Teacher seeks $50K in gay mom suit

[Moloch]

LAFAYETTE, La.— A Lafayette Parish teacher is seeking $50,000 in a defamation lawsuit filed Monday against the mother of a boy she was accused of disciplining because he used the word “gay.”

Ernest Gallet Elementary School teacher Terry L. Bethea, who is on sabbatical, and her husband Kenneth Reed Bethea are named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Sharon Huff, the gay mother of an 8-year-old who was in Bethea’s second-grad class last year, said she was not surprised by a lawsuit, because she had heard from Bethea’s attorney a few weeks ago.

http://acadiananow.com/news/html/AF4BEA7D-3C73-47F7-B3CD-750BE39B0442.shtml

[sui generis]

1. well I suppose the countersuit could use the same arguments

I sure hope Bethea ends up with a pile of legal bills over this and not much else.

[maddezmom]

2. bet she has a fundie attorney

and is probably working the case for free.

[pacalo]

3. I wrote a letter to the editor...

I am apalled at this story, and I feel for the child involved. The school officials were dead wrong on this matter & showed an outrageous lack of sensitivity & judgement toward the child. It's as though their message to the child is that his mother had no right to exist during school hours & discussion of his mother was regarded taboo because of her lifestyle.

Does the son have control over his mother's lifestyle? Should the son be punished for discussing his mother at school?

I'm outraged that this teacher has filed suit against the son's mother. It is she, the principal, the school, & the school board who should be taught the lesson in court.

[Maat]

4. Thanks for writing the letter.

n/t

[pacalo]

10. No problem -- I'm outraged about how that child was treated.

[proud2BlibKansan]

37. Read the article

The kid was punished for being disruptive, not for having a gay mom. I have followed this story. It sounds like mom needs to teach her kid not to go to school and tell everyone she is gay. No one at the school is saying it's wrong to be gay, they just don't want the kid talking about it to his 7 year old classmates. And I don't find that at all unreasonable.

[gaia_gardener]

39. Why?

Would you tell a kid he couldn't talk about his dad's new girlfriend? Why should kids have to not talk about their parents?

[wicket]

50. Not according to his signed student behavior contract

Note that it is also signed by his teacher:



Got that from here: http://atrios.blogspot.com/2004/12/he-explained-that-you-are-gay.html

[yardwork]

51. I strongly, strongly disagree that this child did anything wrong!

His classmate asked about his mom and dad. The seven year old boy replied that he had two mothers. His classmate questioned him further. The boy explained that his mothers are gay, which means that they love one another.

What could possibly be wrong with that? Is it now a crime to say the word "gay"? How is that disruptive. It sounds to me like the little boy handled his classmates questioning very well. A heck of a lot better than the adult "educators."

[Behind the Aegis]

5. Typical!

Sad thing, they will probably win! Her "suffering" can't compare to the suffering the mother of that boy has had to endure! Fuck that bitch and the superintendent prick too!

[Jack_DeLeon]

6. What the gay?

I dont understand? Who is suing who for what?

Is the teacher suing the gay mother?

[Behind the Aegis]

7. Yes

The teacher is suing the lesbian mother! She (the bigot teacher) feels she has suffered!

[Sabriel]

8. She needs to do some lines;

"I will not be an ignorant litigious asshole moran ever again."

Repeat 1000 times.

[WindRavenX]

9. um, WTF?

There are no words.
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN THIS COUNTRY??

[Maraya1969]

11. I'm confused

The teacher disciplined the boy JUST because he used the word "gay" and now that same teacher is suing the gay mother because of emotional distress because her kid used the word "gay".

Am I getting this correct? Or did the teacher get in some kind of trouble for the discipline and that is why she is suing?

If it is the former I suggest that teacher get some serious psychological counseling.

[Moloch]

22. This is a local story, it was kind of poorly written.....

One boy asks another boy on the playground about his dad.
He doesn't have a dad, he has two moms.
How did that happen?
My moms are gay.
Gay is a bad word. You must never say that in school.
Boy gets punished for saying "gay" in school.
Mothers get upset and sue the school district.

That's basically what happened. The teacher claims this never happened and the moms just want publicity.

[proud2BlibKansan]

38. I heard it happened in the classroom

not on the playground. And I don't find it appropriate for 7 year old kids to be talking about gays. I am an elem teacher and I would correct kids for having this kind of conversation.

The mother should have educated her kid. Yes, son, we are gay but not everyone understands this and you really shouldn't go to school and announce this to your class. If she had done that, none of this would have happened.

[gaia_gardener]

41. The kid is 7

He should not have to not be able to talk about his mom. Being gay (or having a gay family member) is not shameful, but you act like it is. You are part of the problem. Unless you are "correct"ing kids for talking about their parents at all, you need to reassess your POV.

[juslikagrzly]

42. Excuse me

but why should kids not discuss their parents, or only discuss certain things about their parents. Will we soon say "divorce" or "umarried single mom" is inappropriate for 7 year olds to be discussing. My 8 y.o. and 10 y.o. have both asked me what gay means, and I sure as hell told them and we're straight parents.

