Kristopher Franks set to return to work Friday after 4-day leave stemming from allegations of improper behavior
Tammye Nash | Senior Editor
nash@dallasvoice.com
FORT WORTH — Gay Western Hills High School teacher Kristopher Franks, put on paid administrative leave on Monday, Sept. 26, following allegations of improper behavior, has been cleared of all allegations and was set to return to work today (Friday, Sept. 30).
Franks is the teacher who became the target of ire from the religious right after he sent a student in his German 1 class to the principal’s office for saying in class that as a Christian he believed “homosexuality is wrong.” The school’s assistance principal then suspended the student, setting off a controversy that made headlines around the country.
That student, freshman Dakota Ary, and his mother enlisted the assistance of Liberty Counsel attorney Matt Krause in fighting the suspension on the grounds that Franks and the school had violated Ary’s right to freedom of speech.
District officials quickly reversed their decision, lifting the suspension.
But Steven Poole, deputy executive director for the United Educators Association of Texas, a teachers union, said Tuesday, Sept. 27, that the allegations leading to Franks being put on leave were unrelated to the incident with Ary.
Franks, who had not spoken to the press previously on the advice of his union representative, said Thursday afternoon that he had just met with Fort Worth Independent School District administrators, who told him the nearly weeklong investigation had determined that the allegations against him were unfounded. He did not elaborate on the substance of those allegations.
Franks also said administrators had given him the option of returning to teach at Western Hills High or transferring to another school in the district.
“I haven’t made up my mind yet what I’m going to do,” Franks told Dallas Voice by phone Thursday afternoon. “I’m going to go back to work tomorrow, and I will talk to my boss [the district’s world languages supervisor], and see what she says and decide what’s the best thing to do from there.”
FWISD Board of Trustees member Dr. Carlos Vasquez told Dallas Voice in a phone call Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 28, that any time allegations are made against a teacher, those allegations have to be investigated, and it is routine for the teacher in question to be placed on paid administrative leave.
Franks said Thursday that he was pleased with the outcome of the investigation, carried out by an independent investigator, and that interim FWISD Supt. Walter Dansby was “very nice” when they spoke.
“I think they did the right thing,” Franks said. “I can go back to work, which is great. But now I just have to figure out how to fix the damage this whole thing has done to my personal life.”
Franks said since the investigation is closed, he is no longer being represented by a union attorney. He has, instead, retained the services of attorney Stephen Gordon to “represent me on any aspects of this whole thing going forward.”
He also indicated that he and Gordon would be discussing what possible actions he might take against “those people who have lied and made false allegations against me.”
While Franks had previously declined to speak to the media, Daokta Ary, his mother and Krause as their attorney went immediately to the press, telling their side of the story in several TV interviews and saying Franks and the school had violated the student’s right to freedom of speech. The case quickly became a rallying point for the religious right.
Krause this week told Dallas Voice that he and his clients are satisfied with school officials’ decision to rescind the unexcused absences the suspension left on Ary’s record, but “we would still like for them [school officials] to completely vindicate him and say that he did nothing wrong. He should never have been written up for an infraction. He should never have been sent to the office, and he should never have been suspended.”
Ary said in media interviews that he made the comment quietly to a classmate sitting next to him in response to a discussion going on in the class at the time.
But Franks told friends shortly after the incident that there was no discussion involving homosexuality at the time, and that Ary made the comment loudly while looking directly at Franks.
Franks also told friends that the comment was only the latest in an ongoing series of incidents in which Ary and a group of three of his friends have made anti-gay comments to and about him.
Franks told friends that the harassment by Ary and his friends began several weeks ago after Franks, who also teaches sociology, posted on the “World Wall” in his classroom a photo, taken from the German news magazine Stern, of two men kissing. The photo was ripped off the wall and torn in two at some point during Ary’s class, and Franks told friends he believes that Ary or one of his friends tore up the photo.
