Principal outs lesbian, orders to stay away from kids. Superintendent: "We are in the Bible Belt"

[Bluebear]

PONCE DE LEON, Fla. - When a high school senior told her principal that students were taunting her for being a lesbian, he told her homosexuality is wrong, outed her to her parents and ordered her to stay away from children.

He suspended some of her friends who expressed their outrage by wearing gay pride T-shirts and buttons at Ponce de Leon High School, according to court records. And he asked dozens of students whether they were gay or associated with gay students...

And despite all that, many in this conservative Panhandle community still wonder what, exactly, Davis did wrong.

"We are a small, rural district in the Bible Belt with strong Christian beliefs and feel like homosexuality is wrong," said Steve Griffin, Holmes County's school superintendent, who keeps a Bible on his desk and framed Scriptures on his office walls.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26316235/

[SoCalDem]

1. Well, then..he should start up his own Storefront Jesus school

:)

[Bobbieo]

2. Don;t think Obama is going to make it there!!! Now, I'm more depressed!!!

[Bluebear]

5. Don't be, darlin'! NO Democrat had a chance in that area.

Just focus in on how their heads will explode when he is elected :)

[orleans]

38. of course obama won't make it there. those type of people prefer

folks who are as sexaully twisted up as they are. it's amazing their heads don't fucking POP!

[Lorien]

64. There are more registered Democrats in FL than Repugs. n/t

[ZombieHorde]

88. According to republican message boards, many repubs register as dems to mess with the primaries.

They claim to have been doing this for years.

[DURHAM D]

3. The first thing someone needs to do -

check Griffin's computer.

Anyone who is that much of a zealot is hiding something - like pedophilia.

[20score]

7. Bingo! Whatever it takes to keep that dumb son-of-a-bitch away from kids.

[lpbk2713]

14. Somehow, I tend to think there aren't any computers in this school.

And the principal probably has a rotary dial phone on his desk.

[FatDave]

44. Before or after they contact the ACLU?

:shrug:

[KamaAina]

92. Davis, on the other hand, wasn't even bothering to hide it

"Davis embarked on what can only be characterized as a 'witch hunt' to identify students who were homosexual and their supporters, further adding fuel to the fire," U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak recounted in his ruling. "He went so far as to lift the shirts of female students to insure the letters 'GP' or the words 'Gay Pride' were not written on their bodies."

:puke: :grr: :banghead:

Note: Only female students had their shirts lifted. For all we know, each and every male student at Ponce de Leon could have had the dreaded 'GP' tattoo. :eyes:

[jaysunb]

4. I'd like to be their lawyer right about now.

:evilgrin:

<on edit> the student's family.

[lpbk2713]

6. If the local police won't help this girl then the FBI will.

This is wrong in so many ways I can't even begin to enumerate.

[TexasObserver]

8. Can you imagine anything more horrific than going to your principal to seek support ...

... from personal attacks, and being singled out for retribution because you're gay?!

This story is so disturbing, mainly because the citizens and the principal think they're so damn right.

[Trillo]

33. Seems much like the elderly Chinese women put in a labor camp

for one year for wanting to file for a permit to demonstrate.

Why have a permit process if the use of such is to punish?

Why have a principal if the person's primary job (Bible Belt) is to whittle away some kid's heart?

[SemiCharmedQuark]

34. No. I'm ashamed for my country when I hear this. It's humiliating

that in 2008 this is still considered acceptable behavior by some.

[TexasObserver]

43. And the responses from the community reveal the fundie influence.

To them, the principal was properly dealing with a "moral" issue. The think homosexuality is something a person chooses, so if they'll just stop choosing it, everything will be fine.

The Bible only talks about homosexuality twice, and both times, the author is classifying as "sin" all sexual activity outside of marriage. In Leviticus, the "sin" of eating shrimp is of equal dignity. Fundies will eat pork and shrimp likes there's no tomorrow, quoting Leviticus the whole time, as authority for homosexuality. The same old book that tells them homosexuality is sin also tells them eating shrimp and pork are sins, also calls for stoning to death children who don't respect their parents.

Looking at the Bible is like looking at a Rorschach test. People find whatever it is they want to find in it.

[gratuitous]

71. A moral issue, is it?

To the community of folks in Florida: Why do you continue to accept tax money from those immoral gays and lesbians? I mean, if they're not good enough to attend a public school, why are they being taxed to build, maintain and support them? Not to mention the administrators whose paychecks are derived in part from gay tax dollars.

