Parents sue school
for failure to notify
about gay teachings
By Jay Lindsay, AP
from boston.com on the web, April 27, 2006
BOSTON --Two Lexington
families on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit claiming school administrators
violated their civil rights and broke state law when they distributed and read
two storybooks that depict gay relationships to their children without prior
notification.
David and Tonia Parker and Joseph and Robin Wirthlin argue in their lawsuit
filed in U.S. District Court in Boston that their children were being
indoctrinated about a lifestyle they consider immoral, bypassing their right to
raise their children how they wish.
The Wirthlins complained to school officials last month after a teacher at the
Estabrook Elementary School read the book "King and King" to their son's
second-grade class. The book depicts a homosexual prince who falls in love
with another prince and decides to spend his life with him.
They said school officials refused a request to inform them whenever the school
presents material with homosexual themes.
"The reason why the defendants will not inform the Wirthlins is that the
defendants specific intention is to coercively indoctrinate the children into
moral belief systems that are markedly different from those of their parents,"
the suit reads.
The school has argued that a state law that allows parents to remove their
children from classes applies only to classes where such topics are the central
focus.
The lawsuit is filed against the school committee, director of education,
elementary school principal, teacher and the coordinator of health and seeks
unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
The issue is not new in Lexington.
David Parker was jailed last year after he refused to leave a school after
officials there rejected his request to exclude his 6-year-old son from
discussions of gay parents.
In a statement last September, Superintendent Paul Ash said references to family
life, including homosexual relationships, could routinely occur in many classes,
and the school was not obligated to inform parents whenever there are references
to sexual orientation.
The lawsuit is filed against the school committee, director of education,
elementary school principal, a teacher and the coordinator of health. It
seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
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