A measure to bar educational programs that recognize any sexual orientation but heterosexual was side-tracked for a second year today. The state Board of Education will study the issue, again.
The bill’s sponsor, Knoxville Republican Stacey Campfield, disagrees with school systems that removed filters from their Internet systems that blocked the topics of homosexuality, lesbianism, and other key words. He says the state Board of Education didn’t investigate the issue last year and he doesn’t expect members to do much again this year.
Campfield says acceptance of alternative lifestyles goes too far.
“I’m for tolerance, I’m not for bullying. But when you start teaching acceptance, you’re teaching advocating for a certain position.”
ACLU executive director Hedy Weinberg says Campfield’s