Behind antigay Facebook rant, echoes of civil rights movement

[davidinalameda]

This week, Arkansas became ground zero in the cultural clash between fundamentalist Christian beliefs and gay rights.

It began with the publication of angry, anti-gay Facebook posts by Clint McCance, the vice president of Midland School Board, a school district in Arkansas. Infuriated by "spirit day" – a day when people nationwide wear purple as a show of support for victims of antigay bullying – Mr. McCance wrote he would only wear purple if all gays committed suicide, adding that he was gratified that homosexuals "often give each other AIDS and die."

Thursday night, McCance resigned on CNN, acknowledging that his comments were "hateful."

Yet the issue underlying them remains deeply divisive throughout much of the rural South as the push for gay rights takes on some of the aspects of a modern civil rights movement – with small groups attempting to make change on a local level. This week, protesters from Little Rock descended on McCance’s small town, Pleasant Plains, 80 miles away.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/1029/Behind-antigay-Facebook-rant-echoes-of-civil-rights-movement

[msongs]

1. from the sunday schools to the public schools to the school boards.... nt

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