This Just In: Court Rules Against CRW
The Citizens for a Responsible Whatever and two other groups asked a judge to overrule the state board of education's decision on the MCPS sex-ed curriculum. Judge Rowan has issued his decision.
I'm sure we'll have more to say about it as we read his discussion more carefully. The bottom line is this:
Congratulations to MCPS attorney Judith Bresler and Wilmer Hale lawyer Jonathan Frankel for arguing so persuasively and preparing such a solid case, and again, to MCPS for sticking with it.
Read the case history HERE. Search under Montgomery County Circuit Court for case 284980V.
I'm sure we'll have more to say about it as we read his discussion more carefully. The bottom line is this:
CONCLUSION
For the reasons set forth herein, the decision of the Maryland State Board of Education shall be AFFIRMED.
_______/s/ 1/31/08_________
JUDGE WILLIAM J. ROWAN, III
Congratulations to MCPS attorney Judith Bresler and Wilmer Hale lawyer Jonathan Frankel for arguing so persuasively and preparing such a solid case, and again, to MCPS for sticking with it.
Read the case history HERE. Search under Montgomery County Circuit Court for case 284980V.
posted by JimK at 4:11 PM
42 Comments:
Bit by bit the U.S. marches inexorably towards equality and fairness for all.
Andrea- not anon
YES!!!
Look at me I’m Anonymous:
"This is just another clear cut case of an activist judge legislating from the bench to further advance the homosexual agenda!"
Two New Studies Find That Gay and Lesbian Couples May Be Able to Reproduce
http://angelcitysdevil.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=398&Itemid=2
Hurray for Maryland.
The slimy worms who call themselves CRC (or whatever at any given moment) will no doubt find a way to appeal this court decision...after all, the disreputable national organizations who have been funding this laughable failure will not let their impecable Christian reputations be stained by the shenanigans of some pathetic local Montgomery County group of six or seven people.
This, once again, confirms that Montgomery County is not going to tolerate hatred and bigotry from people who use religion to enforce their disgusting tactics.
Obviously these are not "activist judges" . If the ruling went the other way the CRW(eridos) would be saying something along the lines of, "Truth and justice has been served."
Truth wins.
Here is just another reason why it is so important to teach tolerance of others, including sexual orientation, in MCPS and DCPS:
(from www.nbc4.com)
WASHINGTON -- D.C. police are investigating an alleged hate crime at the Fifth District Police Station.
Authorities said homophobic graffiti was found on Thursday on a wall in the men's bathroom in the station at 1805 Bladensburg Road NE.
The graffiti focused on a member's sexual orientation, Police Chief Cathy Lanier said.
"It's extremely offensive, so we're taking it very seriously," Lanier said.
Lanier sent an e-mail to police department personnel Thursday night that said, "All members of this department put their lives on the line every day, and I will not tolerate any member treating another police professional with disrespect."
Lanier said she will "impose the most serious penalty" if the perpetrator is found to be a member of the department.
The graffiti was found in an area that is accessible to both officers and civilians, Lanier said, so it is not clear who may have left the message.
The department has programs in place to sensitize officers to language that could be considered disparaging to minorities.
Sgt. Brett Parsons, who oversees liaison units, including some for gays and lesbians, said he believes the incident is isolated. He said the response demonstrates the progress the department has made in recent years.
"In some ways, I think many of us our relieved that we're taking this head on," Parsons said.
Lanier urged anyone with information about the act to contact investigators at 202-727-4385. She said many officers have condemned the message.
"Bit by bit the U.S. marches inexorably towards equality and fairness for all."
Society is already more than fair to homosexuals. The new curriculum goes beyond that to argue their case for them. It represents deception.
As Randi says, it's a trend:
"Parents who object to their children being exposed to books at school that favorably portray same-sex couples and homosexual “marriage” should remove their children from public school, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.
Parents in the Lexington, Mass., school district had argued that reading pro-gay books like King and King and Who’s in a Family? to kindergartners, first- and second- graders was an attempt to indoctrinate their children.
