| 
|
Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
| Total Views: 4,939,320
|
Article: 19707
[Schools/Ed]
Date Posted:
5/21/2008
4:33:41 pm EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 7,449
RSS: 11,865
Comments: 22
|
Irmo High Principal Quitting Over Gay-Straight Alliance
Author: Dawndy Mercer Source: WIS-10 (SC)
Title: IRMO HIGH PRINCIPAL QUITTING OVER GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE
The principal of Irmo High School will announce his resignation Wednesday after being asked to allow the creation of a Gay-Straight Alliance club at the school.
Principal Eddie Walker confirmed to WIS News 10 he intends to announce his resignation over the intercom Wednesday morning. The resignation won't take effect until June, 2009 - the end of the 2008-2009 school year.
| Options: [Read Full Story] [Comments Locked]
[Email to a Friend]
|
|
Community Thoughts: There are 22 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Good For Him. | May 24th. at 9:17:46 am EDT
|
Lora (Leominster, Massachusetts) - Email Me
He can't support students and guide them according to his personal religious beliefs, then he SHOULD leave. It's not the job for him. Maybe there is a private religious school somewhere looking for a principal, and he can go do that.
I am glad he is doing the honorable thing. Truly I am. Bless him.
I'd rather that he leave gracefully than go to court and throw a big hissy about why he should be allowed to preach Jeebus all day, you know? Like many recent cases we've seen of pharmacists who won't give out pills that Jeebus doesn't like, then get fired for not doing their jobs. At least this gentleman knows what his job entails and knows that he can't do it for personal reasons and it's not for him.
|
| Here's The Response Being Circulated | May 23rd. at 8:08:43 am EDT
|
Osireion (Columbia, South Carolina) - Email Me
for SCEC by one of our local Methodists, a minister who has been a beloved leader in the gay rights scene around here for many years (I live in Columbia, of which Irmo is a suburb) :
PRESS RELEASE
May 22, 2008
For Immediate Release
Contact:
SC Equality
803.256.6500
South Carolina Equality Demands Immediate Termination of High School Principal Eddie Walker
One important measure of the strength of any civil rights movement in this world is in the simple concept - do we do everything in our power to protect our kids? I'm angry and I know you are too. The passive neglect of gay kids by school officials in this country is common, but this emphatic and overt creation of a hostile environment at Irmo High School is too much for me to stomach.
Please support our children by supporting us!
C.Ray Drew
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 22, 2008
Contact: C. Ray Drew, Executive Director
Office (803) -708-6442 Mobile (803) -318-6900
South Carolina Equality Demands Immediate Termination of
Irmo High School Principal Eddie Walker
Columbia, South Carolina - Principal Eddie Walker of Irmo High School has resigned, effective June of 2009, in protest of the formation of a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) organization on campus.
South Carolina Equality demands that his resignation become effective immediately.
C. Ray Drew, Executive Director of South Carolina Equality, states "This Principal has emphatically and publicly stated that he does not support a significant portion of his student body. He has created an atmosphere where intolerance is considered a principled stand."
National research from the Gay Lesbian Straight Educators Network (GLSEN) shows that 80% of gay students do not know a single supportive adult at their school. They show that 38% of gay students face hostility and violence in the course of their required attendance at school. 18% of gay students experience physical assault. Gay students face more verbal harassment and physical violence than any group of students. Yet, the one mitigating factor for students is when they know a supportive adult at school.
South Carolina Equality also demands that the Lexington 5 School Board appoint a supportive staff member at Irmo High School as an advisor to gay students to improve conditions for these young men and wome.
Drew said, "Eddie Walker has created a liability problem for the school. If a gay student is harmed, the District could be held accountable for creating a hostile school environment."
Reverend Bennie Colclough, stated, "His resignation is a farce. If he truly stands on religious convictions, then why didn't he resign immediately? Instead he has deliberately created an unsafe world for these students for the next year." Reverend Colclough is the minister of Providence Christian Church and a member of the Board of Directors of South Carolina Equality.
