News
2006-01-21
School funding
meeting devolves into attacks on GSA
A meeting to
discuss school construction devolved into a debate over a
gay and lesbian club operating at Lake City High School in
A meeting to
discuss school construction devolved into a debate over a
gay and lesbian club operating at Lake City High School in
Mica Flats, Idaho. "I have far greater concerns than
buildings," Hayden resident Jim Connell said. "Our
students are being taught that the gay lifestyle is
all right."
Connell was referring to the Gay Straight
Alliance Club that has been formed at the school.
Coeur d'Alene school superintendent Harry Amend
attempted to keep the Thursday night meeting focused on an
upcoming levy referendum, but the discussion about the
club would not go away. "How much money would fund the
GSA?" asked Phil Thompson.
Amend replied that no money from the levy would
fund any clubs. "I am a Christian, an educator for 37
years, and I witness to kids," Amend said. "My son is
a minister, I have very strong religious beliefs. But
I have to obey the law. Allowing the GSA falls clearly
within federal and state law." Connell countered that
sodomy is against the law in Idaho and that the club
constitutes passive approval of illegal activity.
Jim Hollingsworth of Coeur d'Alene felt that
encouraging the GSA is encouraging students to be
child molesters. "We need to break down the barrier,"
Hollingsworth said. "We don't want hate. It's
imperative that we take a stand as a community to discourage
deviant behavior."
"This isn't about religion, it's about a
lifestyle choice," Martin Howser said. "I think you
need to revisit this. This is a very dangerous
lifestyle. You could lose your levy over this." Amend said
the long-range planning committee would go back to the
drawing board if the levy failed on March 14. (AP)
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