Tyler Clementi’s parents may sue

The parents of the Rutgers student who was filmed having sex may sue the school.

Tyler Clementi’s parents may sue

The parents of the Rutgers student who was filmed having sex may sue the school.

Cardinal: Catholic schools welcome kids of gays – but priest made OK call

(Boston) Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley on Wednesday defended a priest who denied admission to a parish school to a gay couple’s child, calling it a pastoral decision and saying the priest had his “full confidence and support.”

O’Malley’s comments on his blog were his first public remarks about the decision earlier this month by St. Paul Elementary School in Hingham to rescind the boy’s acceptance because his parents are lesbians.

A parent of the boy said the Rev. James Rafferty, the parish priest at St. Paul’s, said her relationship was “in discord” with church teachings, which sees marriage as only between a man and a woman. She said the principal told her teachers wouldn’t be prepared to handle the boy’s questions when he realized the church’s view of family conflicted with what he saw at home. The parent spoke to The Associated Press but asked not to be named to protect the welfare of the child.

The decision prompted calls for O’Malley to intervene. The Catholic Schools Foundation, which O’Malley chairs, said the decision was at odds with Gospel teaching, and it wouldn’t fund schools that made similar decisions.

The archdiocese’s head of education later called the parent, apologized and offered to help the 8-year-old enroll in another Catholic school.

O’Malley said Rafferty had come under “undue criticism” for the decision.

“He made a decision about the admission of the child to St. Paul School based on his pastoral concern for the child,” O’Malley wrote. “I can attest personally that Father Rafferty would never exclude a child to sanction the child’s parents.”

The archdiocese said it is creating a policy to clarify its schools don’t bar children with same-sex parents.

“It is true that we welcome people from all walks of life,” O’Malley wrote. “But we recognize that, regardless of the circumstances involved, we maintain our responsibility to teach the truths of our faith, including those concerning sexual morality and marriage.”

O’Malley began his post with a recollection about meeting the young daughter of a murdered woman who had run a brothel while he was bishop in the West Indies. He said the woman’s daughter had left public school because she was being badly taunted, and he immediately directed that the girl be admitted to the local Catholic school.

“Catholic schools exist for the good of the children and our admission standards must reflect that,” he wrote. “We have never had categories of people who were excluded.”

The Hingham case was similar to a situation in Boulder, Colo., in which a Catholic school said two children of lesbian parents could not re-enroll because of their parents’ sexual orientation, and the Denver Archdiocese backed the decision.

“It is clear that all of their school policies (in Denver) are intended to foster the welfare of the children and fidelity to the mission of the Church,” O’Malley wrote. “Their positions and rationale must be seriously considered.”

Westboro to picket Constance McMillen’s graduation

Kansas-based hatemongers from the Westboro Baptist Church plan to picket Constance McMillen’s graduation from her Mississippi high school.

Constance McMillen gained notoriety when she asked her school, Itawamba Agricultural High School, to allow her to attend prom with her girlfriend. She also wanted to wear a tuxedo instead of a prom dress.

[1]

According to a statement on the Westboro Baptist website [2], “The parents of Fulton, MS feign outrage that a filthy dyke wants to parade her ‘girlfriend’ around at their night of fornication called a prom. They had a duty to teach their children what the Lord requires of them. They shirked this duty.”

McMillen graduates May 22.

[1] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/news-constance-mcmillen-top.jpg
[2] http://www.godhatesfags.com/schedule.html

Students rally against Georgia prom decision

Although Georgia high school student Derrick Martin has the okay from school officials to bring his boyfriend to prom, not all his fellow students agree with the move. In fact, some students organized a protest.

Protest organizer Amber Duskin, a senior at Bleckley County High School, sent text messages to her fellow students on Wednesday asking them to show up, according to the Macon Telegraph.

[1]

“I don’t believe in going up there and dancing with gay guys like that,” she told the newspaper. “It’s also not just him bringing a boy. It was bringing all this attention to it.”

And his parents, who dislike the media attention, kicked him out of the house. He is currently staying with friends. Ironically, Martin’s father is a math teacher at Bleckley County High and is the school’s Teacher of the Year.

Martin said Thursday the school is considering abandoning the traditional “walk-through” where couples are announced as they enter the dance. He also said some students discussed having a separate prom.

[1] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/news-gay-prom-guys-top.jpg

Principal apologizes over choice of black history heroes

(LOS ANGELES) The principal of a South Los Angeles elementary school has apologized after some children carried photos of O.J. Simpson, RuPaul and Dennis Rodman in a parade celebrating Black History Month.

Lorraine Abner of Wadsworth Avenue Elementary School sent a letter Thursday to parents apologizing for what she called judgment …

Harry Potter speaks for gay suicide prevention

(New York) Daniel Radcliffe is explaining why he has just filmed a public service announcement for The Trevor Project, the leading organization focusing on suicide prevention efforts among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youth.

Because his parents were both actors, “I grew up knowing a lot of gay men and it …

Study says lesbians make better parents

Lesbians make better parents than a man and a woman, according to Stephen Scott, Director of Research, at the National Academy for Parenting Practitioners.

In a meeting hosted by the think tank Demos, Scott said that the latest research showed that children of such couples did better in life, reported UK Daily …

Transgender teaching sub won’t return in NJ

Lily McBeth, a substitute teacher from Little Egg Harbor Township, became a national symbol of acceptance for transgender Americans in 2006 when the Eagleswood and Pinelands Regional school districts kept her on the job despite protests from some parents.

But McBeth said the number of teaching assignments she got from both school districts dwindled from 10 to 20 calls when she was William McBeth to just one or two calls per semester. McBeth sent a letter to Eagleswood Township officials stating that she will not return in the fall and she plans to send a similar notice to the Pinelands Regional School District.

“I’m trying to get out with grace and dignity,” McBeth, 74, said in a phone interview Wednesday. “It’s just a shame the school district – they had an opportunity … to teach the students and the staff something about tolerance and diversity, and they look good for putting me back on the list. But what they did with me once I got on the list was hang me out to dry.”

McBeth added that she wants to keep her decision to leave “calm and peaceful.”

“I’m not interested in stirring up a hornet’s nest,” she said.

McBeth, who grew up in Atlantic City, had gender-reassignment surgery in 2005.

Detlef Kern, superintendent of Pinelands Regional, declined to comment when reached by phone Wednesday.

See Transgender teaching sub won’t return

Press of Atlantic City

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Family says Bryce Faulkner is undergoing anti-gay counseling willingly

The parents of Bryce Faulkner, a young man who was reported missing by friends and his boyfriend, say he is undergoing anti-gay counseling at his own will.

“He’s fine,” Debra Faulkner told FOXNews.com. “All the stories you’ve been told are not true.”

However, a man who claims to be Bryce’s boyfriend doubts the validity of Mrs. Faulkner’s statement.

Travis Swanson says he and Faulkner are boyfriends and refuses to take down a website to help Bryce until he is told to do so by his alleged boyfriend. Now Bryce’s parents are threatening to sue.

“[Bryce] got caught up with friends who were pulling him that way,” Mrs. Faulkner said. “He just wants to take some time and figure out what he wants to do with his life.”

Through a statement released by a family spokesperson, Bryce says he is seeking treatment on his own accord.

“Every decision that I’ve made has been based solely upon my beliefs and I have not been manipulated or coerced by anyone to do anything,” Bryce Faulkner’s statement read. He declined further comment.

See Family says Bryce Faulkner is undergoing anti-gay counseling willingly Gay Socialites

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