If you're not from here...

Welcome to my blog!

If you're not from here, start at the bottom of the page and read up. Blogger arranges my posts so that the most recent is at the top, so much of the introductory info is at the bottom. If you still want to learn more about the background for the flag, do a google search with: "Diversity Flag" AND Howell.

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UPDATE: See "Rainbow Flag Fast Facts" on the sidebar.

UPDATE II: For new readers, please check out my other blog next:

Right Wing Testimonial

UPDATE III: The Flag Is Down!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy!

NEA Weakens Resolution Supporting Same-Sex Marriage

NEA Weakens Resolution Supporting Homosexual Marriage
By Nathan Burchfiel
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
June 27, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - The National Education Association (NEA) has dropped an amendment that was going to ask its convention delegates to support homosexual marriage and civil unions in all 50 states.

Cybercast News Service has learned that an NEA delegate earlier this month leaked the language of the amendment to conservative groups and the resulting protest apparently prompted the NEA to substitute it with a weaker version.

Instead of asking delegates to endorse homosexual marriage and civil unions across the board, the substitute asks convention delegates to endorse homosexual domestic partnerships, civil unions and marriage in states that already "legally recognize" the relationships.

Massachusetts is currently the only state that legally recognizes same sex marriage. Connecticut and Vermont have legalized civil unions. Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, California and the District of Columbia offer homosexual couples some form of spousal-like benefits.

NEA delegates, who have previously approved language stating that "a diverse society enriches all individuals," are now likely to vote on the substitute resolution during the union's annual convention in Orlando June 29 to July 6.

Andy Linebaugh, a spokesman for the NEA, told Cybercast News Service that "leadership of the NEA has no interest in advancing a position on same-sex marriage."

When asked about the substitute amendment, Linebaugh first stated that he had "no idea what you're referring to." But when he was read the language of the substitute and asked whether it would come up for a vote at the NEA convention, Linebaugh said he believed it would, "but it has to go through the process" first of being debated.

Linebaugh said the decision to change the amendment was not a result of any protest by conservatives. However, two days after the American Family Association issued a statement complaining that the "Teacher's union begins plans to promote homosexual marriage in public schools," the substitute was distributed by Ohio NEA President Gary Allen in an email.

In the June 21 email, Allen told his membership that "there is a new resolution up for discussion at the July 2006 NEA Representative Assembly."

"We didn't respond to the AFA by changing the original amendment," Linebaugh insisted. "We responded to the AFA by saying the NEA has no position on same-sex marriage."

Linebaugh declined to address the original resolution that formed the basis of the AFA's complaint, offering only that the current amendment "clearly does not endorse or support same-sex marriages."

In an undated release posted on the website of its Kansas affiliate, NEA president Reg Weaver said the AFA had engaged in a "malicious e-mail campaign distorting the facts related to proposed amendment changes."

He added that the NEA "has no position on same-sex marriages, and leadership is not seeking to establish such a position."

Linebaugh refused to explain how, as Weaver claimed, the AFA distorted the meaning of the original amendment. "You'd have to ask them how they misinterpreted it," he said. "I'm not saying anything about distorting any meaning."

Dr. Warren Throckmortion, a psychologist from Grove City College in Pennsylvania who counsels homosexuals on changing their sexual orientation, told Cybercast News Service that the new amendment has been "cleverly wordsmithed" to voice support for same-sex unions in states that already recognize those unions.

He said members of the union "could look at these resolutions and take from it support for gay marriage."

"I'm not sure why they would need to say anything," Throckmorton said. "It already exists in the states. Why does the NEA need to make a statement to that effect?"

Victory, or Closing the Final Chapter

Momentous developments have occurred since I last was able to update this page. I will add more posts below, but here’s the rundown:

-In March, students formed the Traditional Values Club, an organization dedicated to “Judeo-Christian” values. One of their first acts was to request a Christian flag be hung to represent their club, with the cross also representing a “t” for traditional values. While initially opposed, they successfully argued that the Equal Access Act and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause granted them the equal rights to school facilities as the Diversity Club, and their flag was hung.

-Exhibiting their usual “tolerance” and “acceptance of differences,” forty teachers led by the union president Doug Norton (donor of the “Diversity” Flag) angrily demanded the principal remove the TVC’s flag. The Diversity Club advisor, Catherine Capy, said that her students “say it's one thing to have a flag that stands for diversity, but quite another to have an ‘overtly religious symbol’ that excludes certain groups.” As opposed to, say, a gay pride flag that stands for at most ten percent, Ms. Capy? If her students truly say that, then it is even further proof that their idea of Diversity is nothing more than a front to cover their agenda, and an affront to true tolerance.

-In May, Howell High School teacher Margaret Breece posted an inflammatory bumper sticker reading “Hatred is not a family value,” underneath the TVC’s flag. She claimed she was “trying to make a political statement.” To make that statement, she was willing to slander the club’s members who had demonstrated nothing but the utmost consideration even in the face of constant harassment from HPS employees. Breece was given a three-day suspension, which is currently being fought and likely will not be served.

-As calls for both flag’s removals intensified, members of the HPS administration attempted to evade responsibility and asked the TVC and the Diversity Club to meet to negotiate the removal of the flags. The meeting was refused on several accounts. As the Traditional Values Club President wrote in explanation:

- The TVC members are “concerned how some of the teachers would react to any participation on our part in taking down the flag they feel so passionately about,” and “would not like to be put in the position of either setting or doing away with school policy.”

- “The circumstances of this meeting [were] worrisome,” and “while we are not opposed to the removal of all flags, in light of the opposition towards our club, the Traditional Values Club is hesitant to respond to anything short of a blanket administrative decision.”

Cureton ended by urging the administration to remove of both flags to allow for “a spirit of harmony and amity” between the two clubs.

-In a personally saddening yet wise decision by the administration, HHS Principal Marge Hamill was demoted to the assistant principal of a middle school. Her last official action was to order both flags down in response to a teacher survey where a majority of the staff voted for their removal. “I was just trying to be supportive of all the students in my high school,” she said. “I see now that I made the wrong decision.”

Maybe it’s my pollyannaish streak, but I respect her for that. Though it is saddening for all of us that she was unable to realize her mistake for what it was sooner, and spare herself and our community from all the past, needless strife, few people are able to admit when they have erred.

I wish her the best of luck in her new position, and truly hope and believe she will be happier there.


Yet the Fight Continues

Thus ended a long and bitter struggle. Along the way, I have made friends, lost friends, debated, argued, struggled, mourned, and learned to face the fierceness of the “principalities- the powers- the rulers of the darkness of this world.”

We’ve succeeded in forcing the school board, administration, and teacher’s union- uniformly intransigent against the removal of the flag- to abandon their position. They quite literally have lost their colors.

