUD?


~Heather Small

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by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 13:00:58 PM CST

alliancealert.org comments

It was a Lutheran School.  The parents were the ones suing the school.  The ADF press release refers to "homosexual activity" over and over....They make it seem like their sexual orientation was explicit....unlike the emphasis this article give.

Victory for California Christian school

California Court of Appeal upholds right of Christian school
to make admission, discipline decisions in face of discrimination charges

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The California Court of Appeal yesterday held that the state's anti-discrimination laws do not forbid California Lutheran High School from using religious criteria in making admission and discipline decisions. The parents of two students sued the school because it suspended the teenage girls when they violated the school's code of conduct by engaging in homosexual behavior.

"Christian schools should be able to make admission and discipline decisions consistent with their religious beliefs. The Court of Appeal's decision preserves that right for Christian schools in California," said CLS Litigation Counsel Timothy J. Tracey. "The court understood that this right would be violated if Christian schools were subjected to liability under California anti-discrimination laws for expelling students who engage in homosexual conduct."

Attorneys with CLS's Center for Law & Religious Freedom and the Alliance Defense Fund sought to intervene in the case in support of the school on behalf of the Association of Faith-Based Organization, a coalition of over 830 California Christian schools

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by: Karen in Kalifornia @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 16:01:39 PM CST

Religious school not a business

Seems the court found that the school was not a "business" therefore not beholding to CA's strict accomindation law.

In Doe v. California Lutheran High School Association, (Cal. App., Jan. 26, 2009), a California state appellate court held that a private religious high school is not a "business enterprise" and therefore is not subject to the Unruh Civil Rights Act. The case involves a sexual orientation discrimination claim brought by two students who were expelled from California Lutheran High School in Wildomar (CA) because of their homosexual relationship.

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by: Karen in Kalifornia @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 16:30:59 PM CST

Appearance isn't everything

What would happen if somebody noticed some guy was different in the shower. Would he be expelled for appearing Jewish or Muslim? Or some girl wanted salad in the cafeteria without bacon bits. Slippery slope.

I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me. Hunter S.

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by: txwhtboy @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 17:08:07 PM CST

ADF insists the lawsuit was over actual conduct not appearance.

suspended the teenage girls when they violated the school's code of conduct by engaging in homosexual behavior

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by: Karen in Kalifornia @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 17:15:24 PM CST

[ Parent ]

LGBTs should begin a religious school

school of sappho
school of Apollo
school of artemis

What have you done today, to make ya feel PROUD?


~Heather Small

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by: peteyPornpig @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 17:11:14 PM CST

The discrimination extends to public schools as well...

The alternative HS in which I work has a large gay population.  Two of our students were suspended for kissing in the hallway.  The reason?  They were both female and they refused to comply when there were hetero couples swappin' spit all around without comment.

Welcome to small-town Amerika.    

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by: lbhart @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 17:55:43 PM CST

Religious schools teach students to lie and lead them to atheism

Smart kids know how to keep out of trouble. If you learn to lie in order to fit in with some religious expectation, you learn to have contempt for religion and for those who are religious authorities.

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by: NancyP @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 21:22:34 PM CST

Which is exactly what happened to me...

I NEVER bought the Jesus bullshit. For some reason, I just had a feeling it wasn't they way they said in that stupid book. It's amazing to me that people actually believe that crap. However, being in religious schools didn't lead me to atheism-it led me to Paganism instead-specifically the Goddess.  

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by: Mindyinlongbeach @ Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 21:47:47 PM CST

[ Parent ]