Florida school board unanimously rejects homosexual, transgender concessions
The Brevard County School Board unanimously rejected a proposed
pro-homosexual and pro-transgender addition to their non-discrimination policy
Tuesday night.
Nearly 100
people signed up to speak about the proposed ordinance change, with over 90 of
them against adding "sexual orientation" and "gender
identity" to the school's nondiscrimination ordinance.
Speeches
ranged from expressing concerns that a pro-transgender, pro-homosexual policy
would threaten privacy and confuse children to calls for God back in public
schools.
Terry
Rocks of The Brevard Youth Network said, "There is a spiritual force here,
and it is evil."
Opponents
also said the proposed LGBTQ addition would brand Christians as bigots and
subject them to discipline for "discrimination."
Melbourne
parent Jason Schack threatened that he and others would leave the public
schools if they adopt a pro-transgender, pro-homosexual policy. "I just
hope your school board is prepared for the mass exodus," Schack warned.
The large
crowd became emotional at several points, both booing those who spoke in favor
of transgender bathrooms and cheering those who spoke against
"special" homosexual "rights."
Robert
Taylor of Malabar said, "Do we want delusional people of the opposite sex
in our restrooms? No!"
Father
Demetri Tsigas of St. Katherine
Orthodox Church in
Melbourne summarized, "You can see the spirit of the town here. This is
not San Francisco, folks. This is Brevard County."
A letter from
the religious freedom attorney organization Liberty Counsel was also sent to
the school board, which read, "The District should maintain the
common-sense position that objective biological sex – male and female – is (and
should remain) the determining factor for access to gender-appropriate public
school facilities and programs, not subjective mental 'identity' or beliefs
that one is the opposite sex, or subjective sexual attractions."
The legal
group's letter continued, "'Sexual orientation' or 'gender identity'...are
not like others protected by law. They are subjective, behavior-based
categories, rather than federally-recognized immutable characteristics like
race, color, sex, national origin, or constitutionally-protected fundamental
rights, like religion."
"There
is no legal authority mandating addition of these improper categories to
(school) policies," the Liberty Counsel letter stated.
The letter
also notes that the "legal bullying" of the Obama administration's
Office of Civil Rights' "baseless" statements "strong-arm[ing]
school districts" for transgender bathrooms "cites no legal authority
– case law or statutory – for the claim that Title IX now applies to students
claiming to be the opposite sex."
Liberty
Counsel then cited cases in which courts rejected the idea that Title IX or the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 now applies to transgender "discrimination."
"A
student with gender confusion who truly believes he or she is the opposite sex
should be treated with care, compassion, and kindness, but must not be
officially affirmed in his or her confusion, no matter how
sincerely-held," the lawyers' letter stated.
Liberty
Counsel's letter concluded with a warning: "If the District enacts these
misguided changes, and instead violates the First Amendment rights of other
students and teachers, Liberty Counsel stands prepared to advocate on their
behalf against the District."
After
reading the letter and hearing everyone out, the school board voted unanimously
not to adopt the policy additions.
In an
interview with Florida Today, Roger Gannam, senior litigator
for Liberty Counsel, said, "These are bad policies that chill free speech
and threaten religious liberties."
The school
board said it will instruct the public on homosexual and transgender
"issues" by sponsoring a public "workshop" on LGBTQ rights
in the near future.
"Many
parents ... stood up in opposition to this dangerous policy change. We win when
we show up," Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, said in
a press release.
