Opposition To Homosexuality Is The Real Reason That Liberals Attack Religious Services In Public Schools During Non School Hours

Former gay/aids state senator Tom Duane Explains the real reason why liberals didn't want religious services "She's (Jessica Lappin former Upper East Side City Council woman) not afraid to stand in the minority - even when it means standing up to a powerful group of evangelical churches to keep our public schools from being used for regular worship services, where homophobia finds it's way in to sermons"

 

New York City Can Block Religious Services in Public Schools, Appeals Court Says

A federal appeals panel ruled on Thursday that New York City can bar religious groups from holding services in school buildings, reversing a lower-court decision.

The latest ruling, coming in a tortured legal battle that has lasted almost two decades, was seen as significant because it addressed a further challenge in which a church claimed that the city’s policy violated its religious liberty rights.

The decision does not mean that the city must force religious groups out of the schools, but merely that a city prohibition on religious worship services in schools would comply with the Constitution.

The impact of the decision was not immediately clear; Mayor Bill de Blasio has repeatedly said that he supports the right of religious organizations to hold worship services in public schools, in contrast with the policy of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. On Thursday, Mr. de Blasio affirmed his stance, saying the groups should have access to the schools.

“I stand by my belief that a faith organization playing by the same rules as any community nonprofit deserves access,” he said. “You know, they have to go through the same application process, wait their turn for space, pay the same rent. But I think they deserve access. They play a very, very important role in terms of providing social services and other important community services, and I think they deserve that right.” 

“But we’ll assess the court decision and we’ll look from there,” he added.

The ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit — reversing Judge Loretta A. Preska of Federal District Court in Manhattan — comes almost three years after it held that the city’s ban on worship in public schools did not violate the First Amendment right to free expression.

Judge Pierre N. Leval, writing for a 2-to-1 majority of the panel, said the city’s ban was “consistent with its constitutional duties,” and that it did not violate the right to free exercise of religion. And the judge wrote that the lower court erred in concluding that the policy compelled the city “to make decisions that constitute excessive entanglement with religion.”

The Rev. Robert G. Hall, co-pastor of the Bronx Household of Faith, the church that first sued to challenge the city policy, said its members were “saddened” by the latest ruling.

Jordan W. Lorence, the church’s lawyer, said his client would appeal.

Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the city’s position in the case, called the ruling “a victory for religious freedom.” Ms. Lieberman said the case was about a group of “religious congregations that were dominating public schools across New York City Sunday after Sunday, year after year.”

“When a school is converted to a church in this way,” she added, “it sends a powerful message to students and the community at large that the government favors that particular church." are kids there on weekends?

A city court filing in September 2012 said that in the 2010-11 academic year, about 100 permit applicants sought to hold worship services in the schools, and about 80 of them were regularly holding services.

Judge Leval was joined in his appellate decision by Judge Guido Calabresi. A dissent was filed by Judge John M. Walker Jr., who said the case presented substantial questions that were “ripe for Supreme Court review.”Some of the churches have drawn large crowds of worshipers into the schools. The New Frontier Presbyterian Church has been holding worship services at Public School 11 in Chelsea where, on an average Sunday now, about 800 people attend, said Inhyun Ryu, the senior pastor.

“I don’t think it’s fair,” he said of the appeals court’s ruling. “Anyone can come to public space, regardless of any religion, so I don’t understand.”

Some churches that meet in the schools say they rely on the inexpensive space to help their congregations function, particularly when those churches are small and located in poor neighborhoods, like the Bronx Household of Faith, which had been holding worship services for its roughly 100 congregants at Public School 15 in University Heights since 2002.

The legal dispute has gone on so long that in the intervening years, Bronx Household of Faith has been able to build its own church across the street from the school, and plans to move in late this month, Mr. Hall said.

Even so, the church will continue to fight the legal case, he added, because it still plans to use the school building on some occasions, and because the issue has grown far larger than just his church.

“I don’t know what the mayor is going to do,” he said. “He was in support of us in 2012, but it remains to be seen whether he is going to follow through on that. We hope he does.”

(New York Times) highlights my additions

 

UFT Pushing Homosexuality In Schools

This was in the UFT's pamphlet they send out to all it's members.




New teacher diaries

How I came out to my students

by Hudsynyc | January 16, 2014 New York Teacher issue

Sixteen 14-year-old girls taught by one 28-year-old woman. It is my second year having an all-girls 9th-grade advisory class at my high school in Brooklyn. Advisory is a more informal class where students have the opportunity to build real relationships with each other and with their advisory teacher.

By the end of September, my group of girls knew many things about me: I am originally from the New Jersey suburbs. I have a cat and a dog. I play soccer every week. I am relaxed but like to get things moving and accomplished in the classroom. They knew I buy my jeans at American Eagle and that I am never without an iced coffee in the morning. What they didn’t know was that I am "married" to a woman.

