We’re working on a more in-depth story for this Friday’s print edition about the case of a Fort Worth school district teacher who’s accused of suspending a student for saying that homosexuality is wrong. But for now, we thought we’d go ahead and share the below info from Marvin Vann, a member of the group LGBTQ S.A.V.E.S., formed about a year ago to protect LGBT students and teachers in Tarrant County from anti-gay harassment.
Vann is calling on members of the LGBT community to speak out in support of the teacher in this case, whom he identifies as Kristopher Franks. Contact info for Fort Worth ISD administrators is at the end of Vann’s post:
I would like to take a moment to fill you all in on an instance of injustice playing itself out right now in the Fort Worth ISD, part of a larger attempt to get the district to back away from its newly adopted policies prohibiting ISD employees and students from harassing others at school on the basis of their perceived or actual sexual orientation or gender identity. I do so in the hopes that you might add your voice to those of Fairness Fort Worth, City Councilman Joel Burns, and others, in demanding that our public school system live up to those policies.
Kristopher Franks, a German teacher with a long and distinguished service record at Western Hills High School, is currently being investigated by FWISD administrators, swayed by a right-wing attempt to rouse public opinion against him for having the temerity to write a disciplinary referral against Dakota Ary, a student whom Franks reports publicly harassed him in class on the basis of the student’s perception that Mr. Franks is gay. This is being depicted in numerous news reports as an effort to suppress the student’s First Amendment right to free speech. As Franks and the district cannot speak to media while the incident is being investigated by the district, only the student and his Liberty Institute lawyer’s version of the incident is being reported in the media.
The gist of these reports is that Ary, during a discussion about religion and homosexuality in his first-year German class, expressed the opinion that “I am a Christian, and I believe that homosexuality is wrong,” and was subsequently sent out of class with a disciplinary referral by his teacher, Mr. Franks, and then given a three-day suspension from an assistant principal.
I and other members of LGBTQ S.A.V.E.S., a group formed a year ago in response to local and national incidents of school-based, anti-LGBTQ incidents of harassment, became aware of this incident last week, shortly after the first, distorted media reports came out. Concerned that only one side of the incident was being reported, we met Friday night with Mr. Franks. His account contradicts Ary and his lawyer’s version of events, and has been substantiated by several of the other students in class at the time. We found Mr. Franks’ explanation entirely credible.
He reports (and has reported to his school) repeated acts of anti-gay harassment by several students that occurred this and last year, including by a group of four specific boys in this class, of whom Ary is one. Among other incidents, Mr. Franks maintains a “word wall” for his German IV class on which he posts articles and images from several journals, including the German magazine, Stern. One of these articles concerned gay rights in Germany, and included a photo of two men kissing. The group of four boys concerned was sitting near this image immediately before Mr. Franks found it had been ripped from the wall. The student and his lawyer are now asserting that including this photo among the others constituted his teacher’s “imposing acceptance of homosexuality” in his classroom. These students subsequently took every opportunity to denounce homosexuality in class, frequently without context; that is, with the topic having otherwise been broached.
On the particular day in which this incident occurred, Mr. Franks was opening class when the topic of Christianity in Germany was broached by one student, who asked what churches were there, another whether they read the Bible in English, etc. Franks asserts that the topic of homosexuality was not broached in any way, and that Ary‘s assertions to the contrary are entirely false. At this point, Ary declared, with a class audience, “Gays can’t be Christians; homosexuality is wrong,” looking directly at Mr. Franks. Franks says he understands and affirms students’ right to free speech, and that he is perfectly prepared to lead a respectful discussion on topics such as gay rights that allows for the assertion of opinions with which he disagrees. He has led such discussion in the past in his sociology classes. But in this case, hr feels the context makes it clear that this remark was made ad hominem, aimed specifically at him to devalue him and any information he might share on the topic of religion, on the basis of his perceived sexual orientation.