During a later sociology class students upset that the photo had been torn up replaced it with a hand-drawn picture, and another student then covered that picture with a page bearing a hand-written biblical scripture from Leviticus calling sex between two men an abomination.
Franks told friends that since that incident, Ary and his friends had continued to make derogatory and harassing comments.
Franks’ friends also said that the teacher, a Fulbright scholar, has been the target of anti-gay harassment for at least the last two years, including having hateful messages left in his classroom and, in one case, having his car vandalized.
FWISD teacher Martin Vann, spokesman for the group LGBTQ S.A.V.E.S. that was formed about a year ago to help protect students and teachers in the district from anti-gay discrimination and bullying, said that Franks told his version of the incident last week, before the current investigation was launched and Franks was required to sign a statement saying he would not discuss the incident with other teachers, administrators, parents or students. Vann said Franks denied getting angry and yelling at Ary, as Ary had said, and reiterated that Ary’s comments were not pertinent to any discussion in the class at the time.
Vann said Franks told him that another student had asked him what the German word for “Christian” was, and how, if he moved to Germany, he could find an English translation of the Bible. That’s when, Franks told Vann, Ary looked directly at him and said loudly that as a Christian, he believes homosexuality is wrong.
It was not, Franks told Vann, a simple statement of belief or opinion but rather an intentional effort to insult and harass the teacher that Ary perceived to be gay.
Krause this week again said that Ary did not direct his remark in class that day at Franks, and that Ary had nothing to do with tearing down the photo of the men kissing.
The attorney also said that Ary told him he did not know to whom Franks was referring when he talked about Ary’s “three friends.”
The Franks case comes in the wake of months of scandal over allegations by teachers that administrators routinely allowed some teachers and administrators to harass and bully students and other teachers, and that teachers who complained often faced retaliation.
Vasquez, who is openly gay, said Wednesday that he believed the Franks investigation would be fair, that he would watch the situation closely “to make sure all the proper procedures are followed,” and that he believed Dansby would handle the situation fairly.
“Considering all the problems we’ve had, I know he [Dansby] will be watching this closely,” Vasquez said.
Vasquez said it is the school district’s responsibility to make sure there is “no harassment in our schools, whether it’s from the teacher to the student, or student to student or even student to teacher. I know that happens, sometimes, too.
“There should be no harassment whatsoever in our schools,” Vasquez , himself a former teacher, said.
Fort Worth ISD has been credited with having one of the most comprehensive anti-bullying and anti-harassment policies in the state, having adopted individual policies within the last year to include prohibitions against harassment and bullying, including that based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, for both teachers and students.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition September 30, 2011.
is it wrong to say that when I first saw the pic of the Ary kid in this article…I thought he was a she? I’m not saying that to be hateful – I seriously thought it was a female at first glance…I mean, the shirt, the hair…the perfectly tweezed eyebrows…I think someone may have a secret they’re trying to hide, and all this acting out is a part of that.
This world is sick! Imagine Russia of all countries is banning Gay activity while America is embracing it. Something is terribly wrong here. God help us! Now i’m a hater because I believe in God and his word like Dakota and his friends …. Before you say anything to the contrary, God Bless you as God love you!
Art: Drop dead! And take your blessing with you!
@Aet; I guess you can start building your oven and burning the gays. Russia is not ban gays just like the USA can not ban the air. Some people are gay. Live with it…….
The idiot also asked if Germans read the Bible in English. Because we all know that god wrote the thing in King James English and that’s just how people talked back then. The kid is a brainwashed sheep. Totally mindless. And look at the photo. He looks like a mindless zombie
Art, Great! Glad you follow your faith. I assume you are also adamant about women who cut their hair? One of the few verses in the new testament about homosexuality also says women should not cut their hair. And I guess you don’t shave the same book that says man shall not lay with man says cutting your beard is an abomination. And you don’t wear cloth of more than one thread. That is an abomination in the bible too. Jesus said nothing about being gay. Just verse after verse about divorce. So as a christian, I guess you have taken a vocal stand against divorce too? Posting on websites everywhere you stand against the practice and those who are divorce are condemned by the bible? Right Art?
