Official Says Father's View On Gays Didn't Spark Fight

[ruggerson]

Religious rightwing tries to exploit young child for political gain.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/06/20/official_says_fathers_view_on_gays_didnt_spark_fight/

Lexington's school superintendent yesterday denied assertions that a first-grader was beaten up on a playground last month in retaliation for his father's campaign to stop the school from teaching his son about homosexuality.

School officials, citing interviews with the children involved, said the fight actually started over where students would sit in the cafeteria and then spilled onto the playground. The student, the 7-year-old son of David Parker , who filed a federal lawsuit in April over the teaching of homosexuality in school, was punched several times during the May 17 fight.

``These were two first-graders having a child squabble on a playground," said Superintendent Paul Ash . ``Some adults are exploiting these children for political purposes."

The playground fight ballooned into a School Department inquiry after a Waltham-based parents' group, MassResistance, alleged that a group of children pounced on the boy on the two-year anniversary of the legalization of gay marriage.

(more)

[BR_Parkway]

1. 7 year olds, fighting on the playground because Daddy is a wingnut

who wants to re-instate legal discrimination against gays?

Parker said he was unconvinced that the fight had nothing to do with the outcry. He said other students have talked to his son about the issue.

Parker was arrested last year when he refused to leave Estabrook Elementary School without a guarantee that his child would not be exposed to teachings about homosexuality. In April, he filed a federal lawsuit over the issue.

Parker said he never filed a police report and doesn't want children to be investigated. ``We don't want to vilify the children," Parker said. ``We do want to get along, even though there's very powerful differences in beliefs."

Brian Camenker , president of MassResistance, said he still believes Parker's son was beaten up because of his father's views. ``The kids have been incited on this," he said. ``There's a lot of anger."

Ok, maybe things have drastically changed in the past 15 years since my kids were that age. I don't recall them ever being interested in such issues, much less wanting to fight about it.

Let's call it what it really is. Bigotry, as an industry, that requires the bigot to achieve and maintain a status as oppressed victim so that he looks more civilized and credible than Fred Phelps.

[Javaman]

4. ``We don't want to vilify the children,"

he just wants to use them as tools. This man is a colossal pig.

[ruggerson]

5. If this was a leftwing hoax, talk radio would be all over it

let's see if this hits Air America.

It should be publicized everywhere. This is how the religious rightwing works. They are essentially a movement based on lies.

[Ian David]

2. See related threads

3 Agencies all seem to agree- Lexington "Straight-Bashing" is a hoax
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=158&topic_id=9191&mesg_id=9191

Anti-gay activist may have hoaxed son's "straight-bashing" school assault
Posted by IanDB1 in GLBT
Thu Jun 15th 2006, 03:15 PM
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/IanDB1/504

[Buzz Clik]

3. typical

The knuckledraggers get hold of a story and paint it any way that suits them. And then the facts emerge.