Thursday, August 21, 2008

News

Wake up, Ponce de Leon, FL. We're in 2008 now. You can't use religion to excuse your bigoted behavior in public schools.

When a high school senior ["Jane Doe"] told her principal that students were taunting her for being a lesbian, he told her homosexuality is wrong, outed her to her parents and ordered her to stay away from children.

He suspended some of her friends who expressed their outrage by wearing gay pride T-shirts and buttons at Ponce de Leon High School, according to court records. And he asked dozens of students whether they were gay or associated with gay students.
One of "Jane Doe's" friends, Heather Gillman, told her mother what was going on. Mrs. Gillman contacted the ACLU, and they sued.
"Davis embarked on what can only be characterized as a 'witch hunt' to identify students who were homosexual and their supporters, further adding fuel to the fire," U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak recounted in his ruling. "He went so far as to lift the shirts of female students to insure the letters 'GP' or the words 'Gay Pride' were not written on their bodies."
Gillman and the ACLU won their lawsuit. Davis was demoted to a teaching position, and the school district had to pay $325,000 in ACLU attorney fees. However, it was a hollow victory.
A Wal-Mart worker yelled at [Mrs. Gillman], accusing her of trying to "bankrupt" the school district... One of her friends has refused to talk to her because the lawsuit conflicted with the woman's religious beliefs.

Others flatly hail Davis as a hero.

"David Davis is a fine man and good principal, and we are a gentle, peaceful, Christian, family-oriented community," said Bill Griffin, 73 and a lifelong Ponce de Leon resident.
IMO, "Jane Doe" should sue the principal for discrimination, and every girl who's shirt was lifted by the principal should sue him for sexual assault. Perhaps then the citizens of Ponce de Leon will learn the difference between "God's Law" and civil law.

Read on...