So, let’s get this straight, folks complain about labels, yet make create them themselves? Steve says the kid is an “idiot” and looks like a “mindless zombie.” Whilst it is true that the photo shows lack of expression, it is hard to ascertain if that is Dakota’s normal demeanor. It would be helpful if the photos were attributed, but they are not. Years ago, I took a media training course that dealt with how to interact with those that interview you in a crisis situation. One of the first things pointed out was that the news organizations will many times use the least appealing photo of video of the subject possible in an attempt to discredit them. I’m not implying that Voice did this, but it is certainly a possibility. As for the translation of the Bible, I have seen copies in German hotels that are bi-lingual with German and English all in the same volume. Regarding the teacher displaying the photo from “Stern Magazin” (the correct German spelling), it probably should not have occured. I would say the same thing about a heterosexual couple as well. Yes, I know the kids are doing far more than that in High School and before, but it is, or can be seen as a “in your face” type of provocation. By not displaying any images of affection, no allegations can occur on either side of the argument.
Only the elimination of all conservative Christians will allow all Americans to be free and the world to no longer have to live in fear of the U.S.A.’s imperialist, terrorist holy war. The conservative ideology has never helped mankind in any way, it has not only never helped mankind in anyway, it has oppressed, murdered, raped and killed all those in it’s way to gain power. History shows us this. Fact shows us this.
James Madison, the “Father of the U.S. Constitution”, along with many founders of this country, regardless of their religious or non-religious affiliations, knew keeping politics and religion separate not only preserves each, but helps them flourish:
“The number, the industry, and the morality of the Priesthood and the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the Church and the State.”
ps: these student that attack their teacher probably get wasted then get on their knees every weekend and not pray to their god but each others crotches….
Corey, how exactly do you propose that the United States “eliminate” Conservative Christians? Wasn’t the elimination of “substandards” the mission of Adolf?
Dakota looks like he will be cruising the gay bars the rest of his life with his repressed sexuality and bs xtian upbringing. I am sure it will be painful to his folks and wife to learn the truth. Maybe just enough pain to equal the pain and hurt Dakota is bringing into the world with his hatred, ignorance and bias.
I’m a hateful Christianist old turd. Kisses, Art.
https://www.myspace.com/amrodsr
Some people are Christian (in fact a whole lot of them.) Live with it.
What hateful comments being made about Dakota’s appearance. And this, from the “tolerance” Gestapo.
While we’re shallowly judging by appearances, Vasquez looks like Jabba the Hut.
I’m glad that Franks was cleared in the investigation. That was good, still sorry it happened however. No one deserves to be harrassed for who they are or what they believe. If a conservative Christian has a right to say that homosexuality is wrong, then I also have a right to say that I disagree. I don’t have a right to attack that person for disagreeing. And all these “that kid looks gay, he’s probably in the closet” comments are just as inappropriate as the anti gay attacks in these comments. It reflects the same judgemental and prejorative view of homosexuality that you are trying to put down. You cannot fight hate with hate. You cannot stop violence with violence. Striking back with verbal attacks only weakens our stand.
Hail Satan! Kisses, Art
@Art, if you are so against gays, WHY are you reading the Dallas Voice?
No teacher or student should be the target of bullying, as it is clear that this teacher was and has been. Those that bully need to be removd from the classroom, including this insolent brat!
The sad thing is, this kid is probably a closet gay kid who is lashing out at a teacher so no one will suspect him.
Jami, I think I can answer that for you. He most likely has latent homosexual tendencies (as do most homophobic individuals) and he reads the Voice so that he can live vicariously through the rest of us, who are comfortable with ourselves.
ART – you seem to be obsessed with SATAN – what gives – Looking in the mirror? OCD issues?
