U.S. Court Upholds
Same - Sex Teaching
to Children
By REUTERS, from the
NYTimes on the Web, February 24, 2007
BOSTON -- A federal judge in
Boston has dismissed a suit by two families who wanted to stop a Massachusetts
town and its public school system from teaching their children about gay
marriage, court documents show.
The families last year filed the suit asserting that the reading of a gay-themed
book and handing out to elementary school students of other children's books
that discussed homosexuality without first notifying parents was a violation of
their religious rights.
Federal Judge Mark Wolf ruled on Friday that public schools are "entitled to
teach anything that is reasonably related to the goals of preparing students to
become engaged and productive citizens in our democracy."
"Diversity is a hallmark of our nation. It is increasingly evident that
our diversity includes differences in sexual orientation," he said.
He said the courts had decided in other cases that parents' rights to exercise
their religious beliefs were not violated when their children were exposed to
contrary ideas in school.
The complaint filed against the town of Lexington, about 12 miles west of
Boston, had said the school had "begun a process of intentionally indoctrinating
very young children to affirm the notion that homosexuality is right and normal
in direct denigration of the plaintiffs' deeply held faith."
The book that sparked the case was "King & King" which tells the story of a
crown prince who rejects a bevy of beautiful princesses, rebuffing each suitor
until falling in love with a prince. The two marry, sealing the union with
a kiss, and live happily ever after.
The Lexington school system had said reading the book was not intended as sex
education but as a way to educate children about the world in which they live,
especially in Massachusetts, the only U.S. state where gays and lesbians can
legally wed.
A lawyer for the families said they would appeal the ruling, the Boston Globe
reported on Saturday.
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