The Liberty Institute, which has provided the lawyer to represent Ary, depicts itself as concerned with protecting “faith-based speech,” and has a record of fighting against the extension of anti-harassment policies to protect LGBT people. It is associated with a number of other, politically active, conservative evangelical institutions. So far, the lawyer’s efforts to whip up public sentiment against Mr. Franks have been very successful: The story has been broadcast nationally by a number of right-wing websites. Franks has received numerous insulting and threatening phone calls and emails, and after public outcry generated by these media reports, these suspensions were nullified, and the district has called Mr. Franks in to be interrogated Monday (26 Sept.) by the Office of Professional Standards, the office responsible for investigation ethical violations, though without as yet bringing any specific allegations against him.
As you might guess, the Liberty Institute tends to be very strategic in its selection of cases on which to to deploy its resources. It is likely no coincidence that it chose to represent the student only a few months after the FWISD adopted policies against anti-gay harassment.
It would be very helpful, and a grace rendered to the threatened teacher, Mr. Franks, if you and other community members would write letters and/or email messages to the school board members, assistant superintendent, and Western Hills High School principal, calling on them to give a respectful, caring, and full hearing to Mr. Franks’ side of the story. Time is of the essence: He is being interrogated by an external investigations group today, though no specific allegations have yet been made against him by the ISD. I will post their names, phone numbers and email addresses below. Please keep all messages respectful and restrained, calling simply for a fair, respectful and caring hearing of Mr. Franks’ side of the story, unswayed by the public outcry generated by the slanted media coverage. Do not go into the speculations or reports of his side of the case; that is for him to present.
Walter Dansby
Interim Superintendent
Fort Worth ISD
Email: walter.dansby@fwisd.org
Phone: 817.871.2000
James Wellman
Principal
Western Hills High School
Fort Worth ISD
Email: james.wellman@fwisd.org
Phone: 817.815.6000
Ray Dickerson
President
Board of Education
Fort Worth ISD
Email: ray.Dickerson@fwisd.org
Carlos Vasquez
Board Member, District 1
Board of Education
Fort Worth ISD
Email: carlos.vasquez@fwisd.org
Norman Robbins
Board Member, District 7
Board of Education
Fort Worth ISD
Email: norman.robbins@fwisd.org
If the parents had taught the little bastard some manners instead of teaching him to judge other people, then this entire incident likely never would have happened.
Bring back the lions.
@mattgmd funniest post i’ve read all day.
Um, I’m sorry, you’re a minor, you don’t have any fucking rights to “freedom of speech.” You’re in school, you sit down, you shut up, or you get out.
Erratum: It’s Liberty Counsel, not Liberty Institute. Mea culpa.
Sounds like another kind of bullying to me. See:https://issuu.com/Two_Hats_Publishing/docs/dallas_holocaust_museum about the subject.
But I hate to tell you nice people, The United States Supreme Court has rule numerous times, that students, even in college, do not have, nor can expect freedom of speech on campus.
So according to this article and the posts below it… it’s okay to have an opinion as long as it aligns with your beliefs? So, in essence, we only have freedom of speech as long as it aligns with your views?
Otherwise, is anyone who disagrees with your lifestyle is a bigot, hateful, and uneducated? Tolerance is a one way street?
I know that I grew up in a different time. But one thing does not change that is respect and manners. I made comment behind teacher’s backs, but would have never had the balls to be openly disrespectful of a teacher. I would have gotten into trouble at school and then again at home (and I really didn’t want to piss my Mother off LOL). Liberty Counsel is all about rights as long as it is their view.
@Capn79
Sexual orientation is an intrinsic, immutable human characteristic. Anyone who refers to it as a “lifestyle” is indeed a bigot, hateful and uneducated. And it is not intolerant to be intolerant of bigoted, hateful and uneducated views.
No, Capn79, that is NOT the case. Not even close. The case is, this student has no right to decide what is “right” or “wrong” when it comes to other peoples’ lifestyles. It also means he has no right to impose his opinions of what is “right” and “wrong” on others. And lastly, tolerance and diversity are the result of people with dissimilar backgrounds, lifestyles, beliefs and opinions learning to peacefully coexist. As long as no one does anything to purposely or deliberately harm anyone else, everybody leaves everybody else alone.
It’s not a lifestyle, neither is Heterosexuality. In my state, and in my mind, yes, you are a bigot, hateful and uneducated if you go around proclaiming your religious beliefs which IS a choice. Religion is like a penis, It’s fine to have one. It’s fine to be proud of it. But please don’t whip it out in public and start waving it around, And PLEASE don’t try to shove it down our children’s throats.
