Ex-Gays File Complaint Against School Superintendent for Sexual
Orientation Discrimination
Montgomery County School Superintendent Joshua Starr spewed hateful
comments against former homosexuals
Rockville, Md. – Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) has
filed a sexual orientation discrimination
complaint with the
Montgomery County (Maryland) Board of Education against its School
Superintendent Joshua Starr.
After PFOX distributed ex-gay flyers to high school students as part
of the schools’ flyer distribution program for non-profit
organizations, Superintendent Starr publicly
denigrated PFOX and former homosexuals by calling the actions of
PFOX “reprehensible and deplorable” and labeling the flyer’s sexual
orientation content as “a really, really disgusting message.”
“PFOX’s flyers provided information on unwanted same-sex
attractions, discouraged student name calling and labeling, and
urged tolerance for former homosexuals,” said Regina Griggs of PFOX.
“Starr does not respect diversity and is creating an unsafe school
environment. As School
Superintendent, Starr’s actions make it impossible for Montgomery
County public schools to provide an atmosphere where differences are
understood and appreciated, or where everyone is treated fairly and
with respect free of discrimination and abuse, as mandated by its
Nondiscrimination Policy ACB.”
“The School Superintendent is a vital role model.
When the School Superintendent promotes intolerance of former
homosexuals and organizations that support them, students and
teachers will follow his example and learn to also disrespect sexual
minorities like the ex-gay community.”
“Superintendent Starr cannot be allowed to use his official position
to display hate against any group of people because he disagrees
with their sexual orientation.
Starr’s flagrant violation of the Nondiscrimination Policy
demonstrates that he is a prime candidate to receive ex-gay
tolerance training and diversity education.”
“I am sad that Superintendent Starr has called me and other ex-gays
names like “deplorable” and “disgusting,” said Grace Harley, a
former lesbian who
testified before the School Board.
“What saddens me more is that the Board of Education has not
reprimanded Superintendent Starr.
If he had said the same things about gays, they would have
fired him by now. But
because he hates people like me, they support him.”
“I have suffered more discrimination and intolerance as an ex-gay
than I ever did when I was gay.
Please stop hating us.
Follow your own Non-Discrimination Policy.
If you stop hating former homosexuals, our students will not
learn to hate either.
Starr’s behavior proves that our schools need diversity training on
tolerance for the ex-gay community.”
###
Complaint
Parents and
Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) files this MCPS Form 270-8
complaint with the Montgomery County, Maryland Board of Education
against its School Superintendent Joshua Starr and charges him with
discrimination in violation of Montgomery County Public School
(MCPS)
Nondiscrimination Policy ACB, including sexual orientation
discrimination.
On February 1,
2012, PFOX flyers were distributed to some MCPS students.
PFOX’s flyers provided
information concerning unwanted same-sex attractions, discouraged
name calling and labeling, and urged tolerance for former
homosexuals. In
response to the flyers and in front of a group of students,
Superintendent Starr publicly denigrated PFOX and former homosexuals
by calling the actions of PFOX “reprehensible and deplorable” and
labeling the flyer’s sexual orientation content as “a really, really
disgusting message.”
See video of Starr
teaching intolerance and hate to students at
http://youtu.be/KQurGgAtc48
Clearly
Superintendent Joshua Starr has violated the mandates of the Board’s
Nondiscrimination Policy ACB.
In what could have been a positive teaching moment to
demonstrate respect and appreciation of differences, fair treatment
for all persons, and a safe school environment free of
discrimination and abuse, Starr instead chose to exhibit verbal
abuse, disrespectful behavior, demonstrated prejudice, slurs,
illegal discrimination, and hate against PFOX and the ex-gay sexual
orientation, all of which are forbidden by the Nondiscrimination
Policy ACB.
Section C of
the MCPS Board of Education’s Nondiscrimination Policy ACB states
that Montgomery County public schools are to provide an “atmosphere
where differences are understood and appreciated, and where all
persons are treated fairly and with respect in an environment free
of discrimination and … abuse.”