BTW the whole westernized world and even bits of asia are embracing their gay people. world wide. One must wonder if ART is a pastor who makes his money by riling up the people to hate someone. Prob blacks in the past, Jews also, and now gays.
BTW re the bigots are secretly gay – yes there are millions of them . below is a list of the top 15 most notorius. The first George Reker founded hte hate group FRC, and ran the so called national associeation for treatment of homosexuality.
its not a surprise he got outed by a gay male prostitute he took on a trip to Europe for a 2 week vacation. the big deal is he could afford the vacation and also, per the rentboy.com website , pay about $15000 for the male “Escoort” who outed him. And guess who else is on the list – remember minister ted haggard?
https://www.ranker.com/list/top-10-anti-gay-activists-caught-being-gay/joanne i(ts TOP 15
Sue the little animal for lying and harrassing. Prove he lied in court and make sure every TV crew for 100 miles around knows what happened.
I seem to be missing something. “Christian” Doesn’t that mean to be Christ like? Is “hate” taught in the Holy Bible? I don’t remember reading it there. Yes, the old Testiment is strict. I belive Jesus gave us a new commandment; to “love” one another as we would love the Lord. I am thinking that applies to “people”. ALL PEOPLE, regardless of sexual orientation. Thank you for my ranting here! John 3:16 and First John 3:16 Think about it!
Maybe the picture that seems to have sparked a lot of this should never been posted in a classroom!!! We do not allow pictures of man and woman kissing so there is no need to allow two men kissing in the classroom!!! This is not a place to promote your lifestyle in any form/method. Teach the children the 3 R’s, reading, writing and arithmetic and stay away from controversial areas. Religion from any country should not be taught in our schools if we do not allow the religion of the Majority of Americans to be taught in our classrooms!!!!! The teacher should not project his lifestyle on the students and the students should not make remarks about the teacher’s lifestyle within the confines of the school. Maybe we need to rethink what we allow to be taught and by whom in our schools.
For those criticizing Dakota Ary’s appearance, you are totally biased. Nothing to say about Vasquez? He looks like a unhygienic hog to me.
Never mind what the people involved LOOK like, that poor excuse for a teacher never should have posted the gay picture. Our classrooms are producing sub-standard, uneducated, soon-to-be dregs of society. Teachers need to not only teach, but set the example. Gay teachers should be banned, & evolution should not be taught without giving equal time teaching the other major world religions.
Once again, the Christians are so good at following the instructions of their founder (Jesus) do unto other as you would have them do to you” is just one example – Would Ary really like some one to talk about him this way? And what about “Love your enemies, do good to those who spitefully use you”. This teacher didn’t hurt him, and even if he didn’t doesn’t that Christian admonition apply? I was raised a good Christian, I even went to college to be a minister, but it became too obvious that it was all a myth and I became an atheist. I don’t get the way these people think. If thinking is what you can call it.
My heart is warmed… to see a photo of… Dakota Ary? Is it? Thank you.
Hey Ritch,
Nice evasion over the original issue; the “teacher” that should have been suspended without (our taxes) pay. The photo & that moron have no place in a public school.
Also, just because I mentioned evolution vs. religion does not make me a Christian any more than you standing in a garage makes you a car. Maybe you should consider doing some rethinking.
According to the last census data of 2010, 79% of America still claim to be Christian while less than 2% claim to be Atheist. Why is the tail waging the dog here? If both sides lay claim to use and respect the First Amendment this provides an equal playing field for expression yet the side with power and authority is abusing the child here to stop debate by force.
Wow, the hate on the board is way too much. on both sides sometimes.
However, ban all gay teachers??? Don’ think that’s gonna happen, man. Sorry, you gotta live with people who aren’t like you just like the rest of us.
The kid and his gang should have stuck to bullying their classmates. The punishment for bullying a teacher will probably be more severe – at least to their parents’ wallets.
