On Wednesday, in their infinite wisdom, the state legislature of Utah has passed a law intended to shut down clubs that teach tolerance of other students, regardless of sexual orientation. On Thursday it was reversed on a technicality and didn’t have the votes to pass Thursday’s revote.
The bill would have required all sorts of additional hoops for non-curricular clubs to jump through for starting up including requirements that parents sign permission slips. While the authors of the bills claim that they want to protect children, absolutely no one believes that this is intended to do anything but shut down gay-straight alliances.
The key provision of the legislation bans any clubs that — quote — -“involve human sexuality” or threaten the “moral well-being” of students.
The authors of the bill claim it bill stand up to the Federal Equal Access Act because it applies to all clubs equally. Pretending for a moment that we actually believe this claim, we wonder exactly which clubs a clever school board could ban had the bill made it to law.
I would recommend the Fellowship of Christian Atheletes because they promote the notion that God favors MY team which may well threaten the moral well-being of students.
And I’d ban the homecoming committee for involving human sexuality.
I often think back on my high school days, and I think about how much a gay-straight alliance would have helped me deal with my isolation and fear. It’s unimaginable to me that people are threatented by such organizations.
Paul.
pdcook.blogspot.com
Again, Utah is in the news about GSA clubs.
I cannot say with any data from a scientific poll but I generally think most Utahns (many Mormons included) are tired of the time and taxpayer’s monies wasted on debating this anymore. (Admittedly, I’m just gleaning from the letters-to-the-editor in the Salt Lake Tribune and opinions I hear around the water-cooler at my work…hardly a definitive survey of most Utahns.)
Utah had been in the forefront with this gay -vs- anti-gay legal wrangling. We need to remember the Salt Lake School District East High School in 1995 which made national headlines. The School District (and the State) lost their legal challenges to forming GSAs and resulted in a large (and wasted) legal expense. If the ACLU again challenges this anti-GSA bill it won’t be the School District footing the legal bill. Rather: This time the most vocal Representatives/Senators opponents of GSAs have graciously offered to pay any legal expenses via an unfettered state tax fund.
It is may not be easy to understand Utah and explain why this GSA tribulation continues except to explain the uniqueness of living in a representative-based Republic where but ONE dominant religion vastly outnumbers the minority religious and non-religious. But these more vocal…can I use the term: “Evangelical Mormons” are obsessed with things gay and continue to get elected.
As reference: Janelle P. Eurick
Staff Attorney Utah ACLU wrote to the Principal and S.L. School District:
[emphasis my own]
I think about how much a gay-straight alliance would have helped me deal with my isolation and fear.
That’s exactly why people are threatened by them.
Almost a pity. I was beginning to relish the thought of this going to court…
Paul: I understand completely and feel the same way.
There is a discussion about this going on at Pam’s House Blend. One comment in particular caught my eye:
More on Jacob Orosco.
Well, clearly the debate team fosters moral ill-being (if that’s not a word, I just made it one) by encouraging students to Question Authority. Same goes for the school newspaper– who told these kids they have a right to their own opinions, anyway?
The drama club might perform plays that touch on human sexuality or questionable moral values– think of all the teenage impurities that’s erupted during productions of Romeo & Juliet! Plus, they’re usually a functional GSA anyway.
Cheerleading teams go kaput since they quite obviously involve human sexuality, particularly that nasty female kind. Same for football and baseball, what with those tight uniform pants. And let us not speak of wrestling. In fact, we might simply ban sports altogether because it’s a dangerously short leap from thinking of your own healthy physique to thinking of your teammate’s healthy physique.
4-H? If you want YOUR child to learn about *sniff* breeding and fertilization, you’re better off teaching them at home.
Band is right out since the American Pie movies. And all those phallic instruments and talk about tongueing and fingering!
Academic bowl, Math League, and honor societies clearly pose a threat to students’ moral well-being since they might fall victim to the cardinal sin of Pride.
Foreign language clubs might well give these students the idea that languages other than American English are worthy of consideration– the horror!
Beta club is tricky, but we should ban that too since those students doing community service might just be trying to earn salvation through works instead of faith, and we can’t have that, can we?
Science eventually leads to such ungodly subjects as human anatomy and evolutionary biology– ban it!
English and history both contain numerous examples of human sexual and moral misbehavior– ban ’em!
Math leads students astray from the Holy Bible, which teaches that pi is 3– ban it!
In fact, let’s just shut the kids in their lockers with a Bible and call it a job well done, shall we?
Should I infer that “treating others as you would have them treat you” (i.e. tolerance, the true definition) threatens the ‘moral well-being’ of students in Utah?
And for the millionth time, being gay is not contagious.