Drew continued, "Every day that this Principal remains at Irmo High, students will continue to live in fear for their safety. These unsafe and dangerous conditions for gay students are intolerable. "
South Carolina Equality is the statewide organization devoted to ensuring equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender South Carolinians
|
| Why Wait? | May 22nd. at 5:06:30 pm EDT
|
Dancingdog (Bend, Oregon) - Email Me
This piece of Xian Garbage should just quit now. Couldn't have gays and straights getting along. That would make obvious liars of all the Christ Crispy leaders, and lies of all the crap that spews from their mouths. Imagine that.
|
| Seda | May 22nd. at 1:57:35 pm EDT
|
Seda (Beaver Dam, Wisconsin) - Email Me
I only have the utmost respect for this principle about his decision. Yes, while his beliefs conflict with my own and many others' out there, he is resigning graciously, without causing drama. He is unyielding in his beliefs, which is an aspect I can admire when he keeps his beliefs to himself instead of trying to shove them down someone else's throat.
Also, I'm very proud of those brave students and wish to congratulate them on their inevitable victory. There's no way that the school will refuse them, and if they try, well.. I've seen it in the past and have never seen a group like this lose a court battle.
Kudos all around.
|
| How Cute | May 22nd. at 1:37:50 pm EDT
|
Rutilus Draconis (Fair Haven, Michigan) - Email Me
One parent says have to stand up for what you believe, in the xian sense that means beating down those who disagree with them. The club wont hurt anyone. This is so reminiscent of the racial segregation problem when the same xians used their bible to justify that too
|
| You Learn Something New Every Day | May 22nd. at 12:28:35 pm EDT
|
John the Alchemist (Francestown, New Hampshire) - Email Me
The thing about this article that really interested me was the comment by one of the parents:
"We are not putting them like, 'ugh. You know you're lepers.' But we have to stand for what our foundation of our nation was about," says parent Brenda Enoch."
How eloquent! How informative! All this time I thought the foundation of our country had something to do with guaranteeing individual rights for all citizens within a democratic framework. Obviously, all this 'individual rights' stuff was just a smokescreen for the founders' true purpose - keeping them damn perverts in their place.
Now that I have been suitably enlightened by the good people of Irmo, I plan to contact my legislators to see if we can take that ugly picture of Monticello off the back of the five dollar bil and replace it with a picture of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton ferociously beating up a bunch of queers.
After all, that's the 'foundation of our nation' according to the folks in Irmo. Makes you wonder what they're teaching the kids in that high school, doesn't it?
|
| Hats Off... | May 22nd. at 9:01:00 am EDT
|
Owl (Hamilton, Ontario) - Email Me
to some wonderful young people who are leading the way against bigotry and discrimination. I hope this trend will continue.
|
| Three Cheers For Principle Walker | May 22nd. at 8:44:21 am EDT
|
Lorca (Longview, Washington) - Email Me
He has chosen to take his fear and ignorance OUT of our educational system. Would that more "Christians" demonstrate the courage and conviction that he has. His peculiar mores do not fit in with those of our society so he should not be in a position of leadership amongst those who educate our children.
|
| Thumbs Up To Ashleigh Tate | May 22nd. at 6:37:59 am EDT
|
Moonlight Wolf (Bradford, England) - Email Me
For actually having a brain in her head, unlike the parents quoted in this article. While I'm all for standing up for your own beliefs there is a time and a place.
These people seriously need some education, it's kind of sad when the kids know more than the teachers and parents.
|
| Good! | May 21st. at 9:50:10 pm EDT
|
Jackson Scheerer (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) - Email Me
The school loses a couple bigots and gains a support group for LGBT students. Better than the all-too-common proposed alternative of destroying the GSAs or instituting "family friendly alternatives."
Also if you think this is a support group for promoting sexual activity you really, really need to re-check what a Gay-Straight Alliance is.
|
| There We Go. | May 21st. at 8:21:20 pm EDT
|
Friday Scott (Middleton, Wisconsin) - Email Me
What a wonderful solution, I hope more people will take such 'principles' on the road as he has. Everyone's all happy, now. :)
" feel the formation of a Gay/Straight Alliance Club at Irmo High school implies that students joining the club will have chosen to or will choose to engage in sexual activity with members of the same sex, opposite sex, or members of both sexes."