I like that analogy, Capn69. Is it copyrighted? If not, I’d like to keep it and use it sometime. Like perhaps on Rev. Phelps or Rev. Jeffress.
@Capn79
I think you’re misreading the story. Try to recast it and see if you side with the teacher. Let’s say it was a Spanish class, and the teacher had posted an article about dinner being eaten later in Spain than in the US, generally. A student ripped down the article about late dining, and said, “Dinner at nine!” Two days later, the student interrupts class to announce “Dinner at nine!” This time, the teacher writes up a disciplinary referral.
I’m guessing you’d support the teacher, right? The student in my example defaced a classroom display and tried to undermine the teacher’s authority by interrupting class with something irrelevant.
Unless you’re worried about the free speech rights of my “Dinner at nine!” student, you have no reason to be concerned about the free speech rights of the student in this article.
James Simmons: Not necessarily. Fundamentalist Christians like Ary believe that their duty first and foremost is to “save” the rest of us and force us to conform to their “values.” As such, they do not consider themselves subject to laws, rules or even basic civility. The concept of “mind your own business” is anathema to these people.
Disgusting comments, all. You are part of the problem that teachers like Franks embodies.
I will go along wit Capn69, and it is not copyrighted, can I barrow it?
You go to school for an education, what you do outside of school that sets your character.
If this was anti-christian harassment at school, I think a lot of people would be singing a different tune. It is okay to have an opinion about something, but not if it makes for a hostile school environment. Period.
@ Capn69: Try again. Freedom of speech means the law cannot criminalize you for your speech. That’s it! It does not mean you can walk into a school, a place of business, a workplace etc and say any damn thing you want to say and you won’t get kicked out, face disciplinary action, or get fired. You can’t walk into your boss’ office and tell him you will not comply with any tasks he asks you to complete because he is a fat, stupid slob if you expect to keep your job. You can’t interrupt a teacher with off-topic insults and name-calling and expect to not be sent to the principal. UH! Why are there so many people who don’t understand such a simple concept?! Also, homosexuals are people. Disagreeing with their very existence is called hatred and bigotry. Such viewpoints do not deserve tolerance.
@ keith and you are the problem that creates bigotry and hatred in the name of your god….sounds just like radical islamics….same difference..
@AJD while you are right they want to claim a law unto themselves, they only get away with it if REAL people don’t stand up and stop them.
Capn79- Not everyone who disagrees with homosexuality is a bigot and hateful but a good 90% of them are uneducated or miseducated.
Tolerance is not a one way street but if he had been saying that about a different group such as African Americans or Jews or women would you even be defending him? What if he had said that he doesn’t believe women should have the right to vote, or to go to college? There are religions in America who believe that. The bottom line is no matter what your beliefs or his what he did was not appropriate for a public environment. And it could be considered hate speech in similar forums like a college classroom. From the sounds of it the teacher did tolerate him- he wasn’t kicked out the first time he did it. But after numerous insidences with a person (student or not) refusing to tolerate a class that has views that they don’t agree with a line is crossed.
Dear Fort Worth school official:
A more full and fair detailing of Ary’s suspension more clearly reveals that the student is insubordinate and provocative in a purposeful aim to harm the reputation of a teacher because the teacher is perceived to either be gay, or supports gays.
The student has not put himself in a position to be rewarded for his negative behavior.
Respect is a two way street. You don’t get respect unless you give it. This student apparently has a history of defying and disrespectfully trying to bate Mr. Franks. Mr. Franks has a duty to maintain control in his classroom for the safety of all of his students. Allowing this type of belligerence would undermine the respect due to all teachers. This is not acceptable under any circumstance.
If Mr. Ary’s parents were to place him in a religious school, rest assured the discipline would be rapid and much more severe.
Some folks seem to be intentionally either trying to bury or blunt the point here. The young man and the Liberty Counsel is engaged in a media blitz to make it seem that he was discriminated against because of his beliefs about homosexuality, when the truth seems to be that he and others have been harassing the teacher for his perceived sexual orientation long before the incident took place. Seems to me that the young man got what he deserved and it’s a shame that folks are still trying to make him a martyr even when it is looking like he wasn’t blameless in the incident.