But the court ruled that “public schools are not obliged to shield individual students from ideas which potentially are religiously offensive.” It also said that a teacher reading a few books, “even if to a young and impressionable child, does not constitute ‘indoctrination.’ ”
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said the threat to parental rights in this country has reached a dangerous point and must be addressed before it's too late.
“There have been several federal circuit court decisions in recent years severely restricting what the Supreme Court has called the fundamental right of parents ‘to make decisions concerning the care, custody and control of their children,’” he said. “Parents have been told their only options are to take their children out of public school or go through a political process that is stacked against them.”
Candi Cushman, education analyst for Focus Action, said parents do have choices if they discover homosexuality being promoted in their children's schools.
“Parents and students have the power to challenge the school to give equal access to books and speakers who can give countering opinions on why embracing homosexuality is not the best choice for kids, as well as research-based explanations of how man-woman marriage strengthens society,” she said. “In light of the court’s comments that public schools are not obliged to shield students from controversial ideas, the parents would have good arguing grounds.”"
Amen.
The slimy worms who call themselves CRC (or whatever at any given moment) will no doubt find a way to appeal this court decision...after all, the disreputable national organizations who have been funding this laughable failure will not let their impecable Christian reputations be stained by the shenanigans of some pathetic local Montgomery County group of six or seven people.
Yep, sounds like you need to take a tolerance class! You have to be more accepting of others. That is what the health curriculum teaches.
"Yep, sounds like you need to take a tolerance class! You have to be more accepting of others. That is what the health curriculum teaches."
Actually, it doesn't teach that. It teaches that homosexuality is safe and normal.
Red Baron said "Society is already more than fair to gays".
Obviously not. Gays cannot marry the one person they love most, unlike blacks, whites, Christians, jews, etc. gays are not protected from being fired from the jobs or evicted from their homes merely for being gay. Unlike blacks, whites, jews, Christians, etc. gays are not protected by hate crimes laws.
Red Baron said "The new curriculum goes beyond that to argue their case for them. It represents deception.".
Most certainly it does not. The cirriculum merely makes clear the existence of gays, nowhere does it address the injustices of anti-gay marriage laws or discrimination laws that exclude gays.
Red Baron said "As Randi says, it's a trend:".
I never said any such thing.
Red Baron misrepresents the court ruling on the David Parker case. He quotes the court ruling saying “public schools are not obliged to shield individual students from ideas which potentially are religiously offensive." but inserts a period after "offensive" when it was a comma because he doesn't want people to hear the rest of what the court had to say: "Public schools are not obliged to shield individual students from ideas which potentially are religiously offensive, particularly when the school imposes no requirement that the student agree with or affirm those ideas, or even participate in discussions about them,".
In his 38-page decision, Chief Judge Mark L. Wolf of US District Court said that under the US Constitution, public schools are “entitled to teach anything that is reasonably related to the goals of preparing students to become engaged and productive citizens in our democracy.”
“Diversity is a hallmark of our nation,” he said.
Writing for the Appeals Court, Judge Sandra L. Lynch said the parents did not have the legal right “to be free from any reference in public elementary schools to the existence of families in which the parents are of different gender combinations.
David Parker, his father, decided that young Jacob was entitled to ignorance of the existence of same-sex headed families. He set out to change school policy so that his child not be exposed to that fact. He extended his demands to include any discussion of same-sex parenting, regardless of the context or setting - including any conversations of children of gay or lesbian parents.
Because the school district has a large number of same-sex families, many with children attending the school, the administration deemed Parker’s request to be nearly impossible.
Andrea- not anon
N.M.Anon- please take that permanent hiatus now. You and your small minded friends will never gain an inch here. Someday- hopefully -soon, most people everywhere will look at your bigotry the way most people look at the Klan or Stormfront- as serious nutjobs.
and in the david parker case,
talking about different families DOES NOT fall under the realm of talking about human sexuality.
The school had to check on this and was backed up by district officials.
Randi correctly pointed out Bit by bit the U.S. marches inexorably towards equality and fairness for all.
And now another state, Oregon, will allow same-sex partners to register as domestic partners. An out of state group that advocates for Christian legal issues has failed in their petition drive to recall the legislation. Today's New York Times reports:
...Same-sex couples will be able to file joint state tax returns, inherit property and make medical choices on each other’s behalf, along with a other benefits given to married Oregonians.
