A student at a Fort Worth high school alleges he was suspended for saying he believes homosexuality is wrong. Fox 4 reports:
Fourteen-year-old Dakota Ary spent most of the day Tuesday serving an in-school suspension. It was punishment for discussion in his German class at Fort Worth’s Western Hills High School.
“We were talking about religions in Germany. I said, ‘I’m a Christian. I think being a homosexual is wrong,’” he said. “It wasn’t directed to anyone except my friend who was sitting behind me. I guess [the teacher] heard me. He started yelling. He told me he was going to write me an infraction and send me to the office.”
Dakota says an assistant principal reduced his suspension from two days to one after hearing his version of what happened, but his mother has hired an attorney, Matt Krause of the Liberty Counsel. They met with school administators today and demanded that the suspension be removed from Dakota’s record and that he be protected against “retaliation.” The school district isn’t commenting on the incident.
NBC 5 has more:
On the referral form, Ary is quoted as saying “no gays allowed in Christianity.”
The form says the comment was unprovoked and out of context. The final sentence of the explanation on the referral reads, “It is wrong to make such a statement in public school.” …
Ary returned to class Wednesday after serving his in-school suspension on Tuesday. He said he didn’t mean to offend anyone.
“I didn’t say it to be rude to anyone,” Ary said. “I said it like how I believe about it.”
Day by Day Christians are losing their constitutional rights
I’m a gay Christian and based on what was stated in this report, it appears that the school over reacted. Everyone has a right to their own opinion and it appears that he was not confrontational, or bashing.
Of course, we are seeing one side of this story.
Forrest, I love you rather you are gay or not, but please consider these scriptures.
•Lev. 18:22, “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.”1
•Lev. 20:13, “If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltness is upon them”
•1 Cor. 6:9-10, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
•Rom. 1:26-28, “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.”
i’m so sick of people quoting leviticus. it was written by a man…a very opinionated man. period. end of story.
Dear reporter, Where can we send money to support Ary legal fees?
mikael i curious to hear where you receive your knowledge …. we all learn from someone or something and if people like sling research books from the bible for info in this ‘circle of life’ we are in, why criticize? Leviticus was an opinionated man, yet, the things we go through in these times seem to be a repeat of roman times-medieval times-turn of the century-and now. how do you feel about a child, expressing his/her opinion and getting disciplined for it???
I want gay supporters in Dakota’s class to show up with tshirts that say “Christ was gay” and wear them for the rest of the year
i am a gay disciple of Christ who has studied the bible my entire life. i also have a bachlelor’s degree in sacred music from Southwestern Assemblies of God University where my exstensive studies included bible, theology, and hymnology.
Hey Sling (great name, we use slings in the gay world too) I have a couple of questions re: other things in Leviticus. 1. Do you eat shellfish? Lev 11:12 says, “Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.” Lev 20:9 says, “For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him” So when your kid smarts off at you, do you put him/her to death? Lev 25:4 states, “As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you.” Maybe the answer to that pesky Mexican immigration problem is to make them slaves and just buy and sell them. So just in case you’re too obtuse to get the point of this post, you and other “christians” pick and choose what you want to take from the Bible to support your personal view of something that you dont’ like. You’re a hypocrite of the highest order and I think you may be in for a surpirse one day when that rapture happens
NON-Leviticus Scripture Romans 1:25-27 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
Stephen, I love you rather you are gay or not.
To ALL homosexals, I do not and will not judge you, or treat you any differently that I treat any other human being. At some point all of us will have to stand before God in judgement of our deeds and actions. The Word of God says: Do no judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (NIV, Matthew 7:1-2)
I don’t know what I find more offensive, Sling’s attempt to indoctrinate his beliefs on this site, or his awful use of the English language.
“I love you rather gay or not???” Do you mean whether??? And you did it twice! The correct use of “rather” would be: I’d rather you not appear on this board spouting the typical christian bigotry most of us have heard all our lives. If you feel the need to warn, go warn the divorcees in your own church how much God hates them.
And i love it when the religious bigots always try to make themselves the victims.
I agree with you Mike, my use of the English language is awful, but hopefully I make my point. Thanks for correcting me. I should have said I love you rather you are gay or not. Nevertheless poor English skills or not my point is that I love all human beings, no matter what. I can love all humans, however I may not love what all humans do. I love the idea of unconditional love, no matter what you do or say I love you anyway, this is the way that Jesus loves me and I do my best to pass it on. Thank you for setting me straight, I ALWAYS stand to be corrected.