Mike,
I have no hate toward Ritch or the teacher; not even the imbicile that found no wrong doing on the teacher’s behalf. I know I must “live with people who aren’t like you just like the rest of us”. But if enough people care, agree, & TAKE ACTION BY VOTING, things can change. I would ban all openly gay teachers, scoutmasters, public officials, etc. because of the influence they most certainly do have on the the impressionable young people. Lead by example. No one buys do as I say, not as I do.
The hate coming from the so-called “christians” is what is most telling about this entire incident.
Their religion is a fraud, because despite its promise that they will live forever and walk streets of gold, it can’t take the hate out of their hearts or cause them to love their neighbors as themselves. And that is the best revenge that can be exacted on their empty lives: that they are just like the rest of the living…they will one day die and their day in the sun will be over…and no amount of speaking to a secret friend in their heads will ever change that.
To the other John k . . . You write: “Regarding the teacher displaying the photo from “Stern Magazin” (the correct German spelling), it probably should not have occured. I would say the same thing about a heterosexual couple as well.”
Seriously?
I love it when people try to buttress the idea of silencing a dialogue by inhibiting its polar expression, and think they are being fair minded and balanced, the voice of reason.
Usually when people say something like what the other John k said, they are not being the voice of reason (how can inhibiting education and opening a window on the larger world, especially in a Sociology class, whose purpose is to do exactly that?) but only trying to support a specious argument with an obviously untrue statement. Maybe the other John K really thinks he would likewise object to the picture of a heterosexual couple kissing being posted on the class rooms “World Wall,” (doubtful), but the fact is that no one would object to such a picture, and it is likely that the other John k is saying what he can, not merely to win an unwinnable argument, but to make himself feel good about his own internalized homophobia.
The really sad thing is that I also wondered why Mr. Franks felt it necessary to post a picture of two men kissing on the “World Wall,” sad because I am a gay man, an out gay man, since I was seventeen years old. It only goes to show how difficult it is, even for one who has been an object of ridicule and bigotry, to shake off the conditioning of ones culture.
I wish I could remember the exact quote but I am reminded of something that Martin Luther King Jr. said, the rough gist of which was that even when couched in peaceful terms, people will feel attacked when confronted. My point being that because we live in a society long used to persecuting gay people and feeling proud of it, something as simple as posting a picture or opening a dialogue is seen as an affront.
People should not be confused with Mr. Franks doing his job as an educator in posting that picture and, bullying tactics of teenaged angst determined to inhibit his own education by aping the things his homophobic parents taught him.
It is pathetic that people like Dakota, and Dakota’s parents, talk about the perversions of others while violating one of the Ten Commandments, lying. It was obvious that when this story was first reported by a Fox affiliate that something was missing from the story they created, and now we know, and still Dakota’s family want to maintain that their little bully’s First Amendment rights have been violated?
Shameful.
Well I’m glad a lot of people don’t think like you do, JT. You don’t “hate” anybody, but you would ban people from all sorts of jobs? Sounds a lot like hate to me. And why you are trolling a gay news site is beyond me. I think you would be too busy in more “wholesome” pursuits. SARCASM!
Richard,
I totally disagree.
Bullying is always wrong, as was this teacher’s posting the photo & abusing the minute amount of power of his position as an educator.
Why would anyone post that photo? It is wrong in a school.
As far as the hate comments; is one not allowed to dislike something without hating it? The difference is vast.
Ricco said, “People should not be confused with Mr. Franks doing his job as an educator in posting that picture and, bullying tactics of teenaged angst determined to inhibit his own education by aping the things his homophobic parents taught him.”
Ricco, I couldn’t have said it better nor could I agree with you more! As a retired teacher of 25 years and a retired minister of 10 years,I’ve counseled countless young people (17-35+) who have been the victims of bullies AND their parents! This does not start with bullies… this is a taught behavior which starts with prejudiced, angry, hateful parents/friends/acquaintances who have hateful feelings deep within themselves. Bad traits start in the home as a learned behavior, first of all. Then come the conservative churches with their lessthan ‘loving’ approaches.
