The following is merely an excerpt from Nightmare at Franklin, by Tom Mountain, published Nov 8, 2006, by Newton Tab; we encourage you to continue reading the full story…

Emer O’Shea knew something was wrong the minute she picked up her daughter from Franklin Elementary School. The third-grader was normally very perky upon seeing her mother and new baby sister, but this time she glanced at her mother without indicating what was wrong, except to say that the school’s social worker had visited the class. But Emer soon heard from another parent about what had happened in her daughter’s class that day, and she was both stunned and mortified. The next day her young daughter finally opened up with a question that would baffle most parents of an 8-year-old child, “Mommy, is it possible for a man to have an operation to become a woman?”

Transgenders and transvestites. These were the topics that a staff member at Franklin School in West Newton chose to teach to a class of third-grade children. The school’s social worker described to the children that some men like to dress up as women, and yes, some men even have operations to change into women.

The opportunity for this “teachable moment” – the kind that Superintendent Jeff Young likes to portray as merely responding to some child’s “random questioning” – occurred when the social worker was describing various families outside of the traditional mommy-and-daddy norm and showed the class a picture of a woman with two children, asking what they saw in the picture. A child then raised his hand to tell her (are you sitting sit down for this?) that he thought the picture was of a man who had a sex change operation and was now a woman. Apparently, the child’s own father was undergoing such an operation (which he/she has since completed).

The social worker then elaborated on this “teachable moment.” But this wasn’t just any social worker employed by the Newton Public Schools. This was Laura Perkins, former board member of GLSEN, the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network; or rather, “Laura Perkins, MSW, Franklin School and the Newton Early Childhood Program,” according to the GLSEN Boston Conference, where she hosted a seminar in which the “Rationale for integrating GLBT (Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender) issues in the early elementary years will be presented” and “classroom lessons demonstrated.” (See 5C.)

As a result of this particular “classroom lesson,” Emer’s daughter was petrified. For an 8-year-old accustomed to a child’s world of Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny, the little girl had nightmares, and explained to her mother she was scared that her baby sister could turn into a boy.

So Emer did what any normal responsible parent would do – she demanded an explanation from the principal, Cynthia Marchand (617-559-9500). She and several other parents from this class met with the principal who, according to Emer, responded defensively and fully backed her staff member.

Emer then went to Superintendent’s Young’s office with her concerns. She handed Mr. Young a written description of what happened, whereupon the superintendent promised to respond to her soon. He didn’t. So after three weeks, she called to make an appointment. As Emer described it, Mr. Young remarked that the Parental Consent Law didn’t apply to this situation because, he claimed, the topic of discussion was not planned for. He concluded that it was really just “a teachable moment.”

Continue reading at TownOnline…

Excerpted from Hawaii Elects Nations Highest-Ranking Openly Transgender Official, published Nov 8, 2006, by Associated Press:

Kim Coco Iwamoto, a 38-year-old attorney, did not tout her gender status in the campaign but has advocated for transgender youth and related issues. She came in third Tuesday in the competition for three seats on the 14-member board, which governs the islands’ 285 public schools.

Iwamoto would be the highest-ranking openly transgender person elected in the United States, said Denis Dison, a spokesman for the Victory Fund, a Washington-based group that tracks lesbian, gay and transgender candidates and helps fund their campaigns.

Continue reading at Fox News…

This one is incredible: Two adult men are advertising on the internet, including on MySpace, and hosting weekly parties for “gay” youth (age 17+) at their home (10:30 pm every Saturday night at 438 W Algonquin Rd, Algonquin, IL), where they openly welcome alcohol. One of the ads shows a boy standing, holding another boy whose legs are wrapped around him.

Even so, parents allow their children to attend – or are oblivious to their teen’s whereabouts. Have they seen the photos that Mark and Adam post online? Police are well aware both of the parties and the repeated violation of various laws by the homeowners and by party goers. But each week, the party goes on…

Now a young man is hospitalized after being stabbed eight times in the neck and chest at the party. His friend writes:

I have seen Adrian at the hospital. He has been stabbed eight times throughout his chest and neck. He arrived with a collapsed lung and severe loss of blood. He was read his last rights shortly after he arrived to the hospital. He is in a lot of pain. He has a strong will to live and is in for the fight of his life…

Even so, the regular party guests are defending the home as “a VERY safe place” and swearing to continue hanging out there…demonstrating just how deceived these young people are.

Where is the leadership in Algonquin?

TAKE ACTION (CORRECTED):

• Call Village President John C Schmitt at (847) 658-7643 or e-mail him.
• Call Director of Police and Public Safety Russell Laine at (847) 658-4531 or e-mail him.
• Let them both know that this sort of debauchery is completely unacceptable to you! Ask them what more they need to stop this illicit activity in your community.