Doesn't the community want to be perfect, even as their Father in Heaven is perfect?

As for mentions of homosexuality in the Bible, there really aren't any, as the word "homosexual" is a 19th century coinage, blending Latin and Greek forms. Any translation or paraphrase of the Bible that includes "homosexual" or any variant on the word reveals quite a bit more about the translator than it does about the ancient communities that produced those writings.

[bullwinkle428]

9. "Many in the community... feel outsiders are forcing their beliefs on them"

Yeah...it's called the fucking LAW, assholes!! :mad:

[SeattleGirl]

10. And they aren't trying to force THEIR very fucked up beliefs on

others?

God, these kinds of people need to go to their own island somewhere, and leave the sane among us alone!

[jeff30997]

21. I disagree.

Another planet would be much better than an island.

[SeattleGirl]

22. I humbly defer to your much better suggestion.

:)

[baldguy]

11. The students are *not* outsiders.

And who's forcing their beliefs on others - The principal or the student?

[lynnertic]

40. the progressive world was imposing their beliefs on the poor town and

its principal.

The principal for his part was imposing his beliefs on the school but that's okay because he thinks it's part of his job and he's not an outsider.

[FreeState]

79. Yeah because that girl is not from their - she's an alien apparently n/t

[Bozita]

12. We're caught in a time warp. ... Right, Sulu?

[jeff30997]

15. Yes Captain...

The computer indicates: Stardate -1109364.3165905631 (August 21,1213, Time: 00:35:11)

http://www.hillschmidt.de/gbr/sternenzeit.htm

:evilgrin:

[Tutankhamun]

13. I think Mr. Framedscripture likes him a good ol' meth party on the weekend. Foley style.

[jeff30997]

17. With lots an lots...

of very young boys.And some goats to spice-up things a bit.

[mduffy31]

16. A student sued a small school district here in NE Wisconsin

for not protecting him because he was gay. He got a million dollars, but that was in 1996 so I'm sure the number would be more now.

[Naturyl]

18. This principal needs to be fired immediately.

"Outing" a student in any manner (regarding sexual orientation or otherwise) is emotionally abusive in and of itself and should be grounds for instant termination. Buh-bye.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

35. He has not been fired. He has only been demoted.

[jeff30997]

19. "We are in the Bible Belt"

Nope.This,is the Twilight Zone.

Superintendent and wife:


Bunch of weirdo-fascists.

[AuntPatsy]

20. He should in fact be fired...he just set a more than unfair and poor example

to all of his students and teachers alike.

[FatDave]

45. Fucking tarred and feathered is more like it.

Or put in the stocks. In the gay district of any major northern city.

[OmahaBlueDog]

23. Just remember, if McSame wins, the SCOTUS will side with the superintenndent

[Bluebear]

30. You are absolutely right

[scheming daemons]

24. And people wonder why we northerners stereotype the deep south....

...

[noamnety]

29. This is the nature of stereotyping

When we see one example that fits the stereotype, we tend to use it to try to "prove" this is how "those" people are.

Plug in a different group, and a different stereotyped characteristic ... maybe that will help you see why your comment is offensive.

[mitchum]

70. The same reason we southerners stereotype the deep south...

because there ARE lots of bigoted, gape-mouthed, knuckle-dragging, psalm-singing cracker peckerwoods here.
Remember, extraordinary southerners are considered to be extraordinary because they...are...well...out of the ordinary.

[KamaAina]

91. Is Wisconsin in the Deep South?

see post #16 above

[Adsos Letter]

25. !

"We are a small, rural district in the Bible Belt with strong Christian beliefs and feel like homosexuality is wrong,"

Tough shit...you are also a part of the United States of America and, the last time I looked, Church/State separation was still the de jure rule...if only just barely. :mad:

The girl is a lesbian and these..."Christians" in name only :puke: ...feel that outing her and essentially persecuting her and those who support her is preferable to protecting her human dignity... :mad: :mad: :mad: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

I need a smiley that runs around screaming in anger and then collapses on the floor and begins chewing on the carpet in rage......

[RainDog]

26. we need to invade the south and convert them all to democracy

for a change

[orleans]

39. kinda reminds me of this:

SHE'S A WITCH!

