I wrote recently about the West Bend School district, and their denying of rights to the Gay Straight Alliance. Under threat of lawsuit, they still voted against recognizing them as a club.
Recently, the School Board received a legal opinion stating that they would lose a lawsuit. This prompted a re-vote which ended up giving the group approval pending the lawsuit being dropped.
Not satisfied with ending it there, the members of the school board decided to weigh in. You know the old saying: “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt”? Obviously they do not!
Ethically challenged board member and religious zealot Dave Weigand was willing to risk losing a lawsuit and cost the taxpayers of West bend thousands of dollars to prove his point that gays are second class citizens.
Board member Dave Weigand remained opposed to sanctioning the club. He said the legal fight was warranted to stand with parents who oppose the group on religious grounds.
“I believe the board rescinded this because they just want this issue to go away,” Weigand said, adding that he believed the lifestyle represented by GSA is harmful to young people.
Even with that being said, the most egregious quote came from school board president(really he is president) Randy Marquardt:
“I think all of us have been bullied and harassed by the GSA,” Marquardt said.
This is unacceptable and President Marquardt needs not only to apologize but also to get educated. He should set an example in his community and try and research and understand a topic before he speaks to it and he will not come off as so ignorant.
As The \"It Gets better Project\" notes on their website:
Growing up isn’t easy. Many young people face daily tormenting and bullying, leading them to feel like they have nowhere to turn. This is especially true for LGBT kids and teens, who often hide their sexuality for fear of bullying. Without other openly gay adults and mentors in their lives, they can’t imagine what their future may hold. In many instances, gay and lesbian adolescents are taunted — even tortured — simply for being themselves.
Justin Aaberg. Billy Lucas. Cody Barker. Asher Brown. Seth Walsh. Raymond Chase. Tyler Clementi. They were tragic examples of youth who could not believe that it does actually get better.
While many of these teens couldn’t see a positive future for themselves, we can. The It Gets Better Project was created to show young LGBT people the levels of happiness, potential, and positivity their lives will reach – if they can just get through their teen years. The It Gets Better Project wants to remind teenagers in the LGBT community that they are not alone — and it WILL get better.
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