School Board Member Asked to Resign After Ex-Gay Reference

[Modem Butterfly]

http://www.proudparenting.com/page.cfm?typeofsite=snippetdetail&ID=1788&snippetset=yes

A Virginia based gay rights organization has called for the resignation of Fairfax County school board member Stephen Hunt after he sent a letter to school principals in the county touting “ex-gay” reparative therapy. Equality Fairfax, Equality Virginia is a consortium of the Gay, Lesbian Straight Education Network, P-FLAG and the Human Rights Campaign.

"Hunt should not be permitted to spread this kind of harmful misinformation," Paula Prettyman, president of Equality Fairfax said in her statement to the school board. "Reparative therapy techniques, or 'ex-gay' therapies, have been denounced by the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association."

The school board issued a public reprimand to Hunt, but the school board member has yet to publicly apologize for his open letter to school principals.

"Junk science has no place in our schools," said David M. Smith, the HRC's vice president for policy and strategy. "No school board member should ignore the scientific evidence that sexual orientation cannot be changed just to push a personal agenda."

[CatBoreal]

1. Junk science....

...does this mean they won't be teaching creationalism in Biology class either?

[Modem Butterfly]

And stop using the flat earth theory, too.

[phylny]

3. Ever been to Fairfax County?

It's in Northern Virginia, a suburb of D.C. It has a reputation for outstanding schools, and although my children went to neighboring Loudoun County schools, I would doubt creationism was taught in a Fairfax County biology class. It sure wasn't taught to my kids in Loudoun.

[MountainLaurel]

4. Indeed

Although, if board members and parents like this guy have their way, Fairfax County's excellent school system will be a fond memory. There are currently fights between the school superintendent and the county board of supervisors over the budget. The super is telling the board that this money is necessary in order to comply with the unfunded mandate that is NCLB. Keep your eyes peeled on this one.

[Southpaw Bookworm]

2. Hooray for them

VA has been on a roll with the gay-hating lately, and this guy needs to be taken down. There is no place for this sort of hatred in a public school system. If he wants to tell the kiddies that gay people are evil people with horns under their haircuts, let him run a Talibornagain school.