Education Secretary Arne Duncan issued a “Dear Colleagues” letter on June 14 advising federally funded schools about establishing clubs on campuses, specifically Gay-Straight Alliance [GSA] clubs for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.
For background, read Texas School Bucks Homosexualist Club GSA and also read White House Says Gay Recruitment of Kids Successful as well as Gay Recruitment of Kids: Senators Join Obama
-- From "Duncan Warns Schools on Banning Gay-Straight Clubs" by Nirvi Shah, Education Week 6/14/11
Citing 1984’s Equal Access Act, created to prevent discrimination against religious groups at schools, Mr. Duncan said schools must treat all student-initiated groups equally, pointing out the benefits of groups that address issues related to students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender in particular, and noting the verbal and physical abuse these students sometimes experience.
Mr. Duncan’s letter to school districts was accompanied by legal guidelines from the Education Department’s General Counsel Charles P. Rose. It follows an October 2010 letter to districts about how bullying, in particular of students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, may violate students’ civil rights.
The first such [GSA] group was created by Kevin Jennings when he was a teacher in 1998. Last week, Mr. Jennings left his post at the department as assistant deputy secretary of the office of safe and drug-free schools.
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From "Education Secretary Advises School Districts on Homosexual Clubs for Students" by Penny Starr, CNSNews.com 7/8/11
The letter was issued from the department’s Office of Civil Rights for elementary and secondary schools and was sent to all school districts in the United States, according to Jo Ann Webb, spokesperson for the Department of Education (DOE).
Duncan’s letter cites statistics in a 2009 survey done by the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a gay activist organization founded by former Obama administration’s Education Department official Kevin Jennings.
In the press release issued by the organization that hired Jennings after he left the Obama administration, Jennings’ homosexual activism was touted, including the fact that during his 14-year tenure heading GLSEN, Jennings helped increase the number of Gay-Straight Alliance clubs from 50 in 1995 to 4,300 when he stepped down as the head of the organization in 2008.
Duncan’s letter, identified as one of the department’s “key policy letters,” also states that there is legal grounding for the LGBT guidelines in the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.
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