My son attends this school and he has never voiced that we do not believe in mythical figures such as god. It amazes me that alleged “Christians” believe they have the right to spew their nonsense.
The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference. See U.S. Const. amend. I. Freedom of expression consists of the rights to freedom of speech, press, assembly and to petition the government for a redress of grievances, and the implied rights of association and belief. The Supreme Court interprets the extent of the protection afforded to these rights. The First Amendment has been interpreted by the Court as applying to the entire federal government even though it is only expressly applicable to Congress. Furthermore, the Court has interpreted, the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as protecting the rights in the First Amendment from interference by state governments. See U.S. Const. amend. XIV.
Two clauses in the First Amendment guarantee freedom of religion. The establishment clause prohibits the government from passing legislation to establish an official religion or preferring one religion over another. It enforces the “separation of church and state.” Some governmental activity related to religion has been declared constitutional by the Supreme Court. For example, providing bus transportation for parochial school students and the enforcement of “blue laws” is not prohibited. The free exercise clause prohibits the government, in most instances, from interfering with a person’s practice of their religion.
The most basic component of freedom of expression is the right of freedom of speech. The right to freedom of speech allows individuals to express themselves without interference or constraint by the government. The Supreme Court requires the government to provide substantial justification for the interference with the right of free speech where it attempts to regulate the content of the speech. A less stringent test is applied for content-neutral legislation. The Supreme Court has also recognized that the government may prohibit some speech that may cause a breach of the peace or cause violence. For more on unprotected and less protected categories of speech see advocacy of illegal action, fighting words, commercial speech and obscenity. The right to free speech includes other mediums of expression that communicate a message. The level of protection speech receives also depends on the forum in which it takes place.
Despite popular misunderstanding the right to freedom of the press guaranteed by the first amendment is not very different from the right to freedom of speech. It allows an individual to express themselves through publication and dissemination. It is part of the constitutional protection of freedom of expression. It does not afford members of the media any special rights or privileges not afforded to citizens in general.
The right to assemble allows people to gather for peaceful and lawful purposes. Implicit within this right is the right to association and belief. The Supreme Court has expressly recognized that a right to freedom of association and belief is implicit in the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments. This implicit right is limited to the right to associate for First Amendment purposes. It does not include a right of social association. The government may prohibit people from knowingly associating in groups that engage and promote illegal activities. The right to associate also prohibits the government from requiring a group to register or disclose its members or from denying government benefits on the basis of an individual’s current or past membership in a particular group. There are exceptions to this rule where the Court finds that governmental interests in disclosure/registration outweigh interference with first amendment rights. The government may also, generally, not compel individuals to express themselves, hold certain beliefs, or belong to particular associations or groups.
The right to petition the government for a redress of grievances guarantees people the right to ask the government to provide relief for a wrong through the courts (litigation) or other governmental action. It works with the right of assembly by allowing people to join together and seek change from the government.
But guess what Lisa…he can and should be able to shout from the rooftops that he thinks there is no god. Why are you missing the point? it’s not the subject matter, it’s the law and principle behind it.
Most American’s don’t realize day by day we are losing our constitutional rights, and there are some people helping to push it along….
Sling says he loves everybody, but his selective use of scripture to bash gay people proves otherwise.
Tina, did you read the entire interview? The bible also says being fat(gluttony) is a sin but I sure don’t go tell every fat person I see that the bible says that. According to the bible many things are “sins” they just like to pick on homosexuality.
Yes I read the whole article. If he had actually said that to someone who was gay, I would think totally different. There is a difference between expressing your opinion about a subject and insulting someone directly. Maybe a different analogy would be better at explaining your position, because it’s not correlative.
There is more info coming out that this kid is not that innocent. This was not some blanket statement about our community. This kid and some of his friends have been verbally harassing the teacher for quite some time concerning his sexual orientation. So the statement was made directly to the teacher and the teacher had every right to put the lil punk in his place. Now the teacher’s job is in jeopardy b/c of how this story has been presented to the public. Has DV heard about this as well?
I bash gay people???? hummmm Matt maybe you WANT to be bashed, sorry but I’m not the one to do it. You need to get someone else to do your bidding.