@Keith
And what problem is that? Expecting students to behave in an appropriate fashion in class?
If the class had actually been talking about the issue of homosexuality, or a topic that was somehow related to it, then the student would have every right to state their point of view without fear of reprisal (within reason of course, as long as he kept the language clean and did not advocate violence or anything).
But if the student is making comments that are completely unconnected with the topic at hand then they are being disruptive, and if it is part of an ongoing series of this sort of behavior then they need to be punished.
It does not matter if it is someone talking about their personal views on homosexuality or yelling out “I like waffles” at random, when you are in the classroom you are expected to behave and to show your teacher and fellow students respect.
The Star-Telegram, which broke this story, of course told it exactly as dictated from the lips of the homophobic student, his homophobic parents, and the homophobic Liberty (sic) Counsel. Hell will freeze over when the S-T reports the other side of the story, because that newspaper itself has a long and storied history of homophobia and bigotry.
7th paragraph: Among other incidents, Mr. Franks maintains a “word wall” for his German IV class on which he posts articles and images from several journals, including the German magazine, Stern. One of these articles concerned gay rights in Germany, and included a photo of two men kissing.
Seems to me that this was inappropriate material. Seems to me that Kristopher Franks was trying to force *his* views on homosexuality or *his* lifestyle, whichever be the case, on his students. Seems to me that Kristopher Franks is at least partly to blame for this incident.
GOOD GOD! Not KISSING!
@Mary Waterton
Please explain to me why such pages would be inappropriate material. It may be controversial, but I don’t see how it would differ, for example, in propriety from articles on the current Libyan war.
If one were discussing interracial relationships and the ugly (and very real) legal oppression of that right that has occurred in the past and a student interjected that he was a Christian and he believed that such relationships were immoral, one could hardly expect a teacher to support this student’s right to express his hate-filled “religious belief” in a controlled, academic setting. Coincidently (not), that is a very real belief that was consistently affirmed by a number of mainline denominations with the support of Bible verses and doctrine. They also used words like “unnatural” or “abomination” because their god, who is pretend BTW, used to think race mixing was super gross.
Few think that now. Few would defend someone’s right to be so offensive in a school.
All of that rant to say, if your god wants you to waste every Sunday morning inside with other zombies, or he wants you to give all of your money to the nation’s least efficient NPO’s, then what-evs. If he wants you to be an offensive, backwards, little asshole, then fuck off. White, christian, hetero males have never been, are not being, and will probably never be persecuted in anyway whatsoever.
@MaryWaterton’sVagina: LOL Now YOU made me laugh, but, even so, your response to Ms. Waterton was STILL disrespectful and wrong to do. LOL I am serious.
Do a brain scan of the boy and his parents and you will see they all have enlarged Amygdalas. This is the part of the brain that hosts the fear response and is the source of their anxieties. The actions and beliefs of the boy and his parents are governed by this part of their brain. Its sad. I hope he is able to grow out of the brainwashing he has endured.
Whether you agree with homosexuality or not, all people are created equal. If you are truly Christian, then how dare you, a mere man, make the assumption that a homosexual cannot be a Christian. That belief itself is unchristian. Do not judge least you be judged. Also, thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor- it seems Mr. Ary said much more than what he claimed on Fox News. If he is not held accountable for lieing about the situation and the teacher is reprimanded, that will send a message throughout the world that bullying GLBTQ people is OK. It would send a message that public schools are unsafe and that gays are unaccepted and unwelcome.
If the picture of two men kissing was inappropriate, the solution would be for Mr. Ary to report the matter to his mother and allow her to take action. Looking at the pictures of this young man, and reading of his behavior, it may be wise to check him for drug use (meth) and do a psychiatric workup. You can’t be too careful anymore. The risk to his teachers and classmates is to great to ignore.
I have been following the cretins at Liberty for years. One of their administrators, Matt Barber, is one of the most vile anti-gay Christianists I have ever come across. There is a STRONG possibility that this was a set-up from the very beginning. They have done just that many times before. The mother and the kid were probably coached on how to create this situation.