Dakota and his parents need very deep and serious counseling to face their fears and prejudices before Dakota is helped in any way. I trust that the family will follow through
on this challenge.
Dakotahgeo, M. Div. Pastor/Chaplain
Oh Mike, another wrong assumption. Yes, I would ban the openly gay from public service, esp around kids, without hating them. Incidently, I am 64, and never heard of the Dallas Voice. The article was sent to me by an Internet friend who was outraged by this teacher being cleared of any wrong doing. I might ask the same of you, but I don’t care if you’re gay or not. The teacher in this is wrong.
just thinkin said: “I have no hate toward Ritch or the teacher; not even the imbicile that found….” Just, my Christian heart is warmed that you have no hate…, not even the imbecile that found….” You kinda gave your christian outlook away with the first sentence, heh heh heh. Secondly, you say that “I would ban all openly gay teachers, scoutmasters, public officials, etc. because of the influence they most certainly do have on the the impressionable young people.” I would beg to differ with you in that there are a LOT of ministers, school counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, etc., who also have a positive influence on young people… and they are GLBT also. Almost ALL mainline denominations (except, of course, the United Methodist Church, and Baptist) now accept GLBT ordinants as ministers and teachers in the church. How does our Lord and Savior, Jesus ChristEVER putup with this?? Welllll, first of all he knows the inherent goodness in all people (including YOU), all the way up to dying, rising up from death for them! I am so glad I am a part of these people.
I pity you, jt. You must live a very lonely life. If you really hate GLBT people, why are you so interested in them??!?
Dakotahgeo, M.Div. Pastor/Chaplain
“Just thinkin”. What an oxymoron. Oxymorons like this should be taught in schools. It would certainly change the assumption of some people that “you can’t fix stupid.”
Man, I’m a good lookin’, in shape guy that can’t get a man to save my life.
Maybe I should become a closeted xtian preacher or something of that sort, then I’d have all the dick I can handle.
Good on you, James! The educational systems have enough problems without faux christians in its path. Better yet would be a private/parochial school for just thinkins’ kids.
Montemalone,
Posted on October 2, 2011 at 8:40 am…
Man, I’m a good lookin’, in shape guy that can’t get a man to save my life.
Maybe I should become a closeted xtian preacher or something of that sort, then I’d have all the dick I can handle.”
——————Wellllll, I wouldn’tgo THAT far, Montemalone, lolol. But people are more apt to be drawn to you IF you are out of the closet, which I assume you are. As far as your statement regarding all the **** you can ahndle, that is so true! ESpecially if you’re an uptighty-rightie-whitey faux minister like the ones we hear of and read about so often in the newspapers. Good on ya!
Dakotahgeo, M.Div. Pastor/Chaplain
Dakotahgeo, You can save your sales pitch and your pity. I need neither. I am very happily retired, with a large loving family, all the money I’ll ever need, and a plethora of toys to fill my “lonely” life. Shows how wrong you are again. Doesn’t YOUR Bible condemn homosexuality? How then, can the mainstream churches accept, by employing, these people as you state? The fact that you encouraged Montemalone to become a closet xtian preacher or something of that sort, so he can have more homosexual success, proves you are a fool. Do you have children? I hope not. I can’t believe you were a teacher and minister, but if you were, I pity your students, counselees, and congregation. In all those years you never learned Christian is capitalized? PS- yes, my children attended private school.
An oxymoron is two or more words that contradict; sorry, but just thinkin doesn’t qualify. So you’re saying you can fix stupid by changing the assumption of some people that “you can’t fix stupid.”?
Ignorance is bliss for those that believe their current incarnation of the Bible? Really now JT, can you not see that the text has been bastardized since King James decided to change the good book and has been countless times since? And can you not see the sarcasm of some of these posts are you that naive living in your gilded cage? Really now by banning gays from the classroom you are a throwback to the Jim Crow era, did you also belive in banning blacks from the schools too? I’d pity the fools, but I haven’t the time!
