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TechnoratiFallout From Gay Student Case Roils Florida Town
PONCE DE LEON, Fla. - When a high school senior told her principal that students were taunting her for being a lesbian, he told her homosexuality is wrong, outed her to her parents, and ordered her to stay away from children.
He suspended some of her friends who expressed their outrage by wearing gay pride T-shirts and buttons at Ponce de Leon High School, according to court records. And he asked dozens of students whether they were gay or associated with gay students.
The American Civil Liberties Union successfully sued the district on behalf of a girl who protested against the principal, David Davis, and a federal judge reprimanded Davis for conducting a "witch hunt" against gays. Davis was demoted, and school employees must now go through sensitivity training.
Despite all that, many in this conservative panhandle community still wonder what, exactly, Davis did wrong.
"We are a small, rural district in the Bible Belt with strong Christian beliefs and feel like homosexuality is wrong," said Steve Griffin, Holmes County's school superintendent, who keeps a Bible on his desk and framed Scriptures on his office walls.
Holmes County, on the Georgia line, has about 20,000 residents. There is some agriculture, but most people are employed either by prisons or schools; some commute to the Gulf Coast to work in tourism. Ponce de Leon, with fewer than 500 residents, has a cafe, a post office, and an antiques store.
Many in the community support Davis and feel outsiders are forcing their beliefs on them. Griffin, who kicked Davis out of the principal's office but allowed him to continue teaching at the school, said high school students here aren't exposed to the same things as youths in Atlanta or Chicago.
"I don't think we are that different from a lot of districts, at least in the panhandle, that have beliefs that maybe are different from societal changes," Griffin said.
Gay rights activists said that's no excuse for what Davis did.
The problems began last fall, when Davis, who did not return phone messages from the Associated Press, admonished the senior, who is identified only as "Jane Doe" in court records and whose friends say she doesn't want to talk about the experience.
The friends donned gay pride T-shirts and rainbow-colored clothing when they found out how Davis had treated her, and he questioned many of them about their sexuality and association with gay students. Some were suspended.
"Davis embarked on what can only be characterized as a witch hunt to identify students who were homosexual and their supporters, further adding fuel to the fire," US District Judge Richard Smoak recounted in his ruling. "He went so far as to lift the shirts of female students to ensure the letters 'GP' or the words 'Gay Pride' were not written on their bodies."
Heather Gillman, an 11th-grader who took part in the protests, complained to her mother, Ardena, a 40-year-old correctional officer and mother of three. Ardena Gillman called the ACLU, even though she knew people would be angry.
"I just felt like I had to stand up for the kids," she said. "Heather wanted to do this, and I had to back her."
Ardena Gillman hoped to protect the students' freedom of speech - whether it was the freedom to wear Confederate flag T-shirts to show Southern pride or the freedom to wear rainbow T-shirts to support gay rights.
Courts have repeatedly ruled that similar student protests are constitutional as long as they are not disruptive.
Benjamin Stevenson, an ACLU attorney, said a T-shirt is not disruptive if it supports other people and their ideas.
Ardena Gillman felt some of the students would need to learn to be tolerant.
"What happens when these kids get out in the real world after they leave Ponce de Leon and they have a black homosexual supervisor at their job?" she said.
The ACLU sued in January, and Smoak recently ruled that Davis violated Heather Gillman's rights.
"I emphasize that Davis's personal and religious views about homosexuality are not issues in this case," he wrote in an opinion released last month.
As Ardena Gillman suspected, the lawsuit created hard feelings in town.
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23 Comments so far
Show AllJohn J. Coghlan
"Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and the private schools, supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the church and the state forever separated." - Ulysses S. Grant
Just more of the same hypocrasy we've become internationally known for. It isn't a surprise that there's so much of this still going on all over the country, as one comment pointed out.
I live in Florida. Southern Florida which is alot better than Northern Florida where this was.
Of course I lived in North Carolina (Outer Banks) for a year in 2002 and thought we were revisiting pre Civil war times. Talk about redneck. Anyone who lives in the Northeast or West Coast has no idea how bad it is in some areas of this country.
What's even worse is that many of us have no idea how bad it is in DC.
BTW, off topic but for the first time ever in 56 years I saw the cloud aurora caused by the H.A.A.R.P. project just yesterday. I'm wondering whether they are screwing with the weather down here while Fay is passing through. For the first time ever a storm gained intensity over land and sat on Lake Okeechobee for hours and beat the heck out of the Treasure Coast. Could they be, you know fooling around to see what they could do?
Since I've been a candidate for Congress here in northeast MS, I've gotten more questions about gay rights than any other single issue. If I talk about energy, healthcare, or campaign finance, the average person gravitates back to, "Where do you stand on gay marriage?," or some similar "issue."
On the positive side, I've also gotten quite a few words of encouragement for my stands on equal rights for everyone, including gays and lesbians.