But sadly, they remain determined to impose their radical liberal agenda on our students. We must be every bit determined as they. We cannot afford to abandon our vigilance in the face of this victory, or our triumph will only be a short-lived façade- a cover for our ultimate defeat.

Just this week, the school board announced plans to provide 12-13 year olds with pamphlets demonstrating how to use a condom. They also changed the sex-ed curriculum to allow teachers to define “anal sex” “oral sex,” ”homosexuality” and “masturbation.” The enemy remains committed.

Let us then be so committed, and steel ourselves to face the storm.

Keep up the fight.

And may God preserve us all.



“I have fought the good fight- I have finished the race – I have kept the faith.”- 2 Timothy 4:7.

Students Caught in the Crossfire

Sound Familiar?

"Tragically, public schools have become front lines in the culture war over homosexuality — and the biggest losers are the kids caught in the crossfire of incendiary rhetoric and bitter lawsuits.

"In school districts across the nation, escalating conflicts involving sexual orientation in the curriculum, student clubs, speech codes and other areas of school life are undermining the educational mission of our schools. News stories in the past two months alone have spotlighted bitter fights over these issues in Utah, Pennsylvania, Kansas, California, Idaho and Florida. Any notion of the public interest is often lost in the clash of worldviews across seemingly unbridgeable distances. "

Continue


And that is why we must stop such efforts where we find them. As I wrote in my earlier post, "Why the Flag Must Be Removed," when a school pushes one agenda, it does so at the expense of those who hold the opposite position and who then rightly protest against the school. A neutral, non-controversial position is to simply, fairly, and still uncompromisingly treat every student the same: heterosexual or homosexual- choir geek or varsity quarterback- black or white or fluorescent green- all students ought to be treated equally by the school. It's fair. It's common sense.


It is becoming all too uncommon.

The Agenda Marches Onward

Read Article

January 25 2006: In San Fran 5 teachers got into some trouble for not allowing the a gay rainbow poster in the classroom. It is a shame:

Five teachers at San Leandro High School have refused to comply with a school district order to display a rainbow-flag poster in their classrooms that reads, "This is a safe place to be who you are," because they say homosexuality violates their religious beliefs, Principal Amy Furtado said. .......

The high school's Gay-Straight Alliance designed the poster, which includes pink triangles and other symbols of gay pride. In December the school board approved a policy requiring all district teachers to hang the posters in their classrooms. ......

For the past two years, teachers have been required to attend annual three-hour sessions addressing the problems faced by gay and lesbian students in school and how to deal with students' homophobic comments

Furtado said she is confident that every teacher eventually will comply with the district mandate. She said she intends to work with those teachers who have refused to ensure they comply with the order.

Agape Press

However, Bob Knight of the Culture and Family Institute (CFI) takes issue with that statement. He believes Lim's talk of safety is cover for the homosexual agenda. "What [such policies] produce is intolerance toward anyone who won't accept homosexuality," he says, adding that in this case, that means "teachers who know that it's not a good thing to sell kids on the idea that it's okay to be gay."

And it is wrong, Knight adds, to force teachers into a situation that implies their approval of an unsafe and unhealthy lifestyle. "When you put a rainbow poster up in your classroom, you're lending the authority of the teacher to the gay-rights movement," he explains. In essence, says Knight, the district is saying: "Kids, go ahead and try this behavior. Even your teacher is for it."

The controversial poster was designed by students in the school's Gay Straight Alliance Club, under the supervision of a homosexual art teacher. The Chronicle reported on Thursday that tensions had eased at the school following faculty discussions about the "underlying message" of the posters. The principal says she expects to see the posters up in all 200 classrooms this week, and will have "a private conversation" with any teacher who is not in compliance with the policy.

Letters to the Editor- My response coming after I finish my college apps

Here are all the letters and editorials from the last week regarding
the flag.

==================================

Article published Nov 29, 2005

We need to just let the flag issue die

My letter is in response to the recent letter from Joanie Paris("Guest column was wrong, offensive," Nov. 27) and others who refuse to let the diversity flag issue die.

Typing "rainbow flag" into a search engine on the Internet does not exactly give someone empirical evidence that the rainbow flag belongs solely to the gay community.

Of course, the rainbow flag at Howell High school represents the gay students there. That's because the flag represents all students, whether they be gay, straight, white, black or purple.

I, myself, am a 2003 graduate, and I left that school feeling confident in the level of social tolerance around me. I was very surprised to learn that some members in the surrounding communities were not exactly on the same page.

Joanie Paris wants to "take back" the word "gay" and let the homosexuals use the word "abomination." Sounds pretty familiar to me. The word "abomination" got thrown around a lot not too far back in our history in regards to divorce. Today, divorce is an accepted part of marriage that about 50 percent of our country takes part in.
Makes you wonder what we can expect in the future acceptance of homosexuality when the people who still entertain ideas of perversion and gay recruitment are no longer heard. Bring on the "moral decay" response letters.

Erica Damon
Howell

===========================

Article published Nov 27, 2005

Guest column was wrong, offensive

I am really taking issue with the Daily Press & Argus. How can you print such an article as Doug Norton's guest column ("The truth about Howell's rainbow flag," Nov. 20)?

This isn't an opinion. The author is trying to make you think this is fact. When people read stuff like this, they think it's fact — after all, they read it in the newspaper, so it must be true. Right? Wrong. Norton wrote, "It is ridiculous, however, to maintain that a rainbow can stand as a symbol for such a narrow agenda as gay pride."

Oh, really? I went on the Internet and typed in "rainbow," "flag" in a search engine and found dozens of Web sites. All of them are gay, and all of them claim the rainbow flag as their flag representing the gay agenda.

So much for trying to explain away the "notion" that the rainbow flag flying in Howell High School doesn't represent the homosexuals in that school.

And why have we allowed the homosexuals take a sweet word like gay and pervert it? According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, "gay" means "Showing or characterized by exuberance or mirthful excitement: merry. Bright or lively, especially in color. Full of or given to social and other pleasures, etc."

It doesn't refer to gay as being anything other than happy until the bottom of the list where it's noted as slang for homosexual.

So let's take the word "gay" back, folks. Let the homosexuals find some other word that more describes their way of life — how about abomination?

Howell High School, take down this flag!

You will never get a more diversified flag than that of the American flag.

Joanie Paris
Brighton
=========================================

Article published Nov 24, 2005

Get involved with the LOVE group

I am writing in response to a number of articles regarding the gay pride flag and the Livingston Organization for Values in Education (LOVE) group.

After taking time to hear this issue tossed around in the press, I decided to do what is right for all my children, who are in the Howell school system — I joined the LOVE group.

I have to say, after my first meeting, what a great bunch of concerned
parents and students — a real credit for any community.

I cannot say the same for our school board members, who found it offensive to hang our National Motto, "In God We Trust", but had no problem being one of two schools in the United States to hang a gay pride flag.

I strongly urge my fellow parents and any students of the district to join this group.

