Mass. Dad Becomes Icon for Pro-Family Protest Against Homosexual Agenda in Schools
by Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
May 17, 2005
(AgapePress) - A Massachusetts father who was arrested for protesting a homosexual curriculum being used in his son's kindergarten class is considering legal action against the school district.
Lexington parent David Parker had repeatedly asked for parental notification and the right to opt his son out when same-sex and transgender issues are discussed by authority figures at Estabrook Elementary School. But instead of granting his request, school officials had him arrested for trespassing after he refused to leave the campus, vowing he would not leave until he was granted the right to remove his son from classes dealing with homosexuality.
And according to Parker, the school district went even further. "They also, at their discretion, have banned me from setting foot on any Lexington school grounds," he says, "and I used to go there to ride bikes with my kid." But now, the concerned parent is forbidden to go onto the school's play areas, walking trails, or any other part of the premises. He adds, "I'm banned even when my child is in class in kindergarten, to pick him up and drop him off."
All this has been upsetting, but Parker is making every effort to channel his anger over the situation into positive action. He maintains that because of his Christian convictions and the fact that he is a Lexington taxpayer, he has no intention of giving up his fight for parental rights.
"When I talk, I seem calm," the Massachusetts dad says. "But, the thing is, I'm trying to convert the rage into a galvanized will to take this thing as far as I can. I do not accept what has happened. I get questioned as to whether I've taken it too far, and it makes me laugh in a way. They definitely have taken it too far."
According to Parker, he feels as though he is caught in an "ultraliberal twilight zone" in his state and, in retrospect, cannot believe what has taken place there recently. He says he will announce whether or not he will file litigation in the matter sometime before his June 1 court appearance.
Grassroots Support for Parker, Parents' Rights, and Traditional Marriage
Many other Massachusetts parents and pro-family citizens are equally incredulous over what is happening in their state. The conservative group Article 8 Alliance has scheduled a press conference for today (May 17) at noon at Boston's City Hall Plaza to discuss "the dark underbelly of one year of 'gay marriage' in Massachusetts" and how it has harmed the state.
The Article 8 Alliance also plans to hold a statewide rally in support of Dave Parker and traditional marriage on Sunday (May 22). Meanwhile, a newly formed parents group in Parker's city has scheduled a confrontation with the Lexington School Committee over their fellow parent's arrest and over the issue of the radical homosexual agenda being carried out in their community's schools.
The group, Lexington Parents for Respect, plans to attend the school committee's 7:00 p.m. meeting tonight at Clarke Middle School. They have also called a 6:00 press conference in order to outline their concerns prior to the meeting. Gerry Wambolt, a spokesman for the parents, says the indoctrination of their children by the schools on the moral and political issue of homosexuality is not only "an arrogant intrusion into the privacy of family values and parental rights," but is also "a colossal misuse of instructional time and resources."
The Lexington School Committee is beginning to conform to the profile of a totalitarian state, Wambolt contends. And since only 10 minutes total are allowed for all community comments at the school committee meetings, he wonders whether the disgruntled parents will be risking arrest if they are not quick enough to be first to the microphone yet still insist on being heard.
"How many more parents does the Lexington school system intend to arrest?" Wambolt asks. He goes on to suggest that perhaps it is the school committee that should be arrested for violating the parental notification law.
The Lexington Parents for Respect spokesman feels it is ironic that David Parker was arrested in a city that is historically significant as "The Birthplace of American Liberty." It is likewise ironic, he says, that the School Committee is reconvening on the one-year anniversary of legal same-sex "marriage" in Massachusetts.
Wambolt says the ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that legalized homosexual marriage in the state is "directly linked to the growing arrogance of our schools." Because of that arrogance, he asserts, school officials are tacitly telling parents they can no longer disagree with pro-homosexual curricula in their children's schools because same-sex marriage is now legal.