Oregon becomes the ninth state to approve spousal rights in some form for same-sex couples, joining California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Vermont and Washington. Massachusetts is the only state that allows same-sex couples to marry.
Homosexuality is SAFE and NORMAL, AnonFreak. I seem to be pretty safe and normal...and I am gay. My gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students are safe and normal too. Oh, so are the other gay teachers at my school... we are all pretty normal, safe, caring and happy individuals. What a rude individual you are. Truth wins.
Normal?
How come all people are not homsexuals? It is a variation from the norm, not normal
"You and your small minded friends will never gain an inch here. Someday- hopefully -soon, most people everywhere will look at your bigotry the way most people look at the Klan or Stormfront- as serious nutjobs."
Go out in the front yard and stand. If you wait long enough it will rain.
Standing in the rain!
Someone's gotta do it.
Anonymous, its normal for a minority of the population to be gay, just like its normal for a minority of the population to be left handed.
"Anonymous, its normal for a minority of the population to be gay, just like its normal for a minority of the population to be left handed."
It's actually a disfunctional adaption to the ordinary stresses of life. A desire to engage in painful and unhealthful practices without any underlying rationale or purpose. An abnormality chosen by a small but persistent portion of most population, science will no doubt find an effective treatment eventually.
This post has been removed by the author.
Red Baron said "It's actually a disfunctional adaption to the ordinary stresses of life.".
Where's your proof of that? All the major mental and physical health organizations disagree. 50 years of research refute you. Dozens and dozens of studies show that gays are indistinguishable from straights on ordinary measures of mental health. I see you don't know how to spell dysfunction, maybe you don't know what it means.
Anonymous said "science will no doubt find an effective treatment eventually.".
Its nice to see you finally acknowledge that the "pray away the gay" "repartive therapy" is a hopeless failure.
Anonymous said...
"Anonymous, its normal for a minority of the population to be gay, just like its normal for a minority of the population to be left handed."
It's actually a disfunctional adaption to the ordinary stresses of life. A desire to engage in painful and unhealthful practices without any underlying rationale or purpose. An abnormality chosen by a small but persistent portion of most population, science will no doubt find an effective treatment eventually.
----
A typical rational of the religious supremacist, given that religious supremacists are so often children trapped in adult bodies.
Like the emotionally and sexually ‘retarded’ child-predator who grew up emotionally and sexually abused, the religious supremacist suffers the abuse of reason and grows up to be morally ‘retarded.’ Their ‘age of reason’ was permanently suppressed when they defined (had defined for them?) reason itself as being the enemy of reason. Thus they “reason” that anyone who actually reasons, is an enemy of “truth,” and thus an enemy.
Overwhelming childlike fear results in the authoritarian mindset. Reasoning itself is outsourced to “authorities” for the purpose of avoiding taking responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions.
Thus the need to be right becomes paramount. Opposition of any sort represents an unconscious threat, because it's always a potential threat to their entire belief system.
Since their reasoning is not their own, inherent in the admission of being wrong about anything represents the potential to be wrong about Everything – ultimately their belief in God and thus salvation from eternal hell or eternal nothingness. Thus being right is based not on the desire to be right but on the fear of being wrong.
Part of their hatred of homosexuals lies in the unrelenting nature of our resistance. Being homosexual by nature, our resistance to being “changed” is by nature, unrelenting. Our clear consciences testify to the merit of this. Thus, they go to great lengths to undermine this fact. Every measure is taken to link same-sex attraction with destructive behavior, if it’s destructive, it’s harmful, and therefore immoral. Thus homosexuality=immorality, and phew! Their belief system is safe.
If Dobson et al were wrong about homosexuality, they would be wrong about homosexuality, making them inferior to those they despise. Being wrong all along about the enemy equals being more wrong than the enemy.
Authoritarian (assumptive) reasoning flawed=no Bible=no God=no supremacy=the fear of death and an empty life devoid of pride and full of guilt for those they’ve wronged.
No moral decisions=no responsibility=no consequences=no fear of being wrong=no moral decisions.