Tony Robinson
Howell
====================================================

Article published Nov 24, 2005

Enough talk about the rainbow flag

Enough is enough about the flag at the high school. We went through this all last year, and now we are going through it again. Why? I know some people have their thoughts and beliefs on the flag, but these kids are not representing it as some people want it to be represented. And, if it did represent the gays, so what? I thought everybody was equal in this school. Guess not. I think that the subject of the flag has been overdone and some people need to get over it.

If the principal doesn't have a problem with it, if the school board doesn't have a problem with it — which they obviously don't, otherwise they would have had it taken down — then it should stay up. These kids are open-minded and have stressed what they feel the flag means to them. Give it up and let it go.

It was hung in a teacher's classroom for a couple years. No one had a problem with it then. Why now?

Sherry Walker
Howell

==================================

Article published Nov 24, 2005

Gays don't have minority status

In response to the column by Doug Norton ("The truth about Howell's rainbow flag"), gays do not have minority status by definition because sexual behavior and orientation do not make a minority. Agendas are agendas.

Howell High School is a publicly funded facility and, therefore, such demonstrations are actually illegal. Your personal property would be the place to hang that flag legally.

I cannot imagine that you are unconcerned about your students.

Jane Thierfeldt
Howell

====================================

Article published Nov 20, 2005

The truth about Howell's rainbow flag

Over the last few months, your newspaper has published several letters
addressing the diversity flag that hangs in a stairwell at Howell High
School. Statements have been made that inaccurately characterize the
significance and origin of this flag.

Several letters, ostensibly speaking for an organization calling
itself the LOVE group, have shown that organization to represent the
exact opposite of what the group's name would seem to suggest.

The facts about the flag have been twisted, and the obvious conclusion
must be reached that this group carries a message of intolerance
toward some students with differences at the high school. Sadly, those
comments act to undermine our efforts to make Howell High School an
inviting and safe place for all students, efforts that gave rise to
the Diversity Club's action to hang the flag in the first place.

First, in regard to the origin of the flag, I can clarify that matter,
since it was originally my flag and I donated it to the Diversity Club
shortly before it was first displayed by that club.

I purchased that flag, which is a rainbow flag, about 15 years ago
from a catalog of products promoting progressive causes. As I recall,
this was around the time that the PUSH organization was using the
rainbow as a symbol for its Rainbow Coalition. It was advertised in
that catalog that the flag stood for tolerance toward people of all
stripes and colors, as it still does today.

I displayed that flag in my classroom for about five years before
moving to a portable classroom where there was no wall space available
for it.

During the entire time that I displayed that flag, it was never once
suggested that I was flying a gay-pride flag or that I was somehow
promoting a gay lifestyle. When asked about its meaning, I explained
that it stood for diversity and tolerance. I never claimed it stood
for gay pride, because it didn't.

When I say this, please understand that I am in no way distancing
myself from support and protectiveness toward people, teenagers and
adults alike, who have discovered that they are gay. All people
deserve to have their natural right to acceptance and safety honored.
It is ridiculous, however, to maintain that a rainbow can stand as a
symbol for such a narrow agenda as gay pride.

I assume that the reason many gay people embrace the rainbow flag is
to remind us all that they are also part of the rainbow of differences
in our diverse society.

If you are looking for the symbol for gay pride and gay rights, then
look to the pink triangle, the symbol originally used in Nazi Germany
to ostracize and mark homosexuals for persecution and elimination and
now used by many gay groups to remind us of where intolerance can
lead. That is the symbol to recognize as standing for the gay
movement, if your desire is to be fair and factual. I fear that is not
the desire of the LOVE group, however.

Let me also remind this group that the rainbow has been used many
times in the past as a symbol for tolerance and acceptance. It was not
too many years ago that the city of Howell, facing a planned
demonstration on the courthouse lawn by the KKK, tied rainbow ribbons
around streetlights and signs up and down Grand River Avenue to oppose
the racist and bigoted agenda of that organization. Was the city
promoting a gay and lesbian agenda then? Absurd!

What was happening then is what is happening now. Actions were being
taken to proclaim that this community intends to be a place where all
individuals can feel safe, honored and valued.

I have nothing against tradition and things traditional; I am a
history teacher, after all. At the same time, I am sadly aware of what
all too many people around the state think are the traditional values
of Howell.

Sadly, we send wonderful students off to universities around the state
where they commonly have to face suggestions of racism when they
disclose their town of origin. This is why it is particularly
incumbent upon us to stand strong and firm for tolerance and
acceptance for everyone.

It is hard not to wonder if the traditions upheld by this LOVE group
are not the traditions and values that have stamped Howell as a center
for bigotry for all too long.

The LOVE group's own pamphlets lump being gay in with being a rapist
or a child molester. They claim that the flag's message is to promote
homosexual activity.

This is absurdly inaccurate. The school does not promote sexual
activity of any kind among its students. We discourage it in every way
possible. To suggest otherwise is to grossly distort the truth.

I would suggest that an intolerant social agenda is being carried out
here by a group that has seized upon the diversity flag at Howell High
School to publicize that agenda. I call upon the LOVE group to stop
using Howell High School as a tool to distort the truth and mislead
the public in an attempt to promote its own agenda.

Doug Norton is a teacher at Howell High School.

Big Day for Just Take It Down!!!

Today's a red letter day for my weblog! Read the last paragraph of the article below:

"Although the issue has become more subdued in recent months, it still lingers somewhat in the community, and one Web log - justtakeitdown.blogspot.com, purportedly created by a student at Howell High School - posts ongoing commentary on the flag issue. "

Aww, shucks! Lil' ol' me, in the newspaper.

I think it's hilarious.


-----------------------------------

Flag flap chafes youth pastor - He wants name off diversity
resolution

By Christopher Nagy
DAILY PRESS & ARGUS

Sam Belanger, youth pastor of Howell Assembly of God Church, was
initially honored that he was tapped to help Howell Public Schools
draft a diversity resolution, which was officially adopted by the
Howell Public Schools Board of Education in December 2003.
Nearly two years later, however, Belanger, who writes the Teen Talk
column Fridays in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, wants
his name removed from the resolution because of the continuing
controversy of the rainbow flag hung in the school by the Diversity
Club and approved by district administration.

"I'm not asking," Belanger said of removing his name. "I'm
demanding, because my support was out there for it, and I don't want
it to be anymore."

Howell Public Schools Superintendent Charles Breiner said the
district will honor Belanger's wishes and remove his name from the
document.

The diversity resolution itself states that "the district and the
community shall undertake initiatives to identify and support the
rich advantages of diversity in the school environment, in the
school employment policies, in school curriculums and instructional
approaches, in school athletics, in extracurricular activities and
in the community."

Belanger's qualms over continuing to be a part of the resolution
specifically involve the rainbow flag. The district and the
Diversity Club have maintained that the controversial banner
represents and celebrates diversity in all forms. Opponents to the
public display of the flag have stated it represents gay pride and
promotes homosexuality in the school.