You said it for me, “I’d pity the fools, but I haven’t the time!” but more correctly, the inclination. Wise men say never argue religion or politics. We’ve managed to do both here & now you want to bring blacks into this. You’re obviously poorly educated, as shown by your improper punctuation. To argue with you would bring me down to your level. But I digress. I don’t care about gays until they populate the public domain. The point of contention is still the public educator posting an improper photo. The disgusting part is the investigator finding no fault and the teacher got a tax-paid week off. How can anyone approve of this, and the findings, totally clearing this public school teacher?
“How can anyone approve of this, and the findings, totally clearing this public school teacher?” I am reminded of the recent case in South Hadley, Massachusetts in which a group of six male and female high school bullies drove a young girl to commit suicide. You sound just like the locals who thought the six poor bullies were being wrongly punished and that somehow it was the dead girl’s fault. That’s what this kid, Dakota Ary, is – a bully. The only different is that he and his cronies tried to bully an adult, not a fellow student, and the adult stood up to them. No one has the “religious right” to bully another person. The authorities investigated, they found that the sniveling brat violated the 9th Commandment by “bearing false witness” against the teacher, and they properly re-instated the teacher and properly compensated him for the salary which had been temporarily withheld. If the teacher institutes a civil damage suit against the sniveling brat and his parents (who clearly failed to raise him properly both as a Christian and as a human being), I hope the Court hits them so hard in their wallets they will be feeling the pain into the year 2020.
just thinkin’ said: “I can’t believe you were a teacher and minister, but if you were, I pity your students, counselees, and congregation. In all those years you never learned Christian is capitalized? PS- yes, my children attended private school.”
————————
Yep!!! A teacher of K-12 Music (Instrumental, Choral, General, and Keyboard music) for 25 years of public school, history, government; retired and entered/graduated from a Baptist Seminary at that,and was hospital/hospice Chaplain for 10 years. You have to understand that I only capitalize the “C” when I talk about loving, Christ-centered people, and reserve the “c” for the uptighty-whitey-rightie christians, commonly referred to as the American christian Taliban. They are no better than the Islamic extremists, not to be confused with the Muslim Islamic humane people who follow their God, Allah! Allah may not be my God but I do respect the faith and beliefs of all of God’s children!
As to the teacher being found ‘not guilty’ by his superiors, he was cleared of all charges and had every right to be returned to the classroom, gay/straight/bi or whatever the heck you’re against! Now simma down, have a cupa java, take two enemas, and call someone in the morning who gives a cow’s patootie about you! Cheesch! (AND quit wasting everybody’s time here, including yours! Next??
Just thinkin, clearly you are bitter because the world is not exactly as you would like it to be. The sooner you get used to it, the happier you’re going to be because that’s the way things are going to remain…unless, of course, you decide to buy your own planet and move there. For reasons upon which I will not pontificate, I just don’t see the likelihood of that happening anytime in the foreseeable future. Just go forward knowing that certain types of people are going to piss you off (sort of like what you’re doing to most of the rest of the commentators in this forum).
James Simmons… thank you times 5!! Your comments are clearly on the mark. Most people who are hateful of other people are very hateful regarding themselves. Now THAT’S SICK!!!
If that kid had said: “I believe all blacks should be slaves because they had slaves in the bible, and as a christian (christian not capitalized on purpose) I believe it to be so.” You know the school would have suspended him in a second. The NAACP and all other kinds of African American groups would be after that school, and the kids mother would not be looking for a lawyer to represent her kid.
Thank you x 5, Mike Ramon! You are spot on the mark! A good day to you!