The
Nondiscrimination Policy ACB also prohibits “acts of hate,”
including “verbal abuse and slurs.”
The
Nondiscrimination Policy ACB further mandates that schools are to be
free of incidents involving “disrespectful behavior, prejudicial
action, hate” and illegal discrimination, in particular those based
on sexual orientation.
Starr’s actions
demonstrate that he does not respect diversity and is creating an
unsafe school environment.
As School Superintendent, Joshua Starr’s actions make it
impossible for Montgomery County public schools to provide an
atmosphere where differences are understood and appreciated, or
where everyone is treated fairly and with respect free of
discrimination and abuse, as mandated by the MCPS Nondiscrimination
Policy ACB.
The School
Superintendent is a vital role model for all of our students, staff,
and teachers. When the
School Superintendent promotes intolerance of former homosexuals and
organizations that support them, students and teachers will follow
his example and learn to also disrespect sexual minorities like the
ex-gay community. Superintendent
Starr cannot be allowed to use his official position to display hate
against any group of people because he disagrees with their sexual
orientation. Starr’s
salary is paid by all county taxpayers and they should not be forced
to subsidize intolerance.
Therefore it is essential that the Board of Education grant
the remedy requested below.
Remedy
Requested
The Board’s
Nondiscrimination Policy mandates staff training to ensure its
implementation (Section E3).
Starr’s flagrant violation of the Nondiscrimination Policy
demonstrates that he is a prime candidate to receive ex-gay
tolerance training and diversity education.
In accordance with the Nondiscrimination Policy, PFOX
therefore requests as a remedy that:
- PFOX teach
an ex-gay tolerance training session to School Superintendent
Starr and his staff;
- Ex-gay
tolerance and anti-bullying brochures provided by PFOX be made
freely available to students and staff in each high school’s
counseling office; and
- Ex-gay
books donated by PFOX be placed in each high school library to
ensure diversity and inclusion as mandated by the
Nondiscrimination Policy.
Background
Information
Last year PFOX
met with Kevin Jennings, former Assistant Deputy Director of the
U.S. Department of Education.
Jennings affirmed the right of ex-gay organizations to have
equal access in the nation’s public schools and agreed that former
homosexuals should not be discriminated against during outreach
efforts for students with unwanted same-sex attractions.
The National Educators Association
(NEA) Ex-Gay Educators Caucus and the American College of
Pediatricians also support ex-gay equal access to schools.
PFOX has also
met with Joseph Wheeler, Attorney for the U.S. Department of
Education’s Office of Civil Rights.
Wheeler agreed with the District of Columbia’s Superior Court
(2009) ruling that ex-gays are a legally protected class.
PFOX had brought this lawsuit to ensure equality for the
ex-gay community.
According to
Public Schools and Sexual
Orientation Consensus Guidelines developed by the First
Amendment Center, school
officials are urged to include the viewpoints of all participants,
including ex-gays and their supporters, in order to develop policies
that promote fairness for all.
Actions by educators to exclude some views merely because
they disagree with them constitute viewpoint discrimination in
violation of the First Amendment.
Therefore, the ex-gay viewpoint in public schools is
protected by the First Amendment and should be heard.
These guidelines were endorsed by the Gay, Lesbian and
Straight Education Network (GLSEN), American Association of School
Administrators, and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development.
PFOX also
attended the Federal Partners
in Bullying Summit held by the Department of Education. As only
175 attendees around the country were invited, PFOX was among the
leaders in the field of bullying prevention invited to convene with
the federal government and other national leaders to help stop
bullying.
PFOX has
exhibited at the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People) national convention and the Connecticut Conference
on Multicultural Education, among others.
Ironically,
Peter Sprigg of PFOX received a letter of commendation from
Superintendent Starr for serving six years on the Board of
Education’s Family Life and Human Development Committee.
We ask the
School Board to read a newspaper editorial written by a student at
Walter Johnson High School who received PFOX’s ex-gay flyer.