[dysfunctional press]

27. it still boggles my mind why ANY sensible person would choose to live in some states...

especially any that would be considered 'bible belt'

[bdamomma]

53. bible belt or should they just change the name to Jesus land

sickening, they have that mentality of my God is better than your God, what crap!!!

[raccoon]

55. Well, lots of sensible people have deep roots there. They have family

members there that they don't want to move far away from, to some blue state which, while it might be nice to live there, they don't know a living soul there.

Or because they're over 40 or 50 and it's hard enough to get a job where they are, much less somewhere where they don't know anybody. Of course, in this sucky job market, that might apply to someone of any age..

[dysfunctional press]

68. sensible people know when it's time to move on.

and enjoy the adventure of new things.

the non-sensible ones are too scared to let go, even when it's for their own good.

[raccoon]

98. It's for your own good to be in a far away state with no job where you don't know anybody?

Well, diff'rent strokes.

[cobalt1999]

65. Well, as someone who lives in the Florida panhandle, there are many reasons.

1) Cost of living is low, homes are relatively inexpensive. Where can a regular guy get a lakefront home in a place like Chicago? Down here it's common.

2) It's safe. My parents lost the house keys back back in the 1980's and never bothered to change the locks, because they never needed to lock the house, even while gone on vacations.

3) It's beautiful. The best beaches in the country, nice woodlands, low population density.

4) For outdoor living it's hard to beat: Sailing, boating, camping, fishing, hunting, canoing, kayaking, hiking, & mountain-biking all nearby.

5) Weather: Winters are mild and short. Except for the occasional hurricane, you can spend most of your free time outdoors.

6) There is a strong relationship between neighbors. You know everyone, everyone knows you, people actively look out for each other.

[dysfunctional press]

67. it's a half-way decent place to visit, but i wouldn't want to live there.

first and foremost, the southern/rural accent is something that's like fingernails on a blackboard to me.

then there's the over-abundance and overly overt influence of religion(billboards, radio, television, etc...)

and the politics.

and a low cost of living usually indicates those places where there's not much demand to be. and there's usually good reason.

[cobalt1999]

72. If we all wanted to live in the same place, that place would really suck.

I prefer nature to cities.

[dysfunctional press]

80. that's the main reason i wouldn't consider socal.

i prefer the out-of-doors as well...we recently left the big city for a place more ex-burbanish. personally, i could go (almost)anywhere, since i'm retired on disability- but also due to my health, i can't be toooo far removed from good quality medical treatment.
and i do like the changing of the seasons...cold weather doesn't keep me from enjoying the outside. to a point.
but hugh snowstorms are the best.
and grey fall days when the leaves are almost all gone...
the first warm sunny day of spring...

[SmileyRose]

87. RE: accent like nails on a chalkboard.

I am from Georgia and I feel the same way about New England, NY and NJ type accents. :)

[Tesha]

84. And they only kill or assault you for your beliefs once in a while. (NT)

[a la izquierda]

69. They have some great universities in the bible belt

I attend one of them.

[ShenandoahAspen]

28. Stories like this make me embarassed to be Christian and from the South.

And I am sure Christ is ashamed these type of people call themselves his followers. It's sad that in 2008 people are still so narrow-minded. :mad:

[tavalon]

31. Having, until very recently, spent my adult life in various southern cities and towns,

I assure you that, down there, it isn't anywhere near 2008.

[girl gone mad]

32. Ugh.

Many in the community support Davis and feel outsiders are forcing their beliefs on them. Griffin, who kicked Davis out of the principal's office but allowed him to continue teaching at the school, said high schoolers here aren't exposed to the same things as kids in Atlanta or Chicago.

"But I think that's less of an issue here than in Miami or Minnesota," he said.

The judge's scathing rebuke left Scott questioning how his community's beliefs could be so different from the judge's opinion.

And just how many graduates flee to Miami, Minnesota, Chicago, Atlanta, etc. to get away from backwards attitudes like his, I wonder? 80%?

[SemiCharmedQuark]

36. Tolerance. Heaven forbid.

[brettdale]

37. That is so bad

Its sickening.

[shadowknows69]

41. It needs to be made a hate crime

when people try to legislate their belief system to the oppression of others.