The following is excerpted from LITH Man Stabbed 8 Times, by Dave Fitzgerald and Rob Phillips, published Nov 6, 2006, by Northwest Herald:

A 21-year-old man from Lake in the Hills remained in fair condition Monday at Sherman Hospital after being stabbed eight times in the chest early Sunday morning at an Algonquin home that advertises weekly parties on the Internet…

Algonquin police said they had previous problems at the home where the stabbing happened. A Web site www.party69.net directed people to a weekly house party on Saturday nights. In addition, the hosts have MySpace.com accounts that promote the parties.

The parties are advertised as a place for gay youth, and the house is publicized as a “club-like atmosphere” where partygoers must be 17 to get in and 21 to drink. A $5 donation at the door is requested, and identification is required to prove age, the ad says. Partygoers are asked to bring their own alcohol.

Algonquin police said they were aware of the parties and said they brought in a mix of people. Party organizers who live at the home, Mark Davidson, 36, and Adam Conard, 24, were charged July 16 with selling alcohol without a license and providing alcohol to minors. Davidson also was charged with obstruction of a peace officer, and Conard was charged with resisting a peace officer. A trial on those charges is scheduled for Nov. 17, according to court records.

Also, in 2005, Davidson was convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a child, stemming from his hosting of an underage drinking party at the same home, according to court records.

“It’s not illegal to have a party,” Algonquin Deputy Chief Ed Urban said.

Continue reading in Northwest Herald…

Excerpted from My New Job at Missouri State University, by Dr. Mike Adams, published Nov 7, 2006, by Townhall:

…I wouldn’t have expected it either – not until I heard about the case of MSU Social Work student Emily Brooker. Emily’s trouble began when she was forced by Social Work Professor Frank G. Kauffman to write a letter to the Missouri State legislature urging representatives to pass legislation that would allow gays to serve as foster parents and even to adopt children.

When Emily refused to do the assignment – because of her religious objections to homosexuality – she was punished. Her complaint about the assignment led to a formal disciplinary hearing.

The hearing was typical of those at most universities. Emily was given no lawyer nor was there any written record of what happened. But she reports that she was asked very personal questions about whether she believed that homosexuals are sinners. And then she was written up for openly confessing her religious objections concerning homosexuality.

Even though the Alliance Defense Fund has decided to represent Emily in a First Amendment lawsuit, I’ve decided to take the job at MSU. This decision is the result of my opinion that MSU is going to stand firm and defend Professor Kauffman.

Accordingly, during my first week at MSU, I plan to assign students to the following projects with assignments depending on important demographic variables:

Continue reading at Townhall…

Excerpted from Gay History Month in City Schools Seen Part of Trend, by Susan Brinkmann, published Nov 6, 2006, by The Catholic Standard and Times:

…For the first time, this year ninth-grade students will read a collection of short stories titled, “Am I Blue?” which is about people who have been affected by the coming-out experiences of youth…

Until two parent groups hired Liberty Counsel lawyers to stop it, a Maryland school district curriculum was about to teach 8th- and 10th-graders that Jesus condoned homosexuality because He never mentioned it by name, that Christians often use the Bible to justify hatred and that being homosexual is similar to being left-handed.

Some of the fuel behind the movement is coming from what many believe is an overly cozy alliance between the National Education Association (NEA) and gay activist organizations, such as the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), the nation’s leading pro-homosexuality education group.

“GLSEN is very closely aligned with the Gay-Lesbian caucus inside the NEA,” said Jeralee Smith, a California school teacher and the outgoing chair of the NEA’s Ex-Gay Educators Caucus.

“When the NEA’s Gay Lesbian Caucus started, I’m sure they wanted to see a gay president in charge of the NEA,” Smith said. “Well, that happened when Bob Chase became president. Chase was outed as a gay man by the Washington Blade around the end of his term as NEA president.

“It was during Bob Chase’s presidency that the Sexual Orientation Task Force was initiated, giving a whole arm of NEA leadership to gay- lesbian -bisexual -transgender (GLBT) causes,” Smith said. “In 2002, a 60-page document detailing NEA’s support of GLBT causes was adopted by the NEA executive committee, and handed to NEA delegates as a report which, technically, didn’t even require a vote.”

Since that time, pro-homosexuality curricula have been steadily creeping into schools across the country, says Regina Griggs, executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX).

“Programs like this are in all 50 states, and probably in every major county in the country,” Griggs said…

What if a student later becomes ill, after having been encouraged to embrace the lifestyle by a school program that deliberately withheld information about the risks? Could the student sue?

