School Halts 6th Grader's Report on Harvey Milk

[Sequoia]

The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday threatened to sue a San Diego County school that refused to let a student present a report on slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk until her classmates got permission from their parents.

David Blair-Loy, legal director of the ACLU of San Diego County, said the principal of Mt. Woodson Elementary School in Ramona violated the free speech rights of 6th-grader Natalie Jones, who was the only student in her class prevented from giving an in-class presentation.

According to Blair-Loy and Natalie's mother, Mt. Woodson Principal Theresa Grace concluded last month that the subject of the girl's project triggered a district policy requiring parents to be notified in writing before their children are exposed to lessons dealing with sex.

After the principal sent letters to parents alerting them about the "sensitive topic," Natalie was allowed to give her 12-page PowerPoint report during the May 8 lunch recess but not in class, Blair-Loy said. Eight of the 13 students in the class attended, he said.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/School-Halts-6th-Graders-Report-on-Harvey-Milk.html

[lightningandsnow]

1. What the hell?

Because, of course, anything involving anyone non-heterosexual = OMG SEX. :sarcasm:

[urgk]

2. What a weird decision. A report on Harvey Milk would be a lesson "dealing with sex"?

All those kids would know about Harvey Milk's sex life was that he liked men. Or dated men. Or loved men. By those standards, sixth graders wouldn't even be allowed to talk about their mothers.

[walldude]

4. Weird? No. Homophobic? Yes.

Stupid? Most assuredly.

[XemaSab]

3. Other famous politicians and public figures that have had sex:

Obama, Abraham Lincoln, Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush, FDR, Sojourner Truth, MLK, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, George Washington, and virtually every single other American president and person of note.

History class must just be a flurry of permission slips, then.

Oh, wait. They had STRAIGHT sex. That's totally different. :eyes:

[varelse]

5. Ah, San Diego county

the worst years of my life were spent there, including, sadly, much of my childhood :(

In addition to a multitude of dominionist Xtian school boards, San Diego is about to provide the world with something else we could all do without - a ghost writer for Sarah Palin's memoir.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/San-Diego-Writer-Tapped-For-Palins-Memoir.html

Charming. :eyes:

[Sequoia]

8. Sorry to hear that.

So many people think San Diego is a great city, but when I lived in Santa Monica I still loved Los Angeles !!!!! I Love L.A. And San Francisco now that I live an hour away. You would expect this story to come out of Kansas or South Carolina.

[varelse]

9. The *city* is great

parts of North county, on the other hand, do appear to have been transported from "other" regions.

[Sequoia]

10. Okay.

I've only passed it going to Mexico.

[zbdent]

6. but dare explain to a 15-year-old that the Earth is, unlike his or her "science report", well over

15000 years old, and you get Hell on Earth coming down on your ass ...

[asteroid2003QQ47]

7. K & R n/t