Lesbian Minister's High School "Days of Diversity" Presentation Goes To Court

The San Jose Mercury News reports that "in Castro Valley, [California], parents recently sued the district after they learned that lesbian minister Nehring was addressing students at the high school." The Castro Valley Forum reports that "two months ago, a group of 31 Castro Valley parents filed suit against the district seeking information about Rev. Arlene Nehring who spoke to CVHS [Castro Valley High School] students during it’s annual 'Diversity' program which for the past nine years has included presentations on a variety of topics."

The Oakland Tribune reports that the "school district has complied with a lawsuit demanding the release of materials related to a 'Days of Diversity' presentation by a lesbian minister that caused a stir earlier this year." Rev. Arlene Nehring spoke to Castro Valley High classes, according to the Oakland Tribune, about "the importance of diversity and acceptance of alternative lifestyles." Nehring's presentation prompted parental outrage.The minister herself is quoted as saying, "I describe my own experiences, including my personal process of coming out."

Kevin Snider is chief counsel of the Pacific Justice Institute, a Sacramento-based legal firm that specializes in defending parental rights and religious freedom. The Pacific Justice Institute is representing the parents in this case. Snider says the district isn't teaching diversity because traditional relationships are ignored. "There's an inordinate amount of presentations that seem to be dealing with human sexuality orientation, but I didn't see anything that celebrated traditional marriage. Maybe this will provide an opportunity for people to look at what was being presented and see there are other viewpoints missing from Days of Diversity." The Castro Valley Forum further reports that "Snider contends there are still concerns that a PowerPoint presentation the Institute received from the district is not consistent with information students claimed to have seen during Nehring’s presentation. A subpoena has been forwarded for the presentation to the Eden Church of Christ in Hayward where she is minister."

“These parents want to know what is going on in the classroom and want that time devoted to the subjects of math and science and not other irrelevant discussions,” said Snider.

The Castro Valley forum also reports that the Pacific Justice Institute has already "sent the Castro Valley School District a $14,700 bill for legal costs in connection with the law firm’s probe of the a lesbian minister’s presentation during the school’s 'Days of Diversity' earlier this year."

I think this story warrants a reminder to all my readers about the recent vote of the Alameda School Board that provided for what the L.A. Times called "a primer on sexual identity for kindergartners through fifth-graders": http://www.stevelackner.com/2009/06/la-times-editorial-alameda-unified.html. Even the L.A. Times disagreed with the forced lectures concerning sexual orientation saying that the district went "too far in adopting a curriculum that introduces topics involving sexuality at an age when most children are ill-equipped to consider them."

The fact is that there are activists, often from official gay rights groups, that seek to introduce our youngsters to the topic of homosexuality in ways that are very often seen as completely inappropriate by many parents. Parents that do not want their children exposed to and to have official school venues that often endorse homosexuality should have their views respected. As far as I am concerned, children and teenagers are sent to school to be educated in the basics of the key fields of knowledge that are viewed as essential to the development of any person. They are sent to study writing, grammar, science, history, mathamatics, literature, and whatever else is necessary for a younger person to attain what are the basics of human knowledge. Public schools are in no way supposed to be a forum for indoctrination of particular controversial values that are antithetical to the values of so many parents that send their children to these schools. Tweet