The Anoka-Hennepin school district's long-standing neutrality statement concerning sexual orientation has caused homosexualists to label the district as being hateful toward "gay students" and to threaten lawsuits.
For background, read ACLU Threatens Schools: Must Teach Homosexuality and also read White House Says Gay Recruitment of Kids Successful as well as Moral Values Cause Teen Suicides: Study
Previously this year, this school district accepted a lesbian exhibition maneuver.
UPDATE 2/14/12: Minnesota School Succumbs to Gay Agenda Bullying
UPDATE 3/6/12: School settles federal lawsuit agreeing to pay $270,000 to six student plaintiffs who accused the district of creating a hostile, anti-gay environment
-- From "Anoka-Henn. school officials meet with civil rights groups over gay harassment claims" by Tom Weber, Minnesota Public Radio 6/14/11
The Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Center for Lesbian Rights said last month Minnesota's largest school district must address anti-gay harassment or face a federal lawsuit.
The two sides agreed to a meeting in hopes of avoiding legal action. The groups want compensation for their clients, and also seek repeal of a district policy that requires staff to be neutral in dealing with sexual orientation curriculum issues.
District leaders have said they have no plans to remove that so-called "neutrality policy."
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From "Anoka-Hennepin policy aims to respect all families and students" by Dennis L. Carlson, Superintendent, Anoka-Hennepin School District 6/8/11
For the past year, the Anoka-Hennepin school district has been repeatedly asked by members of the public and special interest groups to eliminate our sexual orientation curriculum policy, which requires staff in the course of their professional duties to "remain neutral on matters regarding sexual orientation." They believe the policy has prevented staff from intervening when LGBT students are bullied or harassed and prevented staff from helping students who are struggling with their sexual orientation.
Wishing to respect all families and all students, the school board believes neutrality is the best option. The board adopted a religious activities policy years ago requiring "neutrality in matters of religion." The sexual orientation policy is similar. When speaking with students during class time, teachers do not advocate homosexuality, nor do they condemn it.
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From "Bullies attack 1 in 5 gay students in state, survey finds" by Jeremy Olson, Minneapolis Star Tribune 6/28/11
A federal school safety report in 2009 estimated that one-third of students ages 12 to 18 were bullied at school. Advocates [a.k.a. homosexualists] believe that gay students are bullied at a rate higher than other students.
Concerns about the safety of GLBT students in Minnesota heightened with the suicide last July of Justin Aaberg, an Anoka High student. His mother, Tammy, criticized the district for a policy that she said limited how staff could support gay students. Aaberg was one of six students in the Anoka Hennepin School District to die by suicide in a recent 12-month period. A district review found bullying wasn't the principal issue, but many parents and students believe that it was a key factor.
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From "Conservative group to Anoka-Hennepin: Keep sexual orientation policy" by Elizabeth Dunbar, Minnesota Public Radio 6/28/11
The Alliance Defense Fund, a group of Christian attorneys who have worked in several states on efforts to ban same-sex marriage, sent a letter to the school district on Tuesday. In it, Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco said the civil rights groups' arguments have "no basis in law."
"The district should not allow SPLC and NCLR to browbeat them into abandoning its sensible policy of requiring district personnel to remain neutral on issues regarding sexual orientation," Tedesco wrote. "Neutrality does not equal hostility. Rather, neutrality respects all sides of a controversial issue, and advocates none."
Leaders from the Southern Poverty Law Center and National center for Lesbian Rights argued in an op-ed this week that the school district's policy in practice is not neutral because it silences gay students and keeps historical content about gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people out of the curriculum.
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Also read We Recruit Kids for Sexual Deviancy: Gay Activist