Remove any one of those factors from the equation and the entire belief system collapses. The legitimacy of homosexuality represents a threat to ALL of them. We’re not just a threat to their security blanket, we’re a threat to their salvation. A fear that by nature of their authoritarian belief system can never see the light of day.
Emproph, when you said "Their ‘age of reason’ was permanently suppressed when they defined (had defined for them?) reason itself as being the enemy of reason." I assume you meant to say "Their ‘age of reason’ was permanently suppressed when they defined (had defined for them?) reason itself as being the enemy of truth", correct?
Very interesting and insightful, but the way.
Always good for a laugh when Improv thinks out loud. His/her thought processes are very revealing in an amusing way.
He/she probably doesn't realize how uncomfortable TTFers are when they read something like this:
"Reasoning itself is outsourced to “authorities” for the purpose of avoiding taking responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions."
This is exactly the TTF tactic. All discussion must stop whenever the infallible "mainstream medical authorities" arre cited on what is actually a mental state.
"All the major mental and physical health organizations disagree. 50 years of research refute you. Dozens and dozens of studies show that gays are indistinguishable from straights on ordinary measures of mental health. I see you don't know how to spell dysfunction, maybe you don't know what it means."
Any study would have to begin with a value judgment: what is functional? Most rational persons would say that the ability to enjoy relations with the complementary gender is intrinsically functional.
"Its nice to see you finally acknowledge that the "pray away the gay" "repartive therapy" is a hopeless failure."
Well, you're on to something here, Randi. Prayer really only works for someone with faith. The Bible says that homosexuality is sin and anyone whos sins is a slave to sin. Breaking this bondage is actually a miracle.
Randi Schimnosky said...
"Emproph, when you said "Their ‘age of reason’ was permanently suppressed when they defined (had defined for them?) reason itself as being the enemy of reason." I assume you meant to say "Their ‘age of reason’ was permanently suppressed when they defined (had defined for them?) reason itself as being the enemy of truth", correct?"
--
Yeah, I think that’s a better way of putting it.
"Very interesting and insightful, but the way."
Thanks, I wrote it awhile ago. I thought it apt in light of Anon’s contention that SSA is "a disfunctional adaption to the ordinary stresses of life." That’s one of the reason’s they can’t handle truth, it’s a symptom of not being able to handle life. As long as everything’s in a neat little preconceived box, they feel safe.
So, once again, Anon's projecting, big surprise.
Anonymous said "Any study would have to begin with a value judgment: what is functional? Most rational persons would say that the ability to enjoy relations with the complementary gender is intrinsically functional.".
Functional is the ability to carry out the requirements of day to day life. Having heterosexual sex is not a necessary part of being functional.
Anonymous said " The Bible says that homosexuality is sin and anyone whos sins is a slave to sin. Breaking this bondage is actually a miracle.".
The bible says gays are to be put to death and that the innocent are punished by a just and loving god. There's a reason why we don't take a lot of the bible seriously. Being gay is no more bondage than being heterosexual.
Anonymous said "" The Bible says ...anyone whos sins is a slave to sin.".
And you've said all are sinners, so, you're admitting you're a slave to sin.
Anonymous said...
"It's actually a disfunctional adaption to the ordinary stresses of life."
--
From an interview John Dean did with Bob Altemeyer, who's studied the authoritarian mindset extensively.
--
Q: Why on the right?
A: The followers have a great desire to submit to established authority. They're also highly conventional, and they have a lot of aggression in them, which studies show comes primarily from being fearful. One of the classic reactions to fear is to fight, and the followers will attack when their authorities tell them to. They love to feel part of a "great movement" in solidarity with others on the move. They are very zealous. They usually are also highly religious, in a fundamentalist sense at least, and studies show they lead the league in self-righteousness. As we have discussed in the past, while there may be such people on the left, they are pretty rare compared with the number we find on the right.
"Functional is the ability to carry out the requirements of day to day life. Having heterosexual sex is not a necessary part of being functional."
In your opinion, but, then, what else would you say?
"The bible says gays are to be put to death"
Unrepentant ones will suffer eternal seperation from God but until the time God chooses for a person's death, no one knows who will eventually be repentant. Christians are hoping for everyone.
