Bay State Parents Want to Know When Homosexuality Brought into Classroom
by Jim Brown
May 2, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A second-grade teacher and school officials in Lexington, Massachusetts, are being sued for refusing to notify parents before their children were read a book in class celebrating homosexual marriage.
Last year, Lexington parent David Parker was arrested at Estabrook Elementary School when he demanded that officials notify him before his young son is subjected to discussions about same-sex "marriage." And just a few weeks ago, at the very same school, a second-grade teacher read students a fairy tale about a homosexual romance.
Teacher Heather Kramer never notified Rob and Robin Wirthlin that she was planning to read their son the book King & King, an illustrated children's book about a young prince who spurns eligible princesses to marry another prince, with whom he shares a kiss at the story's end. The Wirthlins were initially surprised, then outraged. Last week they, along with Parker and his wife, filed a lawsuit alleging that school officials violated their state and federal civil rights as well as the state's parental notification law.
Rob Wirthlin admits that he and his wife never expected another instance of homosexual indoctrination would occur in the same school district after the Parker ordeal a year ago. "We're new to the area," he says, "and we -- I think the best way to describe it is -- we took a little solace in the idea that certainly they won't allow this to happen again."
The concerned father notes that Kramer and school administrators apologized for having offended his family but would not apologize for having subjected students to the pro-homosexual book. He says the incident has led him to consider pulling his son from the Lexington schools.
"We sat down as a family, and we talked about our options," Wirthlin recalls. "But I believe strongly in the value of a public education," he explains. "I went through public schools, and my wife attended public schools. I think that as citizens and as taxpayers in this country, [we feel] that public schools are there for all children."
Lexington District Superintendent Paul Ash and School Committee Chairman Helen Cohen have continued to express full support for the actions of the teacher and the principal at Estabrook Elementary School. Ash has stated publicly that sexual orientation and homosexual relationships do not constitute "human sexual issues" as described in the Massachusetts parental notification law, and therefore he has instructed teachers not to give parents any notification on these topics.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