"What homosexuals call the gay-pride flag is that," Belanger said of
the flag at the high school. "It's not that I'm anti-diversity. I'm
definitely a supporter of true diversity; and it's not that I hate
homosexuals, but I just can't come to grips with approving their
lifestyle."

Belanger said he had some initial reservations surface when the
resolution was being drafted several years ago and the issue of
homosexuality was brought into the conversation. Belanger said he
felt the group was taking a wrong turn with the diversity concept at
that point, but decided to see the process through because he
supported the vast majority of what was included in the resolution.

"You still look at the baby and the bathwater," he said.

However, the controversy in late 2004 and early 2005 that stirred in
the district with the placing of the rainbow flag in the main
stairwell of the high school, and the media coverage the controversy
received, was too much, Belanger said.

What he said he originally saw as a "statement of good faith toward
honoring diversity" has become a "full-blown approval of the
homosexual lifestyle," which stood in opposition of his personal
beliefs.

"It's been eating me inside for a few months, and I thought enough
was enough," he said. "It's one of those things I don't think I
would have to do if my signature wasn't hanging under that flag."

Breiner said there were no ill feelings with Belanger distancing
himself from the resolution. Sometimes forces - whether they are
religious, philosophical or personal - change a person's view, he
said.

"People are entitled to have second thoughts," he said.

The district, however, is still standing by its position on the
rainbow flag and the overall intention of the diversity resolution.

"I think it remains an extraordinary document for a public school
system to enforce," he said.

It should also be one that is emulated in other districts, Breiner
added.

Despite the insistence that the rainbow flag is somewhat of a mirror
of the diversity resolution, representing and reflective of
diversity in all forms, the flag immediately prompted an outcry when
it was first displayed in November 2004. Opponents saw the flag in
the same light as Belanger, and said that as such it was
inappropriate for display.

The Howell school board stood by the flag, and it was dedicated in
early February. At the same time, a flier criticizing the Howell
High School Diversity Club, and the association of the rainbow flag
used by the club with the gay-pride movement, was distributed to
some homes in Howell by the Plymouth chapter of the National
Alliance, a nationwide white supremacy group.

Although the issue has become more subdued in recent months, it
still lingers somewhat in the community, and one Web log -
justtakeitdown.blogspot.com, purportedly created by a student at
Howell High School - posts ongoing commentary on the flag issue.

Originally published October 12, 2005

Group Won't Let Motto, Rainbow Flag Issues Die

ANN ARBOR NEWS
Ann Arbor, Michigan
October 7, 2005

Group won't let motto, rainbow flag issues die
Howell school board again rejects LOVE's requests

by Stephenie Koehn
News Staff Reporter

It appears that a local group calling itself the Livingston Organization for Values in Education is unwilling to accept "no'' for an answer to its offer to provide copies of the motto "In God We Trust'' to be hung in Howell Public Schools classrooms.
Although representatives of LOVE have been told on several occasions that the district's Board of Education is not interested in its offer and also that it has no intention of ordering the high school Diversity Club to remove a rainbow-colored flag to which they object, LOVE members continue to argue the subject with school officials.

Reiterating its June decision to decline the offer because the issue of the separation of church and state is still being vigorously debated in court, the school board indicated most recently at its Sept. 26 meeting that its earlier decision still stands.

It also declined to accept, during the same meeting, the gift of a "Christian flag'' by student Wesley Stamper, who appeared to be a member of LOVE.

Now, LOVE member Tom Mallon, a Howell resident, has e-mailed a letter sharply critical of the decision to Superintendent Chuck Breiner and board members. Mallon - who represented the group when it first attempted to present the board with a framed copy of the motto for installation at the high school - claims in his Sept. 28 letter that the district "has shown a proclivity to disregard the traditional values'' for which his group stands and accuses the district of stifling debate.

Breiner disputes the criticism and says the group has an agenda beyond the installation of the motto in classrooms. "Ever since the Diversity Club at Howell High School hung the (rainbow-colored) diversity flag, there have been people who have been critical of the flag and insisted on misinterpreting the meaning and substance of the flag,'' Breiner said in response.

"They believe the flag was hung to promote gay and lesbian lifestyles.

"But the flag ... represents inclusion, tolerance and acceptance for all, not just one view of the world. It says that when students come to Howell Public Schools, they can be guaranteed of a safe, accepting and tolerant environment. That's a far cry from saying we promote, endorse or teach an unhealthy lifestyle.''

Board President Mary Jo Dymond agreed with Breiner, adding that she believes the group is hoping to pressure the district to both remove the flag and to change its diversity resolution, adopted nearly two years ago.

Dymond also noted that it was not the board's decision to hang the flag. "It was the action of the club, with the permission of the high school administration,'' she said.

Although Mallon has said his group's purpose is to provide copies of what it calls the "national motto,'' he also has criticized the board's support and defense of what he calls the "gay pride'' flag.

The flag is, Mallon said in last week's letter, "currently being used as the Diversity Club's symbol regardless of the plethora of 'significant debate' and division it has generated not only in the school but in the community as a whole.''

He asked the board and Breiner if the "role of an educator is not to stimulate debate and or critical thought on issues that are vital to the education of our children.''

"We're certainly not afraid of debate,'' Breiner said. "But we're not looking for a continual debate over whether the sign - or the flag - should or should not be hung. They feel threatened because they would like to talk about excluding certain groups of people.''

Board members are tiring of the imbroglio. "This is a nearly two-year-old issue,'' Dymond said. "We've moved on from that, as you need to, to meet the next challenges that come before the school board.''

http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-14/1128696022179971.xml&coll=2

Canadian Oxford Dictionary Defines the "Rainbow Flag"

Canadian Oxford Dictionary

rainbow flag (noun) -- a flag with horizontal stripes in the colours of the rainbow as an emblem of gay pride.

gay pride (noun) -- a sense of strong self-esteem associated with a person’s public acknowledgement of their homosexuality.


-------------------------------------------

WASHINGTON BLADE
(Homosexual News Magazine)
Washington, D.C.
August 27, 2004


Gay terms added to dictionary in Canada Oxford rewrites definition of marriage
by Adrian Brune

It comprises 1,888 pages, and defines more than 2,200 distinctly Canadian nouns, adjectives and verbs in addition to the 145,000 words in the English language.

It provides journalists, students and the common Canadian with the correct terminology when they are hungry for a “bismark” (a donut) or need to “book off” (slack off) work for a vacation from the “cube farm” (an array of office cubicles).

And now the second edition of the “Canadian Oxford Dictionary” — the country’s bestselling lexicon — includes definitions for the vernacular used by gays for years, from “gaydar” to “lipstick lesbian,” “cruisy” to “civil union.”