"and that the innocent are punished by a just and loving god."
Will never happen.
"There's a reason why we don't take a lot of the bible seriously."
Yes, there is. Read the third chapter of John. "This is the condemnation: that light has come into the world but men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil."
"Being gay is no more bondage than being heterosexual."
Homosexuality is esentially sin but not so with heterosexuality.
"there may be such people on the left,"
Sounds a lot like the people who frequent this site.
Anonymous said...
"Homosexuality is esentially sin but not so with heterosexuality."
And what problem would you have with homosexuality, IN AND OF ITSELF, if it were not a sin?
I said "Functional is the ability to carry out the requirements of day to day life. Having heterosexual sex is not a necessary part of being functional."
Anonymous replied "In your opinion, but, then, what else would you say?".
No, in the informed opinion and judgment of every major mental and physical health organization. There is no evidence whatsoever that gayness is "a response to the day to day stresses of life". We know that's not the case because highly stressful times like war and the depression never lead to an increase in the number of gays.
"No, in the informed opinion and judgment of every major mental and physical health organization."
The mental health field is, to put it diplomatically, often a little eccentric and, in honesty, without a lot of stunning successes.
Physical health professionals are just that and not more qualified than anyone else to make value judgments.
Your notions here are elitist and, besides, John Dean and Improv think it's fascist to rely unquestioningly on authoritative sources.
"There is no evidence whatsoever that gayness is "a response to the day to day stresses of life". We know that's not the case because highly stressful times like war and the depression never lead to an increase in the number of gays."
I was talking about the stress of dealing with interpersonal relationships not global type concerns.
"We know that's not the case because highly stressful times like war and the depression never lead to an increase in the number of gays.""
BTW, I don't believe there are numbers to back this up.
Anonymous said...
"There is no evidence whatsoever that gayness is "a response to the day to day stresses of life". We know that's not the case because highly stressful times like war and the depression never lead to an increase in the number of gays."
I was talking about the stress of dealing with interpersonal relationships not global type concerns."
--
Anon, if same gender attraction was the result of external stimuli of any kind, we wouldn't be talking about homosexuality, we'd be talking about varying degrees of bisexuality - because it would be based on the AMOUNT of whatever stimulus that caused it. Abuse, too much father, too much mother, whatever. Point being, it would be measurable, not full fledged and fixed as most gay persons are.
You can point to exceptions all you like, but it doesn't make sense to judge the rule by the exception.
"Anon, if same gender attraction was the result of external stimuli of any kind, we wouldn't be talking about homosexuality, we'd be talking about varying degrees of bisexuality"
It's a good point, Improv. I shouldn't let you guys define ythe parameters. Truth is, I personally think that homosexuality doesn't exist. These guys are bisexual. They've made a choice.
Anonymous said...
"Truth is, I personally think that homosexuality doesn't exist."
Understandable.
Red Baron said "The mental health field is, to put it diplomatically, often a little eccentric and, in honesty, without a lot of stunning successes.".
Nonsense. These are the experts and they're light years ahead of the religious superstition that you use as your basis for judging and dealing with mental health.
Red baron said "Physical health professionals are just that and not more qualified than anyone else to make value judgments.".
Of course they're more qualified. They're trained to know illness and to aid people who are having trouble carrying out their day to day lives. They know that being gay is not a disease because they can see it does not cause people problems in leading their day to day lives.
Red Baron said "I was talking about the stress of dealing with interpersonal relationships not global type concerns.".
Global concerns such as war and depression put tremendous stress on interpersonal relationships. The pet hypothesis of your side is that absent and distant fathers cause gayness. This being the case there'd be a spike in the numbers of gays during wartime because fathers are absent. There hasn't been such a spike because this is not a cause of gayness. There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that gayness is caused by familial environment and much evidence to suggest it is biological.
Red Baron said "I personally think that gayness doesn't exist. These guys are bisexual. They've made a choice.".
And of course as per usual you've got nothing to back up that claim. Fact is many, if not most gays state they have no attraction to women whatsoever.
And I might add that tests with plethysmographs have shown that most men are either turned on by men or women, but not both.
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