Don’t be duped! I, too, am a gay teacher in the FWISD, and a member of an LGBT educator advocacy group. I’m out at school, and have been harrassed by anonymous students with vicous graffiti. I’ve read the teacher, Mr. Frank’s, statement to the school district. He says Ari is one of a group of four specific boys who have been targetting Frank since near the start of the year with repeated anti-gay statements. Ari made the comment, “Gays can’t be Christian. Homosexuality is wrong,” loud enough to be heard by the whole class, in a context that makes clear the intent was to harrass: The topic of homosexuality had not been raised even once in that lesson, according to Frank, but Frank was in the midst of attempting to respond to a student’s question about what churches exist in Germany. Ari’s message was not subtle: ‘Mr. Frank has no business talking on this topic, because he’s gay, and therefore can’t be Christian, because homosexuality is wrong.” (In fact, Frank reportedly attends the mostly LGBT Celebration Community Church.) The Liberty Council lawyer seized on this story fast in order to develop a narrative they love: That the evil gays are trying to suppress free speech rights of Christians and impose their worldview on our innocent children in school. Shame on the media for broadcasting this one-sided, incomplete version of events without making the least effort to represent the teacher’s pont of view. Shame on the FWISD for cowing to right wing Christianist pressure and completely ignoring their own newly-minted employee and student anti-harrassment policies which, if they don’t protect this teacher from harrassment by would-be bullies like Ari, is not worth the paper it’s printed on.
Ambrose, if that is the truth of the matter, then I absolutely agree with you. Shame on them for not printing the whole truth. The article painted a completely different picture in my mind, which I am sure it was meant to do. I should know better than to accept any MSM article without doing any digging anyways.
Ambrose
I do not agree with bullying, which is what this sounds like you and other gay school officals and students have been subjected to. Yes there are two sides to every story – the media’s side and the media’s side. Yes, I am a Christian and the homosexual lifestyle does not fit into my Christian belief system, but I garentee you that I will not BASH you because you are gay as some are implying that I am doing. I believe what I believe and others believe what they believe. As I share my beliefs with others gay or not, I have no problem with others sharing what they believe with me. As a Christian, the Quran does not fit into my belief system either, but I am surely not going to mistreat or treat a Muslim any different from the way I treat a fellow Christian with love and respect. Before we are anything else we are human and before I see a person as gay I see him or her as a human being.
Regardless of the student’s religious or political beliefs, the teacher and administrators, as public school employees who are paid with public funds, are agents of the government. What this suspension amounts to is supression of first amendment rights of a US citizen by government officials.
It’s so weird that the teacher’s version is that the discussion was about religion – I heard the discussion centered on a poster that had been taken from the teacher’s room of two men kissing….
Reality states that things like sophisticated computers and cars were made by people. So sophisticated humans and animals were made by Creator. There is a Moral Being who writes the rules. We can choose to say they are not true but that does not change their status. Is the Moral Being longsuffering? Yes. Merciful? Yes. Gracious? Yes. Forgiving? Yes. Does this one execute wrath and fury on what He hates? Yes. It is like banging our head against a brick wall. All we get is pain and the brick wall does not change. So it is with God. We can say homosexuality and fornication are not wrong but reality says different. So if the school wants to condone homosexuality they can and they should also teach that 3+2 = 6 because both in reality in error.
Apparently the idea of gay teens going to school free from harassment is just so horrible
Ooh John you say that after getting head on Cedar Springs?
REALLY? WHAT IF THIS STUDENT SAID ” I THINK HOMSEXUALITY IS CORRECT?” WHAT IS THE CRIME? What if he said “I think lesbians are beautiful”?. Remember everyone, how would you feel if the shoes were on your feet?
He should top the bullying now since it will just make coming out later more difficult.
WFT, John, Paula, Sling
At any school, no matter public or private there has to be a certian level of decorum. In a public setting this has to include being tolerant of others. 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. He was speaking his belief which is protected by freedom of speech but by the Law of the United States, freedom of speech only goes so far. That is where verbal assual and harassment charges were created. Or bullying and verbal hate crime laws.
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 public setting that has views that they don’t agree with a line is crossed. He crossed a line. And he deserved to be punished in some manner. It was inappropriate no matter how true to his beliefs it was. I would be saying the same thing if this were reversed. In fact I have called out people who I agree with in public for the way they were approaching an issue and for being out of line.
This is why Texas should be given back to Mexico.
I’m helping promote a friend’s new endeavor on Twitter. @HateFreeFriday It’s a great cause and needs to be shared! Stop ALL hate and bullying! Much love.
AlaskanAmber, you’re right about free speech can only go so far before it crosses the line. If you yell “fire, fire” in a crowded theatre and there is no fire, you’re facing jail time. If that ari kid had used the “N” word against a black teacher do you think they would have just brushed it off as a first amendment right, no they wouldn’t have. That kid would have been suspended so fast he would have been at home before his class was over. No lawyers for that kid, no right wing, so called christians, supporting that kid. He’d be on his own. And john, get down from your pulpit, you make no sense at all.