Although our school does not yet have a gay-straight alliance or any LGBT staff members who are out to the students, gay or bisexual teenagers seem ordinary to many of our students, who speak freely about their own sexuality and that of their peers. We even have a transgender student who changed "his" name and now uses the boys’ bathroom and locker room (as per the DOE’s nondiscrimination policy and our principal’s unyielding support).

At the start of this year, I was out to only the group of 10th-grade girls who had been in my advisory class last year. Now I had a new group of 14-year-old girls who didn’t know. What would they think? How would they look at me? Would they feel awkward sitting near me? I remember how I was at their age. And their parents? Their grandparents? Parent-teacher conferences were only a couple of weeks away. Many of their families were religious or from cultures less "tolerant" of homosexuality. I assumed some of the students must be "homophobic".

But one Friday, a student from last year’s advisory dropped in to say hello to me. As we were chatting, she asked how my "wife" was doing.

After she left, one of my most bubbly and outspoken girls asked without hesitation, “Are you bi or gay?”

I tried to keep it cool. “Oh, yes. I forgot. I haven’t told you guys yet, have I? Now when I tell you this, I want us to remember our advisory family rules No. 1 and No. 2. Listen without judgment. And respect.”

Long pause.

“I’m "married" to a woman. I’m gay.”

Cheers and claps. “You’re "married" to a woman?” More cheers and claps.

Hands shot up into the air. “I just want to say that I hate when people "bully" gay people or have somthing not nice to say. Just let people live.”

“For me, being gay is just as normal as being straight,” another student said. “Every woman in my family is gay besides me and my mother. My aunt’s gay. Her girlfriend’s always over at our house. That’s just how it is. We all sit around together.”

“I’m fine with everyone,” a third student responded. “Love who you love. But my grandfather, he’s not. I can’t stand the things he has to say when someone gay comes on the TV. I’ve tried to talk to him about it, but there’s no point. He just doesn’t listen.”

“My mom used to be the same way,” a different student said. “I just kept talking to her when she made those comments. She’s still, you know, whatever. But she’s getting better. It takes time.”

“What’s your "wife"’s name again?” “Where is she from?” “Is her mother OK with everything?” “How did you meet?”

Looks like my assumptions were wrong.

Hudsynyc is the pseudonym of a second-year high school teacher in Brooklyn.

(UFT news letter) quotation mark's are mine, typos are theirs

Chicago To Teach Sex To Your 5 Year Old, And Homosexuality to Your 10 Year Old

The Chicago Board of Education recently passed a new policy that requires sex education to begin in kindergarten, mandating that a set amount of time be spent on sex education in every grade.

All this is being done, while the graduation rate for for Chicago Public School students is barely over 60% (the National Avg is around 75%).

The new policy, which was passed in February, according to ABC News, is part of a broader makeover of the school district’s sexual health program. Sometime within the next two years, students in every grade, including kindergarten, will be required to spend a certain amount of time on "sex education".

The mandated sex-ed for Chicago kindergartners will include instruction about male and female anatomy and reproduction. Though it’s not clear exactly how much the 5 and 6-year olds will be told on the act itself.

By the time students get to third and fourth grade, the focus will include some good things like appropriate and inappropriate touching, as well as puberty and HIV/AIDS.

Coursework from fifth grade to 12th grades will concentrate on sexually-transmitted diseases and contraception. Abstinence will reportedly be presented as a possible method of birth control. Homosexuality, gender identity and bullying related to those things will also be part of the curriculum at some point from fifth grade to 12th grade, as well.

“It is important that we provide students of all ages with accurate and appropriate information so they can make healthy choices in regards to their social interactions, behaviors and relationships,” Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett said in a statement.

CPS says more than half of its high school students are having sex. Cook County ranks number one in the country for sexually transmitted diseases and the U.S. has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the world.

"I just don't think it's appropriate," says Melissa Diebold. "I don't think it's age appropriate. They have no concept of anything like that at that stage in life."
"CPS shouldn't take control of someone else's children like that with our sex education," says Mark Macklan. "That's how I feel."
Mikkel Nance believes sex-ed should begin at home but also welcomes schools getting involved, early on.
"He's in second grade, and we've had introductory conversation on how things work, and how body works," Nance says. "I do applaud CPS for trying to talk to children early the only concern is how they implement it, and if they involved parents in that process and if they do so they'll make that transition smoothly.

In other countries, like Holland, sex ed begins at 4 years old. Sexologist, Dr. Rachael Ross says it's about time for the U.S.
"The parents are kind of in denial about what's happening," Dr. Ross says. "You know, in urban populations, the average age that kids start to have sex is between 13 and 14."

For the first time in Chicago, sex-ed instruction will cover sexual orientation and gender identity. Students will be introduced to terms and definitions associated with sexual identity, including those related to heterosexual and LGBT populations, in an effort to bring awareness, promote "tolerance" and prevent bullying, said the school board.

Parents can remove their children from the sexual health education program if they want, but the apparent default is for kindergartners to learn about sex.

Chicago’s public school system is the nation’s third-largest school district, with approximately 431,000 students.