It also delineates the word “marriage” in much broader terms as “the legal or religious union of two people” without mentioning “a man and a woman.”

The release of the official Canadian dictionary this fall marks the first attempt to formally sanction gay-specific language and widely introduce it to the mainstream. While publishers of United States dictionaries, such as Miriam-Webster, say they will not likely follow suit for quite some time, Oxford University Press, the house behind several country-specific dictionaries, plans on keeping up-to-date with gay lingo as it progresses.

“Dictionaries just reflect what the actual reality is,” said lexicographer Tom Howell, a lexicographer with Oxford University Press Canadian Oxford.

“If a dictionary says a marriage is the union of a man and a woman, that’s just describing the fact that has been the case for hundreds of years. But if the law changes or society changes or something happens where the word ‘marriage’ comes to apply to same-sex unions, we just change the definition.”


Etymology of ‘marriage’


Continue Reading:

http://www.washingtonblade.com/2004/8-27/news/national/canada.cfm

A Look To the Future

Where Howell Schools are headed: A look at the ultimate implications of the New Diversity movement.


"The foregoing definition of tolerance does not require stifling your own opinions or preferences, which have an equal legal status. It does not require you to personally accept what you tolerate. Defending people's right to be different doesn't involve taking them out to dinner and a movie.

"The current campus definition of tolerance inverts the more traditional meaning and demands personal acceptance. Tolerance becomes the active celebration of "diversity" and toleration requires the suppression of the speech, views or peaceful behavior that supposedly hinder diversity by making "diverse others" uncomfortable. The others are usually members of a group that has been historically oppressed, such as women and are deemed to now deserve special legal protection.

Excerpt from "Will Colleges Respect Your Child's Rights?"
Fox News
Read Article


It's not tolerance; it's tolerance totalitarianism. It's what we're facing here.

My Personality

Overview: This post is a community experiment with two broad purposes. The first is to create publicly accessible data about bloggers’ personalities, which may have sociological value in addition to being just plain fun. The second is to track the propagation of this meme through blogspace. Full details and explanation can be found on the original posting: http://pixnaps.blogspot.com/2005/06/meme-worth-spreading.html

Instructions (to join in the experiment):
1) Take the IPIP-NEO personality test and the Political Compass quiz, if you have not done so already.
2) Copy to the clipboard that section of this post that is between the double lines, and paste it into your blog editor. (Blogger users may wish to use ‘compose’ mode to preserve formatting and hyperlinks. Otherwise, be sure to add hyperlinks as necessary.)
3) Replace the answers in the “survey” section below with your own.
4) Add your blog information to the “track list”, in the format: “Linked title - URL - optional GUID“.
5) Any additional comments should go outside of the double lines, including the (optional) nomination of bloggers you wish to pass this experimental meme on to.
6) Post it to your blog!
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Survey

Gender: Male
Religion: Christian (Lutheran, Missouri Synod)
Occupation: Student
Location: HHS
Began Blogging: January 11, 2004

Political Compass Results:

Left/Right: 7.5
Libertarian/Authoritarian: 1.28

IPIP NEO Personality Test

EXTRAVERSION.................60
Friendliness 75
Gregariousness 27
Assertiveness 85
Activity Level 71
Excitement-Seeking 11
Cheerfulness 87

AGREEABLENESS..............56
Trust 33
Morality 98
Altruism 82
Cooperation 48
Modesty 64
Sympathy 27

NEUROTICISM..................15
Anxiety 32
Anger 9
Depression 17
Self-Consciousness 33
Immoderation 39
Vulnerability 17

OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE.....29
Imagination 64
Artistic Interests 92
Emotionality 6
Adventurousness 1
Intellect 93
Liberalism 0

Take the tests and let me know your score!

A LOVE Letter

A Letter to the editor in today's paper:


The mission of the LOVE group

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the publicity for LOVE and our organization. For those who don't know, we are a group of concerned parents, students, and community members who are pro-family and pro-children. We formed our group in May of this year.

We have adopted, approved and support the following as the values we mean when we talk about supporting "traditional family values":

True diversity - Civil rights, not special rights.

Student health and safety - Promotion of lifestyle choices and behaviors that protect the mental, physical and emotional health of our children as students.

Traditional marriage - One man and one woman.

Personal integrity - Doing what's right legally, morally and ethically, and being accountable for our actions.

Honesty - The basis for all relationships both public and private. It is being honest, telling the truth, and keeping your word.

Patriotism - Support of the United States, which includes its true history, its institutions, symbols, freedoms and liberties.

In response to a recent column published by the Daily Press & Argus, if Maria Stuart doesn't "feel the love," then her predictably obvious commentary on our group speaks volumes.
Ms. Stuart, you say that diversity is something you either believe in or you don't and that "we can't pick and choose what kind of people (we'll) accept; (we) either welcome everyone or (we) become a private club."

Yes, we do in fact decide who can and cannot join our organization. For instance, we do not accept pedophiles, racists, bigots, religious extremists (those who fly planes into buildings or cut the heads off of innocent civilians on video), and more broadly, those who choose to disagree with our values and agenda, as you so obviously choose to do.
By your definition, I guess we are a private group.

By our definition, we are open to all who support the previously mentioned values and are willing to stand up in opposition to those who would promote an agenda that has been shown to be detrimental to the health and welfare of our children and our communities, period.
Perhaps Ms. Stuart should start a club of her own which, for the sake of her definition of diversity, would accept everyone without picking and choosing those who support her opinions.
Her group would therefore have to include everyone - pedophiles, racists, religious extremists, murderers, rapists, steak-eaters, vegetarians, etc.

Our generous offer to provide a framed copy of our National Motto, "In God We Trust," wasn't as sinister as you implied. It was our attempt to reunite the student body by reminding them of the diversity of our nation and that we all share the same status as Americans.
We chose the national motto as our first topic of community activism simply because of its historic place in our nation's heritage. Since the timing of our offer coincided with the celebration of our nation's birthday, we felt it appropriate at this time.
The fact that its display has been settled by numerous federal court cases, and that it is being displayed in school districts throughout Michigan and the nation as a whole, as well as being written in 6-inch-high letters inside the rotunda of our state capital, we felt it appropriate to display in our schools, as well.

Thank you again for the opportunity to tell the community who we are and what we mean by traditional American family values.

If you share these values, please feel free to join us at our next meeting.
We meet the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 7 p.m. at the Life Christian Church (because it so graciously offered us space) on M-59 just east of Latson Road.

Jason Woolford
Howell

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Not the best letter I've ever read, but I supposed the group is a bit overwhelmed at the moment. It certainly does make Maria Stuart's personal paranioa appear a bit foolish.

L.O.V.E. Joins the fight!

