"The Drill Presses Of Temptation"

Jesus' General writes an open letter to homophobic bigot, Principal Daphne Beasley:

Dear Principal Beasley,

Kudos to you for attempting to address the problem of public displays of affection in our schools. With the exception of the soul-crushing rules preventing our children from worshiping or bearing arms in the classroom, exposure to handholding and kissing is the biggest threat students face in our schools.

Your solution--asking teachers to report suspected couples so you can prominently posts their names on your office wall--is a great first step. It grants the rest of the student body an opportunity to join in the war against love by providing them with the means to implement traditional methods of expressing social disapproval (gossip, teasing, etc).

More importantly, as I'm sure you learned when you used your list to out a homosexual couple, your solution subtly invites your more heterovangelically inclined students to employ the counseling method most preferred by the American Family Association: repeated applications of the heavy steel-toed boots of peer pressure.

But I have to ask you, what about those who engage in semi-public displays of auto-affection? I'm talking about the guy who gets a little bit too excited sitting next to the cheerleader in homeroom and then runs to the restroom to rub a quick one off before second period and the guy in metal shop whose tensile strength steadily increases as he watches the drill press going slowly going up and down and he's hears the blurp blurp blurp of lubrication oil being dispensed on the hot bit's face? You know in five minutes he'll be hiding himself in a welding booth, his hand in his coveralls frenetically attempting to apply enough flux to properly puddle his bead.

What are you doing about those guys? Are you posting lists of suspected masturbaters on your bulletin boards? Are your bulletin boards even large enough to do that?

I hope you're giving it some thought.

Heterosexually yours in a chaste and biblically acceptable kind of way,

Gen. JC Christian, patriot

Beasley can be contacted here .

via Jesus' General

Memphis City Schools Defends Modern Day Anita Bryant

Towleroad has a follow-up to their story on Daphne Beasley's blatant bigotry:

On Wednesday I posted about principal Daphne Beasley of Hollis F. Price Middle College High School in South Memphis, who outed two gay students who were in a relationship to their parents and to other students at the school via a publicly posted list of students who were involved romantically.

As a result of Beasley's actions, the gay students have been the target of verbal harassment and even discrimination from teachers. The ACLU sent a letter to Memphis City Schools, demanding they reprimand Beasley, and compensate and apologize to the two students whom Beasley outed. The ACLU says Beasley violated the students' constitutional rights to equal protection, freedom of expression and association, due process and privacy.

Well, Memphis City Schools responded today via a statement, and they claim that Beasley did nothing wrong and that what she did helped to facilitate "a safe, nurturing and disciplined learning climate." The schools claim that Beasley "did not list any information other than students’ names on her personal call list, and she certainly did not specify the sexual orientation of any student. Additionally, the list was never posted publicly anywhere at the school."

Well, according to the ACLU, "Beasley hung the list up on the wall of her office, in plain view of teachers and other students."



***MEMPHIS CITY SCHOOLS STATEMENT in response to outing of gay students***

“Memphis City Schools is committed to providing its students with the best possible learning environment. Hollis F. Price Middle College is an accelerated high school, which is located on the historically black LeMoyne-Owen College campus. Eligible students may enroll in college classes in pursuit of completing the first two years of college while attending this high school.

Because we have high school students on a college campus, we have to carefully monitor the activities of our students. We are at all times proactive in assuring that our students are provided a safe, nurturing and disciplined learning climate. Unfortunately, in fall 2007, we received numerous complaints from LeMoyne-Owen College faculty and staff that some of our student couples were involved in explicit sexual behavior in public view on the college campus.

In light of this information from LeMoyne-Owen faculty and staff, the principal of Hollis F. Price made several general announcements to the student body that this behavior would not be tolerated. Regrettably, the improper behavior continued. Therefore, the principal felt it appropriate to notify the parents of those children she knew to be involved romantically. This was done in an effort to gain the support of the parents in reinforcing the message that such behavior is in violation of Memphis City Schools’ Student Code of Conduct. The principal did not list any information other than students’ names on her personal call list, and she certainly did not specify the sexual orientation of any student. Additionally, the list was never posted publicly anywhere at the school.

It is the position of Memphis City Schools that the principal did act in an appropriate manner in order to correct a serious issue at the school and that Memphis City Schools has not subjected either of these students to discriminatory treatment.

In the coming days, we will submit a formal response to the ACLU. We look forward to working with them to amicably resolve this matter.”

***END OF STATEMENT***