Groups Says Charlottesville School Board Gives Credibility to Illegal Sexual Behavior

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 22, 2000
NEWS CONTACT: Joe Glover – 804-419-4483 ext. 456

Forest, VA – A statewide pro-family group today condemned the Charlottesville School Board’s decision to outlaw so-called “harassment” of students based on “sexual orientation.” A spokesman for Family Policy Network (FPN) questioned the motive behind the proposal, saying its real purpose was to deny free speech rights to people who care about fellow teachers and students involved in destructive sexual behavior.

FPN President Joe Glover called the proposed anti-harassment policy a straw man, saying: “What this board really wants to do is to forbid concerned teachers and students from warning people they love that homosexual sex acts cause heartache, disease, and often early death.”

Glover said, “The decision actually lends credibility to perverted acts that are forbidden by state law.” Sodomy is a class 6 felony in the Commonwealth of Virginia. “Those board members must not know that crimes against nature are illegal in this state. Besides, the consequences of sodomy have been proven to shorten people’s lives by as many as seven to twenty years.”

If the proposal is given final approval in a meeting on August 3, Glover said the policy will be used to castigate people of faith who view unnatural sex acts as sinful. “Free speech is yours unless you believe the Bible to be accurate when it condemns homosexuality in Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:26-27 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.”

Glover challenged teachers and students in Charlottesville public schools to “love people enough to tell them the truth, even if they are misunderstood.” He said concern for people should outweigh fear of tyranny by local school officials. “Free speech should certainly be granted to anyone who loves their neighbor enough to warn they are headed to an early grave.”

In a related matter, the Charlottesville board voted unanimously to add “sexual orientation” to the school system’s anti-discrimination policy. It is unclear whether the board understood pedophilia to be an accepted sexual orientation often cited by homosexual activists.

Family Policy Network is Virginia’s American Family Association affiliate organization.

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