Someone from the area should contact Maddow’s producers as they might be interested.
As a Christian, I believe faith-based bigotry and hatred are wrong.
Not much difference in Ary and Aryan, is there? The brat should be suspended and his parents should have to do community service.
So, Ary the aryan is learning German so he can do what exactly?
Jawohl, mein furher.
Yep, that “teacher” is insecure with himself. He is trying to push his choice on the students to get approval for what he does. The picture of the two guys kissing…why post that crap in the classroom ? At that age, most teens know about homosexuality, drugs, etc… Even kids in Christian schools are aware of what is going on around the world…it(homosexuality) has been here for ages. That “teacher” had not one good reason to shove it down their throats. (no pun intended) The “teacher” is throwing his beliefs into the kids faces…why can’t they have an opinion if, they don’t agree with his. I have no respect for this “teacher”, he can’t seem to keep his mind on teaching German. He’s not a Sex Ed teacher. The “teacher” has some major hidden issues! He’s gay….who cares? Stop trying to recruit…you will probably be on the news years down the road for having a relationship with a student.
What is the deal with Fort Worth?? They are sitting in the dark ages over there and they are part of a cosmopolitan metropolis rather than out in the sticks. I just don’t get it!
@Teacher is insecure: looks like you are the insecure one. How does posting a photograph translated into recruiting. If a photo was posted of children playing, would the teacher be promoting pedophilia? And what if it were a hetero couple kissing? Still recruiting??? Most politicians these days make prejudicial remarks, then attempt to justify them with rhetoric. Looks like you need to be in politics. You’d fit right in.
Sodomites are the most hateful, bigoted people on the face of the earth. Do you expect anyone to believe that the teacher felt threatened or harrassed? What a loser, if true.
Anyone who voices their opposition to sodomy is to be silenced, threatened, spit upon, and preferably physically assaulted (if you can get away with it). The “bring back the lions” comment shows that its leading to death. This war is going to get physical some day…
@JB- Because of people like you issues surrounding homosexuality have already lead to violence. How dare you advocate hatred and violence in the name of God? Are you a Nazi because that is the exact same lines of logic they used. With people like you around I am suprised that more violence hasn’t happened already. If you don’t like something someone else it doing DONT DO IT! Otherwise respect their rights just like they respect your right to have the fucked up violent pretentious opinion you have. It doesn’t matter if the teacher is a “loser” as you put it. He still has the same rights that any other person in his position would have- to not be harassed by a student. The student, as a student, has to follow two sets of rules- the law, and then the code of conduct for that school which sets standards above and beyond the law such as a DRESS CODE! He violated that code. Period. This should have never gotten turned around on the teacher.
@Teacher is Insecure- Why are you insinuating that the teacher has to have some kind of relationship with his students…. last I checked there are WAY more cases heterosexuals- particularly men- having relationship with students or people they are supposed to be supervising. Do we know if there were any articles with straight couples kissing? No we dont. Do we know how many articles this year featured straight couples? No we dont. The article mentions one article that was hung up and you decide that means that the teacher has been shoving homosexuality down his student’s throats all year. If you really know that much by one simple article you could give God a run for his money. It doesn’t matter if the teacher is gay (cause we are never told whether he is or not) and it doesn’t matter if he is insecure. HE IS A TEACHER. Not an equal, someone that is supposed to be automatically afforded respect. This child did not show that and violated the code of conduct by acting out. To me it sounds like he is the one who is insecure. Do that at a public university and you can get kicked off campus.
“Sodomites are the most hateful, bigoted people on the face of the earth.” You also fit nicely into that category, JB. But then, I think the only reason you said what you did was to get attention. When insecure individuals (I’m not specifically pointing the finger at you, however) are recognized solely by their negative remarks, feedback and commentaries, that tends to be the only type of recognition they seek, and their reason for seeking it is to get a reaction. Even if the reaction is negative, that uncontrollable need for attention is satisfied…until the next time the same insecure individual needs attention. I’m sure we’ll hear from you again somewhere down the road, and I suspect your remarks will be akin to what we have already seen.
The kid calls a teacher a ________. It is meant as derogatory. Kid gets in trouble.
Don’t make it about what the word was.