Change will come, but it requires people willing to speak the truth and challenge prevailing views without fear of the consequences.
John M. Wages, Jr.
www.VoteJohnWages.com
And the ACLU's friggin outrageous $325,000 attorney fees ensure that the great chasm will remain great for the benefit of elites.
With all their power, one would think that
the organized religions, and social organizations
could fight for something that Christ would approve
rather than the popular 'garbage' they use to rope
in the ignorant.
Imagine if the Catholic Church, the Mormons, and
the SBC all started fighting for the Commandment
"thou shalt not kill". No wars, no death penalty,
no land-mines, no cluster bombs, etc. etc.
You could throw AARP into that group. Millions and
millions of members and afraid to take a political
stand past "vote". Yuck.
Ahh, the bible belt, where they follow the teachings of Jesus to the letter. Love, tolerance, and forgiveness taught here. What a bunch of a*&holes! Ole Steve is probably pro-life, pro-death penalty and pro-war.
reminds me of the best bumper sticker I've seen lately:
"Oh, Jesus,protect me from your followers"
And thanks, Poet for your future scenario. Unfortunately, the people who need to understand that principle don't understand much unless someone in authority tells them what to undestand.
bill darbyshire
"WE are a small, rural district in the Bible Belt with strong Christian beliefs and feel like homosexuality is wrong," said Steve Griffin, Holmes County's school superintendent, who keeps a Bible on his desk and framed Scriptures on his office walls.
Is that a Royal "We"? Does this clown think he is the Queen of Buttfuck, Florida?
I bet "WE" like drinking moonshine, beating the wife, and raping the daughter though
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
I like the bit where he lifted the teenage girl's shirts to see if they had gay lettering on their bodies... Not like that is... well... odd or anything... Feel like chanting separation of church and state over and over and over to anyone that will listen there.
I agree BreeMass. WHO CARES who sleeps with whom as long as it isn't you. It simply isn't anyone's business. I like to think that won't happen in the bay area. Very proud of living here...
"Shake off all the fears and servile prejudices under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear." --Thomas Jefferson
Here's everything Jesus had to say about homosexuality:
As far as we know.
Here's something interesting.
http://www.gaychristian101.com/Gay-Centurion.html
"Despite all that, many in this conservative panhandle community still wonder what, exactly, Davis did wrong.
"We are a small, rural district in the Bible Belt with strong Christian beliefs and feel like homosexuality is wrong," said Steve Griffin, Holmes County's school superintendent, who keeps a Bible on his desk and framed Scriptures on his office walls."
Note to Steve Griffin:
Imagine its 20 years from now. In the interim several thousand Muslims moved into your beloved county and fruitfully multiplied so that they became a majority of the elextorate. You go into your old office and your successor who has a Koran openly displayed on his desk, a prayer rug by a window that faces Mecca, and quotes from various Muslim clerics on the wall identifying all Christians as infidels.
You are there to discuss new school rules that forbid the wearing of crosses or crucifixes, the requirement that all female students and other personnel wear head scarfs and burkas, and the changing of the name of all school sports teams from whatever they were called to "Saladin's Avengers".
Your successor is polite, courteous, and professional and tells you exactly what you told the homosexual student and professes the same confusion as you did above. Do you think finally you might understand (not agree with but understand)the concern of others?
America, despite all of its warts, has never become another inquisitional Europe because of something we call "seperation of Church and State".
Poet
Yes, well, homosexuality is a sin, you see, blasting children with white phosphorous weapons and napalm isn't. Wasn't it Kenneth Tynan who said that any country that practices sexual repression isn't far away from practicing wholesale political repression?
Maybe one of the thousands of homosexual priests could STRAITen this out?
It's especially sick because Christ spent most of his time defending people like this from people like most modern christians.
Christians have NEVER cared what others think or feel. They spend their time TELLING others what to think and feel.
Substitute interracial marriage for homosexuality in this article and I think you'll find many of the arguments used to "justify" that in here.
It's all outdated.
"Many in the community support Davis and feel outsiders are forcing their beliefs on them." Umm...don't the protesting students live there? Wouldn't that make them locals, not outsiders foisting their beliefs on residents? Doesn't that mean that you are forcing your beliefs on these students who live in your town?"
My thoughts exactly
"...allowed him to continue teaching at the school..."
Guess they'll need another Teena Brandon or Matthew Shepard before they get the message - if ever.
What? Are those dueling banjoes I hear in the background?
I missed it; in what part of Iran is Ponce de Leon located?
This is so disgusting! My favorite line is this one: "Many in the community support Davis and feel outsiders are forcing their beliefs on them." Umm...don't the protesting students live there? Wouldn't that make them locals, not outsiders foisting their beliefs on residents? Doesn't that mean that you are forcing your beliefs on these students who live in your town?
God, when will we stop worrying about who the hell people want to sleep with?? WHO CARES?!?!?!