“I was recently contacted by somebody who, because of one-sided information being provided by doctors, went through a sex-change operation. His mental issues just got worse, and he now realizes this isn’t the choice anyone should make. He wants to sue because he wasn’t provided with full information.”

In the meantime, Lindevaldsen said,

“This is all politics. It’s all politics in the courts and it’s all politics in the schools. And the pawns are our children.”

Excerpted from Court Halts N.C. School District Policy Used to Prohibit Student from Distributing “Day of Truth” Cards, published Nov 2, 2006, by Alliance Defense Fund:

A federal judge today issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the Sampson County Board of Education and Midway High School officials from enforcing two policies used to prohibit a student from distributing “Day of Truth” message cards to other students. Officials prohibited the student, represented by attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, from distributing the cards outside of class time during the event April 27 and suspended him from school.

“Christian students are entitled to the same First Amendment rights as other students. No student should be suspended for exercising those rights,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman. “The court’s ruling today prohibits the school district, while the case moves forward, from censoring a student flyer simply because it has religious content.”

“It’s clearly unconstitutional when students participating in the Day of Silence, which supports the homosexual agenda, observe their event by distributing flyers and so forth, but a student with an opposite perspective is prevented from communicating it during non-instructional time,” Cortman added.

Continue reading at Alliance Defense Fund…

Excerpted from Student: Teacher Gave Me HIV, published Nov 3, 2006, by WNBC Channel 4:

…Hassan Vann, 29, a former music teacher at West Side High School in Newark, was indicted Thursday, accused of sexually abusing a student who now has AIDS, the Essex County prosecutor’s office said.

Vann faces up to 30 years in prison and 14 charges, including sexual assault and contact, official misconduct, child welfare endangerment, giving drugs and alcohol to a child and failing to notify a sexual partner that he had a sexually transmitted disease.

“Mr. Vann’s alleged conduct involving his former student was vile and has forever changed this young man’s life,” said Essex County Prosecutor Paula T. Dow…

Paul Loriquet, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, said the victim told authorities he’s only had unprotected sex with Vann and that prosecutors plan to ask a judge to order Vann to undergo an AIDS test. The student believes the frequent, unprotected sex with Vann led to him contracting the virus, Loriquet said.

Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Mark S. Ali said the indictment covers a period from September 2000 to June 2004, with the initial incident happening in December 2000 when the then-14-year-old male was pushed against a high school wall and sexually abused.

The student graduated in 2004 and tested positive for HIV in May 2005, which is when the prosecutor’s office said it was notified.

Continue reading at WNBC Channel 4…

David French, attorney for MSU social work graduate Emily Brooker, is blogging at National Review Online about the Brooker v Missouri State University case:

There is a good article in this morning’s USA Today regarding the Alliance Defense Fund’s lawsuit against Missouri State. I have been giving several interviews about the case, and I am consistently asked two things: (1) are you saying that students can refuse assignments?; and (2) is this case “just” an academic-freedom dispute, or is it more than that?

First — to clear up any confusion — this is not a case about a student who is merely asked to play “devil’s advocate” in a classroom exercise. Of course teachers can ask you to debate and discuss various ideas from all sides of a dispute. During law school, several of my professors presented hypothetical cases and then asked us to write the majority opinion and the dissent in the case. The plaintiff, Emily Brooker, was not merely asked to think about all sides of an issue or argue different sides in class, she was asked to make an ideological argument in a contentious cultural issue to the state government. Moreover, she was supposed to argue for a position that violated her religious beliefs.

And this gets us to the real heart of the case: the magnitude of the constitutional violation. This is not “just” an academic-freedom dispute but instead represents an attempt by an academic department to pass into the “final frontier”…of university indoctrination. For more than 20 years now, conservative, libertarian, and even many liberal critics of the academy have decried the tendency of universities to silence dissenters. Many of these same critics have also decried one-sided course instruction and a faculty culture that leans overwhelmingly left. By silencing dissent and ensuring that only one side is heard, the university certainly “indoctrinates” students (as that term is commonly understood). But this case is something more. Here, the university goes beyond censorship, beyond one-sided instruction, and invades the student’s most basic right to freedom of conscience. It is not enough to silence students. Instead, the department must force individuals to voice their agreement with the governing ideology.

It is no exaggeration to call this system “Orwellian.” At the end of 1984 (spoiler alert for those who haven’t read the book), Winston Smith not only says that he loves Big Brother; he means it. Missouri State was going to force Emily Brooker to publicly support the campus’s reigning leftist ideology, and the punishment that resulted from the Star Chamber hearing was entirely designed to make sure that she meant it. After all, how could Emily follow the university’s command to “lessen the gap” between her own beliefs and the so-called “ethics” of the social-work profession but by changing her mind and heart?