Paper Makes Bigot of Principal Who Resigns Over High School's 'Gay Club'

By Warner Todd Huston Posted in Culture — Comments (6) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

A small paper in South Carolina called The Statesman indulged in some blatant hetero bashing this week in a story about a high school principal who resigned because of his convictions that the school should not allow a homosexual club to be started in his school. Naturally, the paper tries to make it seem as if the principal is an unreasonable bigot. The paper even conveniently forgot the part of the principal's resignation letter that clearly explains why he disagreed with allowing a club based on sexual activity in a high school -- and the explanation had nothing to do with any anti-gay sentiment.

The headline of the piece, "Irmo principal to resign after gay club approved for school," frames this as if homosexuality was the only issue here but that is only an ancillary problem as far as the principal is concerned. The first line of the story affirms that the paper views the principal as a bigot.

The principal of Irmo High School has opted to resign rather than share his campus with an organization for gay students.

How rude of Principal Eddie Walker, eh? The headline seems to scream "what's this guy's problem?"

The Statesman also allows the controversy to be framed as a "civil rights" issue, even though it is no such thing.

Gay-rights group Faith in America says Walker's decision is based on prejudice that is harmful to students and likened his decision to policies that once allowed segregation to flourish.

Now we are likening keeping a sex club out of a high school with "segregation"? Talk about absurd and dangerous hyperbole.

The Statesman then excerpts Principal Walker's resignation letter to the fact that he was resigning because of a "recent conflict involving my professional and religious beliefs" concerning the approval of the gay club by the school board. Conveniently for the paper's pro-gay bias, however, they left out the full explanation of why the principal was resigning, making it seems as if his bigoted religious beliefs was all there was to it.

Here is the part the paper "forgot" to include in the story:

The formation of this club conflicts with my professional beliefs in that we do not have other clubs at Irmo High school based on sexual orientation, sexual preference, or sexual activity. In fact our sex education curriculum is abstinence based. I 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.

This is exactly right on. Why are we promoting "clubs" in a high school based on sexual activity? Do we have a porno club at Irmo high school? Why not? How about a polygamy club? Maybe a bestiality club?

In fact, we don't want to be encouraging kids to be interested in ANY club that would promote sexual activity, do we? Just as Principal Walker said -- and the paper refused to report -- we do not want to encourage our students toward sexual activity at all.

Ridiculously, the cowards at the school board who haven't the spine to stand up to these radical gay activists are hiding behind a Federal law.

"...our attorneys have advised us that because Irmo High School has permitted the formation of a number of non-curricular clubs at the school, the federal law known as the Equal Access Act does not permit the school to discriminate against a club based on the club's purpose and viewpoint by not allowing it to form unless the purpose of the club is unlawful."

Like I said, if the kids wanted to form a "club" that supports pornography, would that be OK? After all, porn is legal. How about a "club" that promotes dancing strippers? A beer drinking club? How about a club that specifies support of terrorists? One that promotes Jew hatred, supports the KKK, the Nazis, gangs, the Black Panthers or Louis Farrakhan? Wouldn't the school have a vested interest in stopping these sorts of clubs based on hatred, anti-Americanism, and anti-social behavior? Is the school so bereft of moral convictions that they'd bend over for every socially backward and dangerous "club" to be formed just because the kids wanted it?

But all that aside, why did The Statesman decide not to give a full report about exactly why Principal Walker was resigning? Was it because reporting only some of the facts made Mr. Walker seem less sympathetic and more homophobic?

Looks like it to me.

Irmo principal Eddie Walker's resignation letter (PDF)

Lexington 5 statement on Eddie Walker resignation (PDF)

(Photo credit: TV10 Tampa)

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I'm not going to get into by scuffs

I'm not going to get into how the story was reported (I don't have all the facts at my disposal, nor the time), but if the school has any kind of dances, socials etc., then the principal's argument simply doesn't stand up. Sexual orientation plays a huge role in the development of young people, but just like a heterosexual orientation doesn't equate to ongoing sexual activity, neither does homosexual orientation. Events like dances though, certainly do operate on an assumption (generally) of heterosexuality - a club for the minority position seems like a perfectly reasonable alternative.

Now, if the principal's objections are actually based on a religious antipathy to homosexuality, that's a whole other question, but from the statement you quoted, he seems to be distancing himself from that.

Reply To This — User Info — #1

Looks pretty balanced, actually by Purple Vet

The paper got a quote from one side, and then quoted at length from the principal.

Once again, you're screaming "fire" when someone lit a match.

Reply To This — User Info — #3

Looks like you're doing some anger displacement here by civil truth

The group you're really angry at is the local school board for not standing behind the principal, etc. Unfortunately, since there doesn't seem to be anything you can do about their actions, you want to shoot the messenger instead because they're more visible. Overall, the paper seems to have stayed within reasonable journalist practice even though they didn't direct the story the way you think should have directed it.

Your remedy is as follows:

1) Write a letter to the editor calmly presenting the rest of the picture as you see it.

2) Find opponents for the school board members whose vote you disagree with and run them in the next election.

And Rightly So!

Reply To This — User Info — #4

I clicked through to the article's comments section by Ranger

If you want to find opponents for the school board members, just hook up with the person who wrote this:

"once again, the queers trying to raise their limp wrists to create controversy. go away homos... you are an obimination and disgusting to all normal people. you chose your lifestyle, and want to be considered normal? you have a mental disorder and will never be accepted... gays have been shunned from the beginning and it will remain that way. Get back in your closets, sodomites."

Reply To This — User Info — #5

More comments by readers of "The Statesman" by Ranger

"Pandering to the sexual deviants has become politically correct but comparing such disgusting behavior to racial makeup is an insult to all of said race. To those obsessed with the practices of felching, fisting, and fecal ingestion is a sadly misguided behavoir considered normal to these folks. Access to kids by these deviants is the real name of the game."

"...Correct me if I'm wrong, but Mr. Witt didn't allow the Indigo Girls to play at Irmo because they were lesbians and he didn't receive as much criticism about it."

"If anything, the school system should be teaching students that homosexuality is immoral just like murder, assault, stealing, pre-marital sex.."

Much more of the same here:

http://pod01.prospero.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=kr-...

Reply To This — User Info — #6

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