By advocating that mom should "educate" her son that he "really shouldn't go to school and announce this to your class" she is in effect telling her son that being gay is shameful and something he should hide.

I call BS on this one

[ashiebr]

44. " I don't find it appropriate for 7 year old kids to be talking about gays

Why?

[bunkerbuster1]

47. Kids shouldn't talk about their parents?

You need help.

[annarbor]

48. My gay son speaks of his moms proudly....

Exactly how and why would you CORRECT my child if he started telling kids about his parents? If the other kids can talk about their moms, dads, grand-parents, why can't my kid jump in and talk about his?
You either need diversity training, or you need a new profession. I'm glad my child is not in your classroom!

Ann Arbor,
Proud mom of a 10 year-old boy

[Suziq]

49. You Are Part of the Problem

I think you need to find a new profession. Glad my kids won't have you for their teacher.

:hippie:

[prayin4rain]

54. I cannot believe you honestly said that. I am going to have to assume you

are joking.

[rhyfeddu]

56. Proud2Blib - you appall me.

You're actually agreeing that acknowledging the EXISTENCE of this kid's family is wrong - and that convincing this kid that "gay" is a "bad word" is appropriate???

What if, Proud2Blib, your kid was punished for saying "my mommy is a liberal", that liberal was a BAAAD word, and humiliated in school as a BAAAD kid - that wouldn't get your hackles up??

Okay, kid comes from a mixed marriage, sez "my Daddy is black (or fill in the blank)" and is punished?

There are age appropriate levels of public discussion, to be sure, but unless he was describing a 69 position - it was none of her damn business!! And get this, PLEASE, before you go back to school:
GAY IS NOT A DIRTY WORD
Or seriously reconsider your post name...

EDIT: for obvious mis-spelling. Left more as easter eggs.

[yardwork]

52. The article does not say that the moms are suing

The teacher is suing.

[Swamp Rat]

12. FUCK! This pisses me off!... Ow! My head hurts! This lawsuit has harmed

my fragile little mind!

I must sue this evil teacher for suing this poor mother! I figure she has just caused me $5,000,000 in pain and suffering!!!

Maybe we should start a class-action lawsuit against the teacher AND school!

[yardwork]

53. I'm in. I'm furious about this. First the little boy is abused

and then the teacher tries to sue the mother!

This is b.s. and a real bad sign about where this country is headed. Have these school officials ever heard of the Bill of Rights?

[bunkerbuster1]

13. If the kid had simply "cef his mouf shut"...

I'm assuming some of you have seen this, but here's what the lesbian mom's kid was forced to write:



Every time I see that, my blood nearly boils.

[chenGOD]

14. Because of the teacher's discipline or lack of ability to teach?

Goddamn the kids that I teach in South Korea can spell better than that.

So the teacher is not only an insane fundy, but a lousy educator to boot.

[theHandpuppet]

16. SIGH...

Yep, as a gay person I am outraged by the lawsuit but equally disappointed at this child's virtual illiteracy. I'm sorry, but an eight-year-old should be able to spell at some basic level. This kind of poor performance shows some breakdown not only at school but at home. My mother taught ALL of her kids to read and write before we ever entered a schoolroom and at his age I was in the fourth grade. Perhaps he has a learning disability but that does not appear to have been addressed. I feel sorry for this kid on so many levels.

[bunkerbuster1]

17. The kid was 7 at the time.

It's bad spelling, all right, but keep in mind that little Marcas had to write this note without help.

[Cheswick2.0]

19. actually that is no that bad for a 7 year old

in any case the real sad part is that he was forced to say that GAY was a bad word, which means he was saying his mother was a bad word.

That teacher should be fired for good.

[ze_dscherman]

45. Childerens ability to spell correctly differs significantly

My kids attend(ed) an experimental school (which gets high praises by scientiests, teachers and the media). Childrens ability to spell differs significantly within the same age group. Some can be tought easily, others need quite some time, some, with learning difficulties, will never spell right.

No reason you should be "dissapointed" at that kid. And no, it's not illiterate, it just can't spell properly (yet). Also, there's no reason to blame this on either the teacher or the parent.

[theHandpuppet]

46. No, not disappointed in the KID

Disappointed by the parents and a school system for doing this kid no favors with his education. But the bigoted twit of a teacher should be fired.

[Moloch]

24. Welcome to the schools in the deep south

Basic literacy is not taught, but you can not say gay.

[prayin4rain]

15. Oh no ....is that real? I might cry at work. That is so mean of the

teacher. "I said bad words" Poor little boy, that breaks my heart.

[bunkerbuster1]

18. I want to cry whenever I think about that kid.

I really do.

And yes, the note is real, that's never been in dispute.

It might make you feel a little better if you had a look at this parody that Atrios did, in a swipe at the SCLM:

[Krupskaya]

21. Thanks for posting that.

I hadn't seen it. You just ratcheted my anger to rage. That poor kid.

What a shaming form of discipline, too! Sheesh.

