If you lined up all the small-minded people on the planet, the first thousand or so would probably be school board members. For proof of that, look no further than Wheatland, Wyoming.
According to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle [2], the Platte County School District 1 trustees voted 4-3 last week to reject a request to reinstate banners that had been hung as part of the Anti-Defamation League’s “No Place for Hate” program.
Parents had complained because the banners listed the program’s sponsors. Their complaints focused on one sponsor in particular – the Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado (the others were Qwest and the David & Laura Merage Foundation). A few parents found the fund’s name on the banners “inappropriate.”
After the vote, two school board members made things worse by holding a Who Can Say The Most Clueless Things About Gay People contest with the local reporter. Joe Fabian made a strong case for first place by opining, “I don’t believe [being LGBT] is a normal lifestyle, but I don’t have anything against them.” There are other entries though. Judge for yourself.
Ironically, the school board liked the rest of the “No Place for Hate” program [3]. Board members wanted to keep using it even as they tried to ditch the banners. But the Anti-Defamation League said to take the banners or leave the program. So that was the end “No Place for Hate” in Wheatland.
Links:
[1] http://www.tolerance.org/author/sean-price
[2] http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2010/01/22/news/19local_01-22-10.txt
[3] http://www.noplaceforhate.org/