Tavares, FL - Friday, Dec. 27, 2013
Update Dec. 28: Lake County School Board member Bill Mathias posted an illuminating comment to this article. Be sure to read it.
Both local Lake County newspapers published a column or editorial this week supporting a second attempt by the ACLU legal bullies from Tampa to sue the Lake County School District & Board for not allowing an EIGHTH grader, in a MIDDLE school, from forming a Gay Straight Alliance student club. This is round two.
I personally don't have a gripe with gays who live their own life. But I do resent having TV shows and movies constantly adding scenes to portray their lifestyle without warning, or the ACLU using legal bully tactics to force local school Boards to allow formation of clubs to indoctrinate Middle School kids in the gay lifestyle. I don't like legal bullies of any type, but ACLU has it down to a science. Another example is CAIR, which uses legal loopholes to sue in order to spread Islam. And, now that I mention it, there is the EPA who are also legal bullies who take land from owners for environmental reasons. Then there is Common Core, which is being rammed down every school district's throat using legal contracts signed by the States to get grants.
Do you see a trend there - they all are liberal groups who believe they can use intimidating legal tactics to violate individual & local freedoms and decisions and force you to live their way.
So, on Christmas day, Lauren Ritchie in the Orlando Sentinel wrote a column once again supporting her liberal viewpoint that the ACLU legal bullies were to be trusted and were right.
Then today, the Daily Commercial wrote an editorial with non-relevant facts and also said the ACLU legal bullies should be agreed with, the School Board should roll over, not spend any money to fight them, and let the gay lifestyle club be formed. Their website would NOT let me post a response, saying to remove the "profanity" when there was none exept mentioning liberals and gays and the ACLU.
Why don't they instead request the club be an "anti-bullying" club, rather than a gay straight club, since the founding student did say the purpose was to "educate students about bullying".
But, no, both papers want a gay straight club to indoctrinate middle schools in the Gay lifestyle. They don't want to hear from parents or conservatives, or allow the local School Board to decide, and only quoted ACLU viewpoints and other liberal sources.
Last year the ACLU showed up with supporters from outside Lake County, with speakers who did not have kids in the local schools, and had callers from Miami and California inundate the Board with calls and emails trying to force Lake County Schools to allow a club to indoctrinate MIDDLE schoolers on the gay lifestyle. Due to the ACLU bullying, the Florida State legislators passed a law supporting local school boards defining the general types of clubs that could be at MIDDLE Schools, and the Board followed local sentiment and prevented non-curriculum based clubs from being formed at Middle schools. They ARE allowed at High Schools, just not middle schools.
So now the ACLU legal bullies have filed another lawsuit as a test case, and I think to use it as a Saul Alinsky crisis to raise funds from supporters.
We should be proud of local elected officials who stand up to legal bullies from outside this county.
And, here is an article how a researcher found that anti-bullying programs actually backfire because they teach kids how to do it.
Here are links to Laurent Ritchie's rant, and to the Daily Commercial unsigned editorial.
And, here is my response to the Daily Commercial editorial that they would not let me post (a similar response was posted following Ritchie's Rant) :
So you are condoning legal bullies from ACLU who bring in people from outside Lake County, get people from Miami and California to send emails and make phone calls to tell the LOCALLY elected School Board in Lake County what to do? They also choreograph the appearance of the club advocates and have all the media lined up for a specific shot? Then you don't talk to anyone about the merits of the actual case, but assume the ACLU legal bullies are right?
It is about time you decide whether you represent the Tampa ACLU legal bullies or Lake Countians. Do you support local governance decisions, or only support what people from Tampa, Miami, and California think we should do? At this point, I think the Lake County School Board is more in touch with local parents than you are.
Additionally, my understanding is that Liberty Counsel will provide legal advice because they stand up to the ACLU bullies, thus taxpayers will not suffer much. But, someone has to stand up to the liberal, politically correct, ACLU legal bullies, and I am proud of the local Board members for doing so.
You cite facts that are NOT RELEVANT or too vague to be credible.
You talk about Escambia County being persuaded by the ACLU to let a HIGH SCHOOL form an Alliance - that is already allowed by Florida law and already is in place in Lake County. This is a MIDDLE SCHOOL issue.
You also talk about a Polk County school, but don't mention whether it is another High School or a Middle School, or that they just caved rather than standing up for the local students.
ACLU is using this lawuit as a well known liberal tactic of creating a "Saul Alinsky crisis" in order to raise funds and create a test case with the new state law. So, once again, why do you support the legal bullies with emotionally biased opinions and non relevant facts? Why do you only do spot journalism and talk to one side, but not the other in the matter? You do know that School Board staff and Board will be advised to not say anything since it is a legal matter, so you give the ACLU position coverage without balancing the viewpoints.
Since the claimed reason for the club is "educating students about bullying", why not ask why the student doesn't create an anti-bullying group, rather than one educating MIDDLE SCHOOL kids about the gay lifestyle?
Why do you insist there is only one liberal solution and not support waiting until the court case or settlement comes which may involve more facts than you provide? [sad]
I request you publish this in your print issue as a formal response to your editorial.
Vance Jochim
Tavares, FL
