PFOX Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays

Attorneys respond to public school censorship

Maryland public school officials silence PFOX, ADF attorneys respond

Teachers send harassing e-mails; school personnel incite students to toss PFOX fliers in trash

PFOX News Advisory: July 17, 2007
PFOX@pfox.org www.pfox.org
Contact: ADF MEDIA RELATIONS at (480) 444-0020

ROCKVILLE, Maryland – Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) sent a letter clarifying the law Monday to school board officials in Montgomery County, Maryland because some teachers and principals have engaged in viewpoint discrimination and censorship against Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX), with whom they don’t agree.

“School officials do not have the right to engage in censorship of viewpoints they don’t like,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman. “The board has a policy permitting the distribution of literature by outside organizations and community groups, and it is unconstitutional then for district employees to single out certain organizations for censorship.”

When PFOX distributed its flyers to students, a teacher from Thomas S. Wootten High School and co-sponsor of that school’s Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) club accused PFOX of being “like the KKK but only in the form of religion.” Using his school issued email account, the teacher wrote to PFOX: “STAY OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS AND LEAVE OUR CHILDREN ALONE!” Another teacher from Winston Churchill High School vowed that he “and many of [his] colleagues” would “fight further intrusions of your group into our public schools.” Some school personnel went as far as to place PFOX’s name on trash cans in the main lobby of the school and incited students to throw out PFOX’s fliers.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, whose decisions are binding on school districts in Maryland, held on two different occasions that community organizations have a First Amendment right to have schools distribute information to students without content- and viewpoint-based discrimination.

The Montgomery County Board of Education (BOE) is also embattled in a controversy regarding its new sex education curriculum, which teaches tolerance and empathy for homosexuals, bisexuals, cross-dressers, and other non-heterosexuals. Despite repeated requests by PFOX to include ex-gays in the new “Respect for Differences in Human Sexuality” curriculum, the school board has refused.

A copy of the letter ADF attorneys sent to Montgomery County Board of Education President Nancy Navarro can be read at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/MontgomeryCountyLetter.pdf

Action Box:

  • Contact the Montgomery County Board of Education (BOE) at boe@mcpsmd.org and ask them to stop discriminating against ex-gays, and to start teaching tolerance for former homosexuals and not just for homosexual and cross-dressers. See contact information below.
  • Make a speech before the BOE! Public participation at MCPS BOE meetings: Speakers have 2 minutes exactly to speak, and a total of 15 parents/organizations are given the opportunity to speak before the board. For more information see http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/boe/community/participation.shtm
  • Also contact the Maryland State BOE at stateboard@msde.state.md.us
  • Write or email the Gazette, the Washington Times and the Washington - see below - It's as easy as sending an email with your name, address and phone number, or a signed postal letter with phone number and return address.

MONTGOMERY BOARD OF EDUCATION CONTACT INFORMATION

Board Members with Phone and Fax:

  • Jerry D. Weast, Superintendent 301-279-3617 301-279-3860
  • Nancy Navarro, President 301-680-7170 301-680-7172
  • Shirley Brandman, Vice President 301-279-3617 301-279-3860
  • Stephen Abrams 301-279-3774 301-279-3275
  • Christopher S. Barclay 301-279-3617 301-279-3860
  • Sharon W. Cox 301-540-7970 301-515-5757
  • Judy Docca 301-279-3617 301-279-3860
  • Patricia O'Neill 301-320-7600 301-320-7601

BOE Postal Address: Carver Educational Services Center, Room 123 850 Hungerford Drive Rockville, Maryland 20850
BOE Email Address: boe@mcpsmd.org

MARYLAND BOARD OF EDUCATION CONTACT INFORMATION

Board Members with Phone and Email Address:

  • Nancy S. Grasmick State Superintendent of Schools 1-410-767-0462
  • Edward L. Root State BOE President 301-724-2383

State Board of Education Office 1-410-767-0467
Email address: stateboard@msde.state.md.us

Gazette Newspapers
Letters to the Editor, Georgia MacDonald, 1200 Quince Orchard Blvd., Gaithersburg, MD 20878. Phone: 301-670-2040 Fax: 301-670-7183. editor@gazette.net

Letters to the Editor, The Washington Times, 3600 New York Ave., NE Washington, DC 20002-1947
letters@washingtontimes.com

Letters to the Editor, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St., NWWashington, DC 20071
letters@washpost.com

Include your name, address, and phone number when writing the newspapers!