Around The Nation

Mississippi

Anti-Bullying Program Labeled "A Promotion Of The Homosexual Agenda"

TUPELO, MS -- A decade old program, "Mix It Up at Lunch Day," that encourages school age children to get to know one another better and overcome cultural, societal, or other differences has been attacked by the Tupelo, Mississippi based American Family Association, as being sponsored by "the homosexual activist group," the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The AFA is telling parents to keep their children home on October 30, warning that if they don not they will exposing their offspring to the SPLC's "radical gay indoctrination program." The AFA sent out e-mail blasts and on its website which warn:

"On, Tuesday, October 30, over two thousand schools across the nation will be observing "Mix It Up" (MIU) day. MIT is a nationwide push to promote the homosexual lifestyle in public schools. A strong focus is directed specifically to elementary and junior high grades. MIU is a project of the fanatical pro-homosexual group, Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). This is the same organization that launched hateful and malicious rhetoric toward the Family Research Council just prior to the August shooting of a security guard by a SPLC sympathizer."

The campaign apparently has met with some success which caught the SPLC's Teaching Tolerance.org staff off guard. In an interview with the New York Times, Maureen Costello, the director of Teaching Tolerance said;

“I was surprised that they completely lied about what Mix It Up Day is. It was a cynical, fear-mongering tactic.”

This latest battle between the so-called family values christian right and the SPLC was sparked by the recent inclusion of the AFA along with Washington D. C. based Family Research Council to the center's list of hate groups.
The SPLC maintains on its website, and in ongoing informational campaigns nation wide, that inclusion on the hate watch list has no bearing on an organisation's religious stance. The SPLC maintains that these groups are included because they continue to defame and slander LGBT people.
The FRC and AFA often make false claims about the LGBT community based on discredited research and junk science. The intention is to denigrate LGBT people in its battles against same-sex marriage, hate crimes laws, anti-bullying programs and the repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
Bryan Fischer, Director of issue analysis for the AFA and host of its Focal point nation radio programme disagrees:

“The reality is we are not a hate group. We are a truth group,” said Fischer, director of issue analysis for the association. “We tell the truth about homosexual behavior.” “Anti-bullying legislation is exactly the same,” Mr. Fischer said. “It’s just another thinly veiled attempt to promote the homosexual agenda. No one is in favor of anyone getting bullied for any reason, but these anti-bullying policies become a mechanism for punishing Christian students who believe that homosexual behavior is not something that should be normalized," he said.

Teaching Tolerances Costello responded:

"The program is not about sexual orientation but rather about breaking up social cliques, which are especially evident in a school cafeteria. In some schools, cliques are socioeconomic. In others they are ethnic or religious or based on sexual orientation. By giving students a way to mix with other students, self-imposed social barriers can be broken down and bullying can be curbed, she said. 

“Many of the targets of bullying are kids who are either gay or are perceived as gay,” she said. But the idea that the program is intended as homosexual indoctrination is simply wrong, Costello added.

“We’ve become used to the idea of lunatic fringe attacks,” she said, “but this one was complete misrepresentation.” 

According to Costello about 200 schools had canceled by the end of last week.

ALABAMA

Appeals Court Denies Lesbian Spouse Parental Adoption Rights

MOBILE, AL -- The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals has ruled that since the state does not recognise same-sex marriages or civil unions, it upheld a lower court's decision denying a lesbian the right to adopt her partner’s 6-year-old son.
Mobile County Probate Judge Don Davis had ruled to deny Cari Searcy's adoption petition although she has been with her partner, Kim McKeand, for 14 years – and legally married her in California in 2008.
After the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals upheld Davis' decision, Searcy said;

“Of course, I was disappointed, but I guess we were kind of expecting it. But you always hope for the best."

The Mobile Press-Register newspaper reported that Searcy and her wife discussed appealing the ruling to the Alabama Supreme Court or taking the case to federal court. But Searcy told the paper that no decision has been made. Searcy’s lawyer, Vivian Beckerle, said the cost of an appeal is one of the factors her client will have to consider.

“It does begin to get expensive to carry it forward,” she said. “I’d like to see them do it, because it is something the state needs to confront head-on.”

This is the second time that Searcy has tried to legally adopt the boy. She had filed the requisite paperwork in 2006 only to be turned down, the court ruling at the time that the adoption was not permissible since the two were not married. The couple traveled to California prior to the passage of Prop 8 and were legally married there. Upon their return to Mobile, with a valid California marriage license, Searcy again petitioned to adopt the child.

“We’re not asking for the state to legally marry us,” she said. “I’m just asking for the right to legally adopt our son so I can make medical decisions for him, educational decisions, the normal parental things.”

Adoption is not merely a theoretical exercise. Khaya had open-heart surgery when he was 3 months old, and hospital officials would not allow Searcy to sign permission forms for medical procedures.
An opponent of same-sex marriage told the Press-Register;
“This ruling solidifies the fact the institution of marriage includes a man and a woman raising the children,” said state Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa, who added that he believes this is the first time a court has weighed in on the 2006 marriage amendment.
Alabama’s only openly gay legislator, state Representative Patricia Todd (D-Birmingham) said she was disappointed by the ruling;

“If we truly care about the welfare of children, it’s most important that they be in a loving family,” she said. “It restricts the ability to raise the child if only one parent can have custody.”