[bunkerbuster1]

28. Whenever I think I don't have a dog in this hunt

being a straight, married white male, I think about that kid and that note. And I think about my pre-K kid and what kind of garbage she'll be exposed to in a reThug theocracy during her school years.

First they came for the "enemy combatants," and I did not speak out because I was not an enemy combatant.

Then they came for the gays...

[Occulus]

30. Could the judge fine her for wasting the court's time? nt

[Xithras]

40. What's that mean?

"explained...what being gay means"

Did he say that he had two mommies, or did he physically describe lesbian sex?

I could see a seven year old getting in trouble for the latter, but she should be fired if she wrote that simply because he said that his mom was in a relationship with another woman.

[Moloch]

43. He explained that he had two moms..

In a conversation with another kid about what his dad did.

[TahitiNut]

20. So, the kid's mother is a "bad word"?

This teacher punished the child for using the word 'gay' to describe his own mother?? :wow:

Words fail me! :crazy:

Now, the teacher is suing the lesbian mom, and her ACLU attorneys(!), for 'defamation'? Since when is it defamation to call a lying, reichbot, fundie bigot a lying, reichbot, fundie bigot?

If the teacher wrote "He explained to another child that you are gay and what being gay means" on the Student Behavior Contract ... then WTF is wrong with these school officials who said previously that the child was not punished for using the word “gay.” He was punished for disrupting the class, they said.

Sounds to me like the teacher and the school are outright lying!

[susu369]

23. "her husband.....named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit"

what's her husband's problem? Poor baby, he suffered as well?

[bunkerbuster1]

27. pooor poooor kenny

poor Kenneth Reed Bethea. His turmoils make baby Jebus cry!

Anyone want to guess how he's suffered on account of that there uppity lezbo-mom?

Did he had to go without his wife's sexual services for a few days?

Did he have to hear that bad word "Gay" uttered in his household?

oy.

[susu369]

36. Funny

Thanks for the good laugh...

[SheepyMcSheepster]

25. so......frivolous lawsuits eh? what are they suing for anyway

from the article it seems they are suing because of what the mother alleged after the inicdent?

are there any more details?

[princehal]

26. Geeze

If my kid was ever sent home with a note like that, and a "teachers" comment saying that gay is a bad word -- I think I would have ended up in jail, because that "teacher" would have gotten a good talking/shouting.

[Moloch]

29. The teacher is trying to say that this never happened,

even though the note is there for everyone to look at.

The teacher also claims that the parent is blowing this out of proportion to try to make somewhat of a crusade from it.

[Occulus]

31. here's the letter I wrote the paper:

From http://acadiananow.com/news/html/AF4BEA7D-3C73-47F7-B3CD-750BE39B0442.shtml :

"In the lawsuit, filed by Lafayette attorney Max Jordan, the Betheas claim the defendants lied about the teacher’s actions in disciplining Huff’s son after he used the word “gay” and told another child what it meant.

Bethea and school officials said previously that the child was not punished for using the word “gay.” He was punished for disrupting the class, they said."

Then look here:



Looks to me like both the teacher and the school district are lying. Based on the existence of this note, I'd say it's intentional lying.

I also think it's amusing how the teacher is (falsely) claiming defamation, while at the same time smearing with a stamp of "bad behavior" the moms' son in the press, thus giving the moms a clear defamation argument. Once again, the Talibornagain screams they're the victim whilst themselves victimizing.

Frivolous lawsuits and trial lawyers, anyone?

[Moloch]

32. Thank you so much....

The gay community here is too busy tricking and snorting k to do anything about this. I wrote a letter about this last year to the editor, but it is good that it's back in the news due to this ridiculous
lawsuit.

[readmoreoften]

33. tricking and doin K?

those immoral, frivolous gay people.

tricking because they got kicked out of their parents homes at 17 for being gay or are transgendered and can't get a job? doing K to deal with tricking?

[Moloch]

35. I've done my share of tricking and K....

This remark was not meant to disparage the local gay people (I'm one of them); but rather frustration that there is not more activism.

[Moloch]

34. Update: ACLU defends actions in gay mother case

LAFAYETTE — The American Civil Liberties Union, now faced with a defamation lawsuit from a local teacher, stood by its allegations that the teacher inappropriately disciplined a student last year for explaining to another student that his mother was gay.

“We feel confident that this lawsuit will be dismissed. It has always been clear that (the child) was disciplined for talking about his family,” the nonprofit group said in a written statement issued Wednesday.

Ernest Gallet Elementary School teacher Terry Bethea, who is on sabbatical this year, and her husband filed a lawsuit this week seeking unspecified damages for injured reputations and emotional suffering in connection with the national media attention Bethea received after the ACLU became involved in the case on behalf of lesbian mother Sharon Huff and her 8-year-old son.

Huff alleged the teacher scolded her child for using the word “gay” and told him his “family is a dirty word.”

http://acadiananow.com/news/html/72427322-E8EF-4184-8B59-CD139A90B480.shtml

[noshenanigans]

55. she's "on sabbatical", huh?

Something sounds really suspect there, but I just can't put my finger on it.