See
editorial at
http://pfox-exgays.blogspot.com/2012/02/students-more-tolerant-than-mcps.html
She writes, “We cannot call ourselves tolerant while sealing
off our schools from groups that we disagree with…we cannot make the
right decisions unless we hear all sides of the story.”
Let’s learn from our students.
Submitted by:
Regina Griggs
Executive Director
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays
PFOX
804-453-4737
VIA FACSIMILE 301-279-3860
Members, Board of Education
c/o Shirley Brandman, President
Montgomery County Board of Education
850 Hungerford Drive
Rockville MD 20850
Indeed, Starr now emphasizes that “no
matter what their orientation is,” including the ex-gay
sexual orientation, he believes all children have a place in our
school and that every school must be a welcoming environment.
While we are gratified to learn that Starr’s
tolerance of sexual orientation extends to the ex-gay community and
their children as well as ex-gay students, a careful reading of the
transcript clearly shows that Starr did indeed label PFOX’s ex-gay
message as “reprehensible and deplorable” and “disgusting.”
Starr did not utter these remarks against gay flyers distributed in
the schools, only towards our ex-gay flyers. The Board’s sexual
orientation non-discrimination policy prohibits the Superintendent
from doing exactly that -- choosing those sexual orientations he
agrees with to the detriment of other sexual orientations. See
Board of Education of Montgomery County Policy ACB, Section A. The
Superintendent has violated Policy ACB, which mandates that public
education be provided in an atmosphere “where differences are
understood and appreciated.” See Board of Education of
Montgomery County Policy ACB, Section C. Yet Starr asks the Board to
disregard the purpose of its Nondiscrimination Policy and make
believe that disparaging remarks against an unpopular sexual
minority do not constitute hate or verbal abuse.
Starr argues that PFOX has no standing, yet
PFOX filed its complaint under MCPS Form 270-8, Complaint from
the Public, and thus has full standing to make a complaint. In
addition, subsequent to Starr’s disparaging remarks, Starr and the
Board heard testimonies from concerned citizens and ex-gays with
children and grandchildren enrolled in Montgomery County Public
Schools, outraged at the Superintendent’s discriminatory behavior.
One witness pointed out that PFOX’s flyers included language that
“PFOX supports tolerance for everyone regardless of sexual
orientation.”
Starr contends that he can make personal
viewpoint statements about PFOX and the ex-gay sexual orientation
because his statements are of public concern and protected by the
First Amendment. If we accept Starr’s reasoning, the Superintendent
of Schools would also be able to make personal racist and sexist
remarks while acting in his official capacity, and the School Board
could do nothing about it. Starr attempts to cite two legal cases in
his favor. Yet these cases have been distinguished by Garcetti v.
Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (2006), where the Supreme Court held that
statements made pursuant to one’s position as a public employee have
no First Amendment protection. See Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547
U.S. 410 (2006) (Statements made by public employees pursuant to
their official duties are not protected by the First Amendment from
employer discipline.) Starr made his statements during the course of
his employment as MCPS Superintendent, while speaking to students at
an MCPS high school in his official capacity as MCPS Superintendent.
Accordingly, Starr’s statements are not legally protected as he
claims.
The Board’s refusal to reprimand Starr will
result in more ex-gay bashing and send the wrong message to MCPS
students and staff that unpopular sexual minorities like former
homosexuals are not entitled to protection or respect. We urge the
Board to reprimand Starr and for Starr to meet with members of the
ex-gay community to discuss the value of full diversity in MCPS
schools, in accordance with the Board’s Non-Discrimination Policy,
which commits the Board to “ensuring that [s]chool system staff work
together and with … community members to ensure that each school and
unit is free of illegal discrimination and acts of hate/violence.”
See Board of Education Policy of Montgomery County Policy
ACB, Section C(4).
Among other venues, PFOX has exhibited at the New England Conference
on Multicultural Education (NECME) and we work well with others on
diversity issues.
Sincerely,
__RG__________________
Regina Griggs
Executive Director
Box 510
Reedville VA 22539
___PS_________________
Peter Sprigg
Director