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The affects of the anti-homosexual agenda.

Ga. Schools May Require Parents' Approval for Joining Gay-Straight Alliances

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Posted by Senior Editor on 2005/3/26 12:14:00

By Jim Brown

(AgapePress) - A proposal being considered by the Georgia Board of Education would require high school students to obtain parental permission before joining homosexual-affirming clubs at school.

State Superintendent Kathy Cox is asking the Georgia Board of Education to adopt a policy that would require all students to obtain parental permission before joining an extracurricular club. Senator Ralph Hudgens introduced a similar proposal in the state legislature, but withdrew his sponsorship of the measure at Cox's request.

Hudgens believes many Georgia parents were not aware of the presence of Gay-Straight Alliance clubs in their children's schools. He says, "We just felt that this is an issue that the parents need to be fully informed about. If they're going to have to give permission for their student to take an aspirin in school, then I feel like they ought to be asked permission for their students to join a club such as this."

The reason Cox asked the lawmaker to withdraw his sponsorship of the Senate measure, he explains, was because she felt the parental permission rule could be implemented much faster if it were adopted by the Board of Education instead of having to gain full approval from the state legislature.

Senator Hudgens believes the rule, if adopted, would provide a strong deterrent to student involvement in pro-homosexual clubs. "If this was the Spanish club, or the French club, or the Engineering club, or the Future Farmers of America club, then I probably wouldn't have a lot of concern about it," he says. "But homosexuality, as far as I'm concerned, is a learned behavior. It's not genetic -- they've never been able to prove that there's a gene that causes this. It's something that is learned."

State Superintendent Cox is urging the members of the Georgia Board of Education to approve the new parental permission rule next month. If approved, the rule would be implemented in high schools throughout the state in September.

Meanwhite in White County, GA:

Gay student club approved at north Ga. high school: But advocates say new state rule may ‘nullify’ victory

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By DYANA BAGBY * Friday, March 25, 2005

Administrators say a gay-straight alliance can be formed at White County High School in rural north Georgia, following weeks of nationally publicized controversy and backlash from the socially conservative community.

The ACLU of Georgia said school administrators in Cleveland, located about 75 miles north of Atlanta, agreed to drop their attempts to stop students from forming the club after several weeks of negotiation between the school and the ACLU, according to a statement the group released Tuesday.

White County School Superintendent Paul Shaw said administrators never said the group could not form, and they had been reviewing the club’s by-laws and mission since January.

“We were working in good faith to try to get things resolved,” Shaw said. “We wanted to do what was morally and legally right.”

Shaw said determining whether to approve the club — dubbed Peers Rising in Diverse Education, or PRIDE — has been an ongoing process since the club was proposed by Kerry Pacer, 16, a junior at the high school, and several of her friends.

The ACLU and Pacer argued the club had the legal right to form under the 1984 Federal Equal Access Act.

After learning of the club’s approval, Pacer, a lesbian, said she and her friends are excited to now work for tolerance and diversity in their school.

“I was so relieved,” Pacer said Tuesday. “I knew finally we were going to be able to do what we started out to do. We are all so happy.”

The group plans to meet in the next week or two, said Pacer, who will serve as the club’s president.

At a heated school board meeting Feb. 24, nearly 300 people packed White County High School’s gymnasium, most loudly voicing opposition to formation of the students club.

Beth Littrell, an ACLU attorney who represented Pacer, applauded the teen for pursuing the group in the face of strong opposition.

“Kerry and her friends understood that their rights were being violated, refused to be silenced no matter how unpopular their views may be, and understood that there is a real need for a GSA at their school,” Littrell said in a statement.

The ACLU was prepared to take legal action if school officials did not approve the club, Littrell said.

But the victory in White County may be short-lived, some gay rights advocates fear. Students wanting to join gay-straight alliances in Georgia schools may face a major obstacle in the next school year when the state Department of Education is expected to implement a “parental notification” rule.

The rule will require local school boards to mandate students receive permission from parents or legal guardians to join any extracurricular school activities except for attending football games or after-school band or play practices. Most high school athletes are required to submit similar parental permission forms.

The DOE is scheduled to adopt the measure at its April 14 meeting. A public hearing on the proposed rule is set for April 13.

Edward Gray, executive director of YouthPride, an organization for gay youth, said the state rule is unnecessary.

“We know the reason for it is to suppress attendance in [gay-straight alliances]. The government has gone from not believing gay teens exist to trying to silence them,” Gray said.

Chuck Bowen, Georgia Equality executive director, said the proposal may simply “nullify” the victory in White County.

“Everyday across this state, there are thousands of kids who are called names, subjected to harassment and bullied because of their perceived non-conforming sexual identity,” Bowen said in a statement.

“If the Georgia Department of Education adopts the proposed parental notification rule, they are, in essence, sanctioning this behavior,” he said.

Dyana Bagby can be reached at dbagby@sovo.com.