Well readers, it seems we have a new ally in our fight against the gay-pride flag. And, predictably, the radical activists behind the flag are already sharpening their pens for a renewed media blitzkrieg. The Livingston Organization for Values in Education (or L.O.V.E.) has recently received a great deal of press (some more here and here - you get the point) in our local newspapers. The group’s websites says:

“We are a grass roots organization made up of students, parents, private citizens, and community and religious leaders throughout our school district and county…[who] have chose to promote the following values in our schools:

* True Diversity- civil rights, not special rights

* Student health and safety- promotion of lifestyle choices of behaviors that protect the mental, physical, and emotional health of our children as students

* Traditional Marriage- 1 man and 1 woman

* Personal Integrity- Doing what's right legally, morally, and ethically and being accountable for our actions

* Honesty- The basis for all relationships both public and private. It is being honest, telling the truth, and keeping your word.

* Patriotism- Support of the United States, which includes its history, its institutions, its symbols, its freedoms, and its liberties.”


Maria Stuart, in her editorial column for the Livingston County Press and Argus, quotes Tom Mallon, a member of the group. “Mallon referred to the flag as a ‘gay-pride flag’ and noted that its presence is ‘a point of dissension in the community,’ tying it into the flap raised over the anti-gay graffiti and countering anti-anti-gay graffiti incidents at Howell High School as the 2004-2005 school year came to a close.” Really? Imagine that-- a gay-pride flag sparking controversy about homosexuality in our high school. I wonder how he possibly “tied the flag” to that. She went on to write, “the group seems to have some sort of agenda it's trying to push.” How dare they stand up for what they believe in! What do they think, that they have a “right to assembly” or something? Don't they realize they must "obey they school board?"

Apparently, Mrs. Stuart believes only local newspapers are allowed to have an agenda. But The Argus wasn’t done with the group yet. In the past week, the paper has printed no less than four venomous editorials criticizing L.O.V.E. - And that doesn’t count articles with such neutral, even-handed opening lines as “A group of community activists can't yet define the 'traditional family values' they endorse.” And what has the group done to merit this onslaught? They offered copies of our national motto to the school board at their own expense (Naturally, the school board refused to accept the gift- that would be patriotic or might remind students of our common heritage and unite them). The Argus seems to believe they deserve such treatment for pointing out that the school board’s values run against the vast majority of our community and nation.

It is proper for members of the community to stand together and affirm their values. It is not proper for an allegedly unbiased newspaper to use such vitriolic prose to paint their efforts in a negative light, and it does a disservice to the Argus's position as a community paper. Perhaps it isn't L.O.V.E. that should be viewed with a “jaundiced eye.” On this issue, I have to join my fellow students in asking, “Where’s the love?”

Why We Must Fight

Afraid to speak out on “diversity”
A letter to the editor of the Livignston County Press and Argus

This is regarding all of the letters over the past few months concerning the Diversity Club at Howell High School, and lately, the controversy over the “Love Rock Four.”
I am currently a student at Howell High School and I am afraid — afraid to speak out. I am opposed to the display of the diversity flag. Unfortunately, the students who are opposed to the flag cannot find their voice. We are all afraid because many of the teachers and other students have made it almost impossible for us to express our opinions. When we do, we are belittled and humiliated.

I have been a member of the high school plays, including “Pippin.” I am not homophobic and many of my friends are gay. I have nothing against the gay community and have never purposely offended or insulted anyone because of who they are or the views they hold.
What I am opposed to are the actions of the Diversity Club. If they are as interested in promoting diversity as they claim to be, why am I afraid to share my opinion? Why don’t they consider the fact that the flag could offend me?

If the flag isn’t a gay pride flag, why is that all they seem to be fighting for? They say they respect everyone’s opinion. Then why, when the issue comes up again, as it did with the graffiti incident, someone from the now labeled “anti-diversity” side cannot state their opinion without being criticized by their peers and their teachers?

I am not ignorant. I am not uninformed, but I do now consider myself to be a loner. This is how I ended my year — sad, frustrated, and with very few friends. All due to this continuous controversy. So can we please lay it to rest, and rather than a current event, make it a memory?

Mary Williams
Brighton



Source: Hometownlife.com

Mayhem The Rule At Howell High School

After watching the "culmination of tensions of sexual orientation" explode through my high school, I must say that I am distressed and disappointed by the actions of my school board and administration. How long must this controversy continue? How much worse must this controversy become? Hateful words have been spoken, the school grounds have sustained thousands of dollars worth of damage, hundreds of students have left their classes to protest, innumerable hours of class time have been devoted to discussion of this issue, the student body is more divided and frustrated than ever- and for what? So that the 21 members of the Diversity Club can hang a divisive flag in our main stairway? Why must they be allowed to impose this discord on everyone else?

This serves as further proof that school officials simply should not be playing politics. Their purpose is to provide an education for their students, and it is unfortunate that they have neglected neglect this task to further their own purely political agenda. Because of the board’s irresponsibility, everyone involved has been hurt. These students are just the latest casualties.

More Controversy

An Article in the Livingston County Press and Argus

A sit-down protest today will be the culmination of tensions over the issue of sexual orientation that have been building all year, according to Keegan Cooper, a senior at Howell High School.
A group of students are planning the demonstration at 7:30 a.m. at the flagpole of Howell High School to protest the suspension of four students who painted over the phrase "God hates fags" that someone else had put on the rock that sits outside the school's main entrance.

District administrators said it's not the painting of the rock that landed the students in trouble, but additional graffiti painted elsewhere on school grounds.

The suspended students painted the word "Love" over the anti-gay message on the rock; however, they also painted the word "Love" on school sidewalks, which is the reason for disciplinary action, said Lynn Parrish, deputy superintendent of labor relations and personnel for Howell Public Schools.

Parrish said she hadn't seen the damage, but said the district's buildings and grounds supervisor had said it amounted to "substantial vandalism" on the Grand River Avenue and the M-59 sides of the building that would likely require the costly expense of sand-blasting to remove.
Cooper, who is openly gay, said he believes the anti-gay phrase was targeted at him. The message was painted over a promotion for the Howell High School play "Pippin," staged over the weekend in the district. Cooper was cast as the lead in the play.

"I have never been teased or harassed very much in the three years I've been out, but in the two or three weeks leading up to the play, I was," Cooper said. "It was pretty obvious it was toward me."

Parrish said that no specific name of a student was painted on the rock along with the hate
message.

The rock outside the school is frequently painted by students, often times used as something of a billboard to advertise school events such as plays or suicide awareness week, or to deliver such personal messages and birthday greetings. There are no school rules or regulations for painting the rock as long as the messages aren't offensive or discriminatory, said senior Shannon Taylor, one of the organizers for today's protest.

"First of all, we just want to make a statement, letting the administration know our thoughts on punishing these kids who are trying to do nothing more than make a difference in the school," added junior Lisa Pantalone.

Three of the four students who were suspended for painting the word "Love" are seniors, and the suspension might prohibit them from participating in graduation ceremonies, Taylor said.
Parrish said she didn't know who the students were that were suspended, but a 10-day suspension would be typical and that any suspended seniors may face penalties tied to graduation.

