A high school principal in Columbia, S.C., is stepping down from his post after being asked to allow the creation of a gay-straight alliance club at his school. Irmo High School principal Eddie Walker's resignation won't take effect until June 2009, according to WIS TV in Columbia. Walker said in a resignation letter he wrote to the school that allowing the group creates a conflict involving his professional and religious beliefs.
"I feel the formation of a Gay/Straight Alliance Club at Irmo High school implies that students joining the club will have chosen to or will choose to engage in sexual activity with members of the same sex, opposite sex, or members of both sexes," he wrote.
Walker said that he would make the announcement to the student body on Wednesday over the intercom system, promising to work steadily through the 2008-2009 school year at Irmo.
"I have prayed about the decision for a period of time, and I have a peace about it," he continued. "I would ask that you respect my choice as I respect your choice to disagree with me on this issue. I bear no malice toward anyone involved. If the people involved at the district level had chosen not to allow the club to form, I am sure the district would have been sued, and the current legal opinions and precedents indicate that in all likelihood the district would have lost."
The school district said in a statement that the federal "Equal Access Act does not permit the school to discriminate against a club based on the club's purpose and viewpoint by not allowing it to form unless the purpose of the club is unlawful." (The Advocate)
