Update: Michigan High School Responds to Pro-Harrassment Parents By Adding More Anti-Harrassment Posters

Earlier in May MailToBlog posted an action item regarding a Troy, Michigan high under attack from parents objecting to a poster promoting tolerance. (See Michigan Parents Attack High School Non-Harrassment Policy.)

The May 30,2005 Detroit News is reporting,

Gay poster multiplies in Troy High

School hangs four more; move further angers some who have fought to ban them.

"A poster at Troy High School that reads "Gay People are Everyday People" appears to be multiplying instead of coming down.

Some parents have been fighting the Troy School District for more than a year to have the poster removed from an English classroom, claiming it promotes sexuality and a homosexual lifestyle.

But the maker of the poster said the school's English department has decided to go the other direction, ordering 25 more copies.

[...]

District spokesman Tim McAvoy confirmed that at least four new posters went up recently.

The poster originally went up in 2003 at the request of the student group Human Equal Rights Organization, which was doing a project on tolerance. It portrays five teenagers surrounded by photos of professionals such as caterers, mail carriers, musicians and teachers.

"The students requested the poster to show all people deserve respect and tolerance, and should not be harassed for any reason," McAvoy said. "The poster ensures student safety through a message of tolerance and respect."

The sanctimonious parents who promote faith-based harrassment of gay students are claiming that the poster stating, "Gay People are Everyday People" is not only a sexual message, but one that magically turns students from straight to gay.

One of the pro-harrassment parents, Tony Cruz, said

"the posters promote a sexual lifestyle that is against Judeo-Christian beliefs. It should not even be acknowledged to youth, much less promoted. ... I am here to censor their attempts to promote that lifestyle on my children. We do not want them to try and change our children."

Leslie Thompson, executive director of Ferndale-based Affirmations Gay/Lesbian Community Center, which distributes the posters responds,

"We don't consider the word 'gay' any more sexual than the word 'marriage."

And, of course, she's absolutely right.

Let's send them more letters of support. Click here to send an e-mail of support to the Troy School Board, the administration of Troy High School, and Affirmations Gay/Lesbian Community Center.