[Vinca]

42. Apparently, there should be a bigots test for school employees

in this neck of the woods - and a psychiatric exam wouldn't hurt. I hope the young woman becomes a very rich lesbian after she sues the pants off this public school system and, with any luck, the principal individually. Maybe he'll have the privilege of paying for a lesbian's college education. :grr:

[Freddie Stubbs]

46. This is why Florida's vote for President will be close

The FL Panhandle is is very blue when you look at the voter registration numbers. In Holmes County, where Ponce de Leon is located, Democrats enjoy a 2-1 advantage:

http://election.dos.state.fl.us/voter-registration/statistics/pdf/2008/2008primParty.pdf

Yet Bush won the county 77%-22% in 2004:

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/FL/P/00/county.001.html

Although Holmes County is small, there are plenty of other counties like it in rural Florida.

[lpbk2713]

58. Many of them could be hard core shittoheads.

Limbaugh has urged his sheepies on many occasions to register Dem
so that they could vote for the 'wrong' candidate in the Primaries.

[Freddie Stubbs]

59. No, these counties have been Democratic since the Civil War

[FatDave]

47. You know why shit like this goes on?

Because we let it. By "we" I don't mean people on DU, I mean the United States Government.

We've let these little fucking pockets of backwards fools exist almost as separatists. When shit like this happens, the full force of the government should come down on them hard. We need to drag them, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century.

But we can't count on the Bush executive branch to do anything but stand up for their right to protect their beliefs (our beliefs on the other hand...fuck those), so we'll have to take care of this one. Get the girl in touch with the ACLU. Get her pro bono legal counsel to get her a huge fucking settlement. Get her on Olbermann tonight. Ridicule and embarrass these fucking backwards bible-thumping hicks until no one will dare ever pull this shit again.

How come I never hear about Christians doing anything good anymore?

[Bluebear]

89. 'Because we let it.'

EXCELLENT observation. :thumbsup:

[Dorian Gray]

48. Wow....

I am shaking my head in disbelief.

Between this and the story yesterday (was it only yesterday?) about corporal punishment in a Texas school, I actually feel shocked at the state of public schools in those communities.

This is awful!

[bunkerbuster1]

49. Bitter.

from the story:

There is some agriculture, but most people are employed either by prisons or schools; some commute to the Gulf Coast to work in tourism.

See, you and I and any other rational person reads that and thinks "...so they get bitter, and cling to their religion and their guns." Because we're rational and we can call a spade a spade.

These people ARE bitter. They are losing their grip on a strictly defined world uninfluenced much by the outside world.

But we're not allowed to say it; our candidate is not even allowed to say it privately.

[bdamomma]

50. oh crap, that Principal has no right to judge other people.

there is no such thing anymore as tolerance.

[old mark]

51. Isn't Florida the place where

a teacher who was doing sleight-of-hand "magic" in front of his class was suspended for "Wizzardry"?

When these kids are old enough to vote.....


mark

[PVnRT]

52. Fuck you, asshole, it's a public school

Poor kid.

[marmar]

54. Yikes! Just, yikes!

:scared:

[peekaloo]

56. Florida's panhandle is a beautiful, scenic area aka the Garden of Cretin.

[raccoon]

57. Florida is generally real conservative...which in a way is kind of surprising

since lots of people from Florida are transplants from other states.


That principal is a real a-hole.

[ourbluenation]

60. I love how the students were having none of it. There's hope right there. n/t

[LuckyLib]

76. And the students had to take in on, because gawd forbid it wouldn't be talked about in class.

The school is burning down (metaphorically)but the damned school will keep right on with its "curriculum". Poor kids.
Folks down there employed in schools or prisons. Same thing, I suspect.

[knitter4democracy]

85. I loved reading that, too.

There is hope there that others came forward to support her and stand by her. I would hope that some of the teachers did, too.

[Midlodemocrat]

61. Gee, do you think it would be wrong of me to find out his

email address, post it here and bombard the fucker with hate mail?

Not like any of you guys couldn't google the high school website and figure out what his email addy is. That would be wrong of you. And me.

[FatDave]

97. Well, you don't really even have to go to the website.

If you know anything about Ponce De Leon, Florida you know that they're served by the Holmes District School Board, whose domain name is almost certainly hdsb.org. And most large institutions have a naming convention they use for their email addresses, quite often last name followed by first initial. So for instance, a teacher named Ralph Malph would likely have an email address of [email protected].

But this guy's name isn't Ralph Malph of course. His name is David Davis.