Sooner or later, yep, that about covers it, even if it's totally aside the point of such an organization.
Good riddance. 8:)
|
| Don't Go Away Mad.... | May 21st. at 7:26:47 pm EDT
|
bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
Well, at least he's quitting. Let's hope he can find some place to work that pleases him.
|
| He's So Moved... | May 21st. at 7:07:11 pm EDT
|
T'chris Gardner (Colorado Springs, New Mexico) - Email Me - Web
that his only solution is to announce that since he can't stop this [insert description here] group from forming, he's going to quit and go home--in a year...
Que?
BB,
T'
|
| I'll Agree To Disagree | May 21st. at 6:16:12 pm EDT
|
Gryphon (Colorado Springs, Colorado) - Email Me
I am not so naďve to think that school kids magically abstain from sex until after graduation, but establishing a support group to promote sexual activity seems well intended on the surface but ultimately misguided. I have never supported the teaching of abstinence-only lessons in biology/human sexuality/health classes. As humans, we are sexual creatures and to teach anything to the contrary is a cruel hoax. In my opinion, classes dealing with human sexuality should have open discussions that do not support or defame any sexual orientation or practice, unless of course, it’s an illegal practice as defined in the courts. Kids today need honest information about sex so they know what to expect when they experiment, and so they know the immediate and lifelong consequences of ignorance.
The principle, Eddie Walker, had every right to submit his resignation if his only alternative was to deny his religious convictions when directed to allow the creation of a sexually themed club at the school. All action is the result of personal choice. I am sure the principle considered his choices for a long time before coming to his choice of action.
Apparently the Faith in America organization is not accurately named; Principle Walker stood by the beliefs of his faith and chose to resign instead of fighting the Lexington School District. The comments in the article by Mr. Brent Childers of Faith in America suggest that the principle should have compromised his beliefs to support his students and faculty.
I am straight, happily married, and I believe that what goes on in the bedroom between consenting adults is the ultimate personal affair and neither the government or any church has any jurisdiction there. Mr. Walker was right in leaving his job if he could not support the foundation of this club; but his actions only sidestep the issue. His former students need honest information and without him, or another adult creating a safe environment for discussing sexual subject matter, these students will continue to make juvenile mistakes that will stay with them forever.
|
| One Less Bigot Teaching The Young? | May 21st. at 6:07:13 pm EDT
|
Naya (Memphis, Tennessee) - Email Me
GOOD.
Buh-bye.
|
Disclaimer: The Witches' Voice inc does not verify the accuracy of the details stated in this listing, nor do we vouch for the value of the goods or services presented here... As with all contacts and financial dealings in cyberspace, we encourage you to use caution and wisdom in your dealings with strangers.
Political Statements: Any and all personal political opinions expressed in the public listing sections (including, but not restricted to, personals, events, groups, shops, Wren's Nest, etc.) are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinion of The Witches' Voice, Inc. TWV is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization.
|
State/Country flags created by 3dflags.com and are used with permission
Web Site Content (including: text - graphics - html - look & feel)
Copyright 1997-2009 The Witches' Voice Inc. All rights reserved
Note: Authors & Artists retain the copyright for their work(s) on this website.
Unauthorized reproduction without prior permission is a violation of copyright laws.
Website structure, evolution and php coding by Fritz Jung on a Macintosh G5.
Any and all personal political opinions expressed in the public listing sections (including, but not restricted to, personals, events, groups, shops, Wren’s Nest, etc.) are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinion of The Witches’ Voice, Inc. TWV is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization.
Sponsorship: Visit the Witches' Voice Sponsor Page for info on how you
can help support this Community Resource. Donations ARE Tax Deductible.
The Witches' Voice carries a 501(c)(3) certificate and a Federal Tax ID.
Mail Us: The Witches' Voice Inc., P.O. Box 341018, Tampa, Florida 33694-1018 U.S.A.
| |
