Virginia HS Calls Off Talk by 'Gay Porn' Author

by Jim Brown and Jody Brown
March 4, 2005

(AgapePress) - After hearing from concerned parents, a Virginia high school has canceled a speaking appearance by an author who writes "gay porn."

The program, sponsored by the Gay-Straight Alliance, was originally scheduled for March 11 at Manchester High School in Midlothian. Principal Pete Koste had even approved the speaker, homosexual author Greg Herren, who has written fictional books such as Fratsex: Stories of Gay Sex in College Fraternities and Midnight Thirsts: Erotic Tales of the Vampire. Upon a Midnight Clear: Queer Christmas Tales is also among his titles.

Herren's visit to the school had been planned about a month ago. However, after Chesterfield County Public School officials recently became inundated with phone calls and e-mails from parents who objected to the speaking appearance, superintendent Bill Canaday called off the program. A report in the Richmond Times Dispatch says "a flood of protest e-mails circulated around the county" -- among them one with the heading: "What is being taught in our schools?"

A March 3 release from the school district's Community Relations Department states the program, originally planned for third period on March 11, was moved to after-school hours on the same date when it was determined it was "inappropriate to hold a program for this non-curriculum-based student organization at that time."

But after hearing from the community and having only a general description of the program contents, school administrators canceled the event altogether because they felt it "may not be in accordance with the approved purposes of the [Gay-Straight] Alliance as stated in its bylaws." In addition, says the press release, officials felt the program content "could be inappropriate for high school students."

School board member Dianne Pettitt says she had urged Superintendent Canaday to drop the program. "As [parents and others] were voicing their opinions on this and their concerns for their children, I thought they were legitimate concerns -- and I felt like we needed to further investigate this," she says.

The board member says the proper decision was made. Public school facilities, she says, should not be used during instructional time for anything that is not beneficial or appropriate for young people. Pettitt indicates the district plans to be more thorough in the future.

"Right now what we're just looking into is how we will handle any future requests and how we will balance the rights of students to use the school for any kind of limited public forum," she says, adding that that includes making sure school facilities are used in an appropriate way for non-curriculum-based student organizations.

Although the Herren event was canceled, some parents remain upset that the school will not allow Christian clubs to post Bible verses on posters, but did allow the GSA to promote an event featuring an author who glorifies homosexual sex in his novels.