[tannybogus]

62. I agree that the principal and supporters are intolerant bigots!

He should be fired and I hope the student sues for millions.
But you don't need to "invade the South and convert us all to Democracy."
Google around and you will find a lot of ignorance in all sections of the country.
Every time something happens in the South, the condemnation of all begins. I
object to having the whole region stereotyped, and someone will probably accuse me of
being a bigot too. Why do you expect anybody in the South to fight for the rights
of others, when everyone is damned and thrown in the same pig pile? It's tough enough to
fight the ignorance here without the national pile on. Nobody even noted that some of
the student's friends tried to defend her. They got suspended, but they weren't stereotypes.
:rant:

[Lorien]

63. What bullshit. Ponce de Leon is NOT in the "Bible belt" and even if it were

that's no excuse for bigotry. Florida has a huge gay population and most of the state doesn't give a crap about anyone's sexual orientation. The real whacko fundie areas are in the Northern areas of FL, not the coasts.

[TheWraith]

66. Fuck you, you knuckle-dragging redneck troglodyte homunculus.

People like you are an unlanced boil on the ass of humanity. I hope, when the school district loses the discrimination lawsuit that's no doubt about to come down the pipe, they take it out on you.

[Disturbed]

74. What does the bible actually say about Lesbians?

Does anyone know?

[Love Bug]

82. Nothing that I know of.

[FatDave]

95. Well, given that they're women...

...it probably lists some rules regarding selling them and beating them.

[TheWraith]

99. Very little, actually.

The only clear reference to lesbians in the Bible is one of Paul's screeds in Romans. Other than that, all other clear references to homosexuality are either generic or refer specifically to men.

There's also one story about a woman and her mother in law bonding which some people regard as suggesting a romantic relationship between the two, but nothing as overt as the story of David and Jonathan.

[SoxFan]

73. Ah, Florida, what would we do without you?

Maybe the employment application should ask whether prospective teachers like show tunes or wear comfortable shoes...

:sarcasm:

[Disturbed]

75. What does the bible say about lesbians?

Answer

You ask do the laws of Israel (particularly concerning people who commit homosexual acts) still bind us today? Well, they have never bound me, because I am not Jewish. The laws you mention were specifically part of the Law of Moses, that was specifically for the Jewish nation. That Jewish nation has not existed as a nation for centuries. Certainly the nation of Israel that now exists has no relationship to that nation other than by ethnicity, not by law. For most of the world today the laws of which you speak were never binding. Since the government of the United States is not bound by those laws, then they should not be killing all gay people unless they pass a law making homosexual acts a capital crime. That is not likely to happen in today's political climate.

The Bible says a lot about men who commit homosexual acts, but very little about lesbians. Some would try to say that the restrictions apply to both. Many Jewish scholars don't look on lesbianism as negatively as they do homosexual acts between men. There is only one passage which may specifically speak of lesbians. That is Romans 1:26-27: "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet."

[Bluebear]

77. I don't care what it says about lesbians OR gay men, especially in a public school :)

[slackmaster]

78. Heh heh, the article says "Panhandle"

[Love Bug]

81. That poor girl. And good for her friends for their solidarity!

That principal is a first-class asshat who should be handed his walking papers.

[Initech]

83. What a douchebag.

[Solly Mack]

86. and no doubt they are proud of their hate

[David Zephyr]

90. Why are we chasing the Taliban on the other side of the world when they are torturing kids here?

This is precisely why so many of us are absolutely sick of religious fanatics: they are evil and they are mean and they are hateful and they don't know a fucking thing about love..the word they have contaminated with their filthy practices of intolerance.

[Sabriel]

93. We've made it OK to do this act.

We (the people) pass referenda and state constitutional amendments that forbid people from marrying each other, we think it's fine that they serve in the military as long as they're not out, we don't lobby our teachers and schools to provide inclusion in the curriculum...the list goes on and on.

Yes, WE are the ones to blame. This won't change until heterosexual people stand up and protest.

[fishwax]

94. "I guess I didn't realize we were this bad"

The reaction of a school board member at the end of the article is interesting:

The lawsuit could reflect a division between the high school students who have grown up in an era of gay tolerance and the community's elders, said Gary Scott, a school board member.

"But I think that's less of an issue here than in Miami or Minnesota," he said.

The judge's scathing rebuke left Scott questioning how his community's beliefs could be so different from the judge's opinion.

"I guess I didn't realize we were this bad," Scott said.

[sarcasmo]

96. We are in the Bible Belt = We are Homophobic

Backward FUCKS.