Deerfield High School Accused of Promoting Homosexuality

Excerpted from School Accused of Promoting Homosexuality, by Lisa Black, published Mar 7, 2007, by Chicago Tribune:

Some parents have accused Deerfield High School of promoting a homosexual agenda by allowing gay students to speak before freshman classes about their personal experiences, cite research and invite questions.

Taking place in classrooms this week, the panel sessions are scheduled during a class called freshman advisory, which seeks to help students adjust to high school. The class is mandatory, but parents can choose to remove their child on days the lessons concern them, school officials said.

But Deerfield resident and parent Lora Sue Hauser, who heads a group called North Shore Student Advocacy, wants to see the panel discontinued, saying it delves into complex issues of sexuality that are better addressed by parents and trained counselors. She said the panel is one of several ways that Deerfield High and other schools treat homosexuality as morally acceptable without presenting the viewpoints of those who disagree.

“The school makes heterosexuality and homosexuality equivalent, and our country is deeply divided on that,” said Hauser, who said dozens of parents belong to the advocacy group but fear they will be labeled as haters or religious fanatics if they speak out.

“You can’t dump that on a 14-year-old,” Hauser said. “These are really difficult waters to navigate.”

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