Here is some info from People for the American Way about “Liberty
Counsel,” who paid for the boy’s lawyer:
Mat Staver is the head of the [Jerry Falwell] Liberty University School of Law and its legal affiliate, Liberty Counsel, both
sponsors of the Values Voter Summit. Liberty Counsel vehemently opposes rights
for gays and lesbians, and in July filed the lawsuit to overturn New York’s
Marriage Equality Act . The group’s Director of Cultural Affairs Matt Barber
has called marriage equality “ rebellion against God” and said LGBT youth
are more likely to commit suicide because they know “ what they are doing is
unnatural, is wrong, [and] is immoral .”
Did you ever wonder why men and women are created the way they are – could it be that they fit together? It is not hate that thinks homosexuality is wrong – it is morals and a belief in the Creator. I don’t hate anyone because of the way they handle their life, but I can and do think it is wrong.
Jody, if you think it’s so wrong, why are you — and so many others who commented on this post — spending your time reading a gay newspaper?
Jody, let me give you another perspective. The population of Earth just topped seven billion. It has grown from five billion to seven billion in the last 20+ years. The planet is only able to sustain a human population of about eight billion. Who is overpopulating the planet and making the planet a wasteland, which will quite possibly make Earth unfit for human habitation in the next several decades? If you guessed the heterosexuals, then you’re smarter than I think you are. Not only are they being selfish with the limited resources that our planet has left, but they are pointing the finger at those who are not quite so self-centered and narrow minded. So before you start talking about what’s right and wrong, maybe you better take a long hard look at the big picture. Once you do that, provided you are capable of understanding it, then you will see who is really wrong in the overall scheme of things.
Queers will exterminate theirselves, Aids on the rise. GREAT
frank provasek, mat staver and matt barber, why don’t the three of you hyprocrite bible thumpers get down from your pulpits and quit preaching hatred. Homosexuality is just as normal as heterosexuality it alwasys has been and always will be. People are born gay just a people are born to be left handed or have frecles or red hair. You should take the word “liberty” out and insert “ignorant” and call it the Ignorant University School of Stupidity. falwell is long gone, good riddance, but like the cockroach he was, there is another one to take its place.
You might want to read this article before you jump to conclusions, queer basher. https://www.gizmag.com/go/5173/
…. too bad the race to find a cure is winning. You should be ashamed of yourself. Methinks I hear your own closet door creakin’ a wee bit, tootz!!!
Hi Mike Ramon! Please see the message for queer basher. Read this article and do some dancin’…. https://www.gizmag.com/go/5173/ God, et al, DOES care about all of us, even closet cases like queer basher! Peace!
Mike, you called Falwell a cockroach. Why are you being so complimentary?
queer basher
Posted on October 21, 2011 at 5:39 pm
Queers will exterminate theirselves, Aids on the rise. GREAT————-
Errrrrrr, beggin’ your pardon but….”Queers wil exterminate theirselves….”???? I think if you check your grammar, you will find that the CORRECT word is “themselves,” Mr Webster! Ughhhhhh!!!
James Simmons
Posted on October 21, 2011 at 8:34 pm
Mike, you called Falwell a cockroach. Why are you being so complimentary?
——————LOLOL… good one! We should never disparage little insects ike that… they’re food for the little birdies! Peace!
queer basher, I am a gay man, but I stand and fight if you started something with me and it was one on one I’d knock your lights out. But if you are a real basher you’d be running around in a pack like wolves, because you’d be to cowardly to do any bashing by yourself, you piss ant.
Saying that “homosexuality is wrong” is not harassment. What in the world is going on in this country? Kids can say “f— you” to teachers, they can disrespect and disobey them all day long, they can refuse to do their work, throw things at teacher’s cars, call them “bit__”,…… but they can’t voice an opinion that reflects a belief taught to them by their own family? Please, please, please think about what is happening here. Where in the student code of conduct does it say that “A child shall be suspended for stating a belief taught to them by their church and family.”? He wasn’t threatening anyone, he wasn’t malicious. He was simply stating a belief (which by the way, is a belief held by more people than you may think!) Shall we go and suspend or arrest all of the ministers in the churches who are also teaching that homosexuality is wrong? Shall we tear up the Bible?