"There are certainly significant sanctions attached to participation in commencement activities," she said.

In addition, the district would also seek restitution of the cost to remove the paintings on the sidewalks. She didn't know how much the removal would cost.

Even so, students said that the administration isn't doing enough to find out who painted the initial anti-gay phrase that started the ball rolling.

"The administration isn't doing anything about what was written on the rock in the first place," Taylor said.

The suspensions are overkill, Cooper said.

"A punishment that would go along with this is to clean it up," he said. The idea for the protest is to get the administration to listen to students, Cooper said. "That seems to be the hardest thing," Cooper said. "We want them to listen. We want them to hear our part of it."

Taylor said she didn't know how many students will participate in today's protest.
"We're hoping different groups of people will be there - not just drama students," she said.
Cooper, Taylor and Pantalone said they weren't concerned over being punished for the
demonstration.

"If we have to be suspended at some point, I'd rather have it be for something that I thought was right," Pantalone said.

Parrish said that, like student Christians who gather around the flagpole for prayer, the district wouldn't interrupt a peaceful protest, but the district does not condone students missing class because of a protest.

"The expectation would be that they will be at class on time," Parrish said.

The first class at the high school starts at 7:45 a.m.

Sexual orientation has been a hot-button topic at Howell High School this academic year due to the multi-colored flag hung in the school's main stairway by the Howell High School Diversity Club. Although the club said the flag was representative of all forms of diversity, some students and community members rallied against the rainbow flag for its use as a symbol of gay pride.
In January, the Howell Public Schools Board of Education voted to keep the flag in place, and in February a dedication ceremony for the flag was held at the school.

Source: Livingston County Press and Argus

Update: More Here

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354 Students Skipped School to Attend the Protest

Comment Policy

All right readers, my computer's messing up so I'll make this quick.
No comments may be made:

1. Including Profanity
2. Anonymously- Pen names may be used
3. Which revert to name-calling or contain no argument.

If readers have questions or take issue with my posts, they may ask them or rationally argue their point. Here is an example of what is appropriate:

“....However, your arguments against tolarance of homosexuality are weak. First of all, it doesn't matter that you have gay friends. You can still have negative opinions about homosexuality. Second, the social nature of High School is a time of sexual awakening for most students. Whether that drives people towards abstinance, exploration, or homosexual discovery depends upon the person, but it happens in just about everyone. Health classes ought to be teaching students about sexuality for this very reason....”

The author’s argument was based on falsely assumed premises and was answered, but the important part is that he wrote a logical argument.

Here is an example of what is inappropriate:

“You have no idea what you are talking about you are just making yourself look like an ***, no one in diversity club likes you, you dont have friends in it. You also have no idea what was intended because you were not present at the time the flag was hung. Give it up, the flag isn't coming down!”

This person swore, and more importantly her comment was devoid of any argument or merit. Also, the person commented completely anonymously, a cowardly and annoying act. Such comments will be deleted. As a side note since I'm not going to bother to respond: Either you don't know me or you're lying!

A Note to Diversity Members

A Note to Diversity Members
(And other supporters of the flag)

It is not wrong to make mistakes; everyone does eventually. It is wrong to refuse to accept a mistake for what it really is: a mistake.


The flag hanging in Howell High School was hung to prevent discrimination, yet it is discrimination. The flag was hung to encourage tolerance; instead it furthers those who support intolerance. It was hung to promote unity; it has created division. I have proven this earlier. Regardless of you felt or still feel about the flag, the flag does not further any of its original purposes. What justification, then, is there for allowing it to stay? Why must it remain in open defiance to what you intended it to stand for? For the sake of your initial intent and that which your club was formed to protect, you ought to remove the flag.


"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of the facts and evidence"

~John Adams

Why The Flag Must Be Removed

Why The Flag Must Be Removed

The flag represents the school endorsement of a political agenda.

Consider the facts. Homosexual advocates commonly use a rainbow to represent homosexuality. The school permitted the flag to be hung the day after Proposal Two (which defined marriage in Michigan as one man and one woman) passed. The same day the same group of students who hung up the flag spray-painted a rainbow flag and a “no on 2” on “The Rock” in front of the school. The members of the Diversity Club are quoted in several newspapers saying that the flag was hung in protest of Proposal Two. Furthermore, if the flag was not meant to represent homosexuality then it would have been replaced with a flag whose meaning is certain. It is clear that the flag was not hung to support “diversity.” It is meant to support a political agenda. It is irresponsible for any publicly funded school to endorse a specific political or sexual philosophy at a time when many students are forming opinions that will guide the rest of their lives.

The flag undermines diversity of thought.

Hanging such a flag undermines true diversity. I welcome diversity of thought, race, culture, and politics and have no desire to impose any of my inclinations on others. The Diversity Club also claims to support its namesake, but they wish to impose their views on the rest to the student body. What is diversity without diversity of thought?

The flag discriminates against and marginalizes students who hold views contrary to that which the flag represents.

Many students believe that homosexuality is beneficial neither for society nor the individuals that practice it. Many others believe it to be morally wrong. A flag pushing a homosexual lifestyle hung in the most visible place in the school certainly does not make those students feel “accepted.” It tells them that the school thinks what they believe is wrong, that it is obsolete, that they don’t matter. Marginalization is not acceptance.

The flag degrades the integrity and undermines the purpose of the school.

In what is meant to be an institution of learning a sexual inclination is being promoted at the expense of students. What place does sexuality have in school?

The flag distracts from other aspects of diversity.

There is much to learn from a Diversity Club. There is a wealth of culture, race, language, nationality, and beliefs in the world, yet by hanging this flag the Diversity Club focuses only on sexuality.

The flag is unequivocally redundant.

We already have a flag that's supposed to represent everyone: the American flag. It has stood for diversity and tolerance since its inception, and to hang this flag dishonors all the brave men and women who have died fighting for it.

The flag encourages intolerance by recognizing a false definition of diversity.

Abuse of language is a dangerous thing. The misuse of the term diversity is a good example. For every person that gives in to the Diversity Club to avoid being considered intolerant or against diversity, there is another whose strong disapproval of homosexuality makes that person willing to be considered intolerant. The latter may even begin to see intolerance as a virtue, since it appears necessary to be intolerant to stop what that person feels is the legitimization of sexual perversion. This fosters a climate in which intolerance against minorities can be more easily justified. As the Diversity Club has proved, many people just don’t think clearly enough to understand why diversity of race and diversity of behavior are different. This confusion serves the racists as easily as it serves the homosexuals.

Finally, the flag is irrefutably divisive and detrimental to school unity.

Members Wanted

If anyone would like to become a member just post a response with you name and email and I'll get back to you. Thanks-

Managment

Common Sense- Defending Traditional Values With Simple Logic

There Is No Shame in Believing A Lie Until You Have Been Told the Truth!

The insertion of “sexual orientation” clauses into diversity policies and the promotion of homosexuality thereby is an amazing triumph of clever deception over simple logic. When it comes to this issue, otherwise intelligent people routinely fall for arguments that just don’t hold up under scrutiny. The sympathizers aren’t necessarily more gullible than other people, they are simply tricked into accepting certain conclusions without first examining the underlying premises.

He who defines the terms controls the debate -- and by extension, public opinion. On this issue the terms have been defined (in many cases invented) by the talented sophists of the pro-homosexual movement. Sophistry, it must be noted, is the ancient Greek art of persuasion by subtly false reasoning. The key to overcoming sophistry is to simplify and clarify what the sophists have intentionally made complex and vague. That process begins by defining the terms and concepts being used in the arguments. One quickly discovers that most arguments advocating “inclusion” or crying “discrimination” depend upon hidden false assumptions and deliberately ambiguous terms. It’s all smoke and mirrors.

Among the most commonly confused terms and concepts in the debate are sexual orientation, diversity, discrimination, and tolerance. These words and phrases are used by the sophists to frame the question of homosexuality as a civil rights or discrimination issue. It is a context chosen to favor homosexuals to the extent that they cast themselves as victims and their opponents as oppressors, yet even within this context, such arguments are easily refuted.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION

“Sexual orientation” is a highly ambiguous term loaded with hidden false assumptions. An “orientation” describes the perspective of a subject toward an object. A sexual orientation therefore describes a person (subject) by the object toward which they are sexually attracted: a heterosexual to someone of the opposite sex, a homosexual is someone oriented toward someone of the same sex, a bisexual toward both sexes, a pedophile toward children, a sado-masochist toward giving or receiving pain, etc. By definition, there are an unlimited number of potential sexual orientations. The “gay” movement, however, arbitrarily recognizes only four orientations: heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, and transgendered (transvestites and transsexuals). Why? Because to recognize other orientations --pedophilia, for example -- would defeat their argument that sexual orientation is equivalent to race and other non-immutable characteristics.

DIVERSITY

Sophists of the homosexual agenda would have you believe that all diversity is good for society and should be promoted.

In defense of a gay pride flag hung on the main stairway of Howell High School, its advocates claimed that we cannot limit diversity (the assumption being that because we cannot limit diversity to exclude homosexuality a pro-homosexual flag is an appropriate symbol to represent diversity). They are right in one premise: you cannot limit diversity because all diversity means is difference. The American Heritage Dictionary defines it as “noticeable heterogeneity; the fact or quality of being diverse; difference.” We cannot limit difference. What people limit is what diversity they think is beneficial.

Not all diversity is beneficial. Introducing foreign species to an environment increases diversity but quite often has catastrophic consequences, as in the case of zebra mussels, purple loosestrife, and the emerald ash borer. Neither is every lifestyle worthy of promotion under diversity. Thieves, drug addicts, and pedophiles all have different lifestyles and add to the diversity of society, but few would argue that anyone, much less a public school, should promote such behavior.

In a resolution posted underneath the flag, the school board stated that they had a responsibility to “promote diversity” of “sexual orientation,” thereby stating that they believe that differences of sexual orientation is beneficial. In doing this they have crossed into dangerous territory because there is nothing beneficial about having different sexual “orientations.”

TOLERANCE

Tolerating someone is “to put up with or endure” them for the better good of society. Unless someone is harmful, one must tolerate him or her. One does not have to accept others beliefs or behavior in order to tolerate them. One simply must endure them. Furthermore, one does not have to tolerate all behavior; tolerance is a relative term. The degree of tolerance is relative to the benefit society gains from allowing it. For example, society should have total tolerance for things like beliefs, morally neutral traits (race, gender, hair color), high tolerance for speech, reasonable tolerance for harmless behavior (panhandling, listening to unpopular music), low tolerance for harmful behavior (drugs, sodomy) and zero tolerance for violent crime.

Statement read at a Howell High School Board Meeting

On November 3 of 2004, the Howell High School Diversity Club hung a rainbow flag on the main stairway of the school. Since then, the Diversity club has made every effort to explain that the flag represents diversity and not homosexuality. The school administration is considering mounting a plaque beneath it to explain what the flag means. They seem to believe that the question is important. On this contention I agree with them. The meaning of the flag is fundamental, and it is on this question that their actions must be judged. If the flag represents diversity, then it may stay. If, however, the flag represents homosexuality then it must be decried as an attempt to further a political agenda and a sexual inclination.

Consider the facts. Homosexual advocates commonly use a rainbow to represent homosexuality. The school permitted the flag to be hung the day after Proposal Two passed. That same day the same group of students who hung up the flag spray-painted a rainbow flag and a “no on 2” on “The Rock” in front of the school. The Rock is a large boulder which students often paint to cheer on school teams, to wish their friends happy birthday, or with other messages. Members of the diversity club are quoted in several newspapers saying that the flag was hung in protest of Proposal Two. I have spoken with them myself and they say this. It is clear that the flag was not hung to support “diversity.” It is meant to support homosexuality.

Now that we have pinned down the meaning of the flag, we must oppose it. It was hung in protest of a political measure. A publicly funded school has no business endorsing a specific political viewpoint. A sexual inclination is being promoted at the expense of students. The school is meant to be an institution of learning; what place does sexuality have in school?

Furthermore, hanging such a flag undermines true diversity. I welcome diversity of thought, race, culture, and politics and have no desire to impose my inclinations on others. The Diversity Club also claims to support its namesake, but they wish to impose their views on the rest to the student body. What is diversity without diversity of thought? Many students believe that homosexuality is beneficial neither for society nor the individuals that practice it. Many others believe it to be morally wrong. A flag pushing a homosexual lifestyle hung in the most visible place in the school certainly does not make those students feel “accepted.” It tells them that the school thinks what they believe is wrong, that it is obsolete, that they don’t matter. Marginalization is not acceptance.

The members of the Diversity Club have every right to believe and say what they want, but they do not have the right to use the school or school funded clubs as a battering ram to push their political views. It is irresponsible for any school to endorse a political or sexual philosophy at a time when many students are forming opinions that will guide the rest of their lives. My sexuality and politics and everyone else’s do not belong in Howell Public Schools.

I respectfully request this flag and its political agenda removed from Howell High School.

Rainbow Flag Fast Facts

On November Third of 2004, the Howell High School diversity club hung the official gay-pride flag on our main stairwell with the blessing school officials. They claim it represents diversity. The flag was torn down within 20 minutes by a student, but was returned anonymously after threats of retribution from the administration. The flag and the subsequent community outcry ignited a controversy which rose to the attention of CNN and the Associated Press; a controversy which has ravaged our community and school and which continues to this day.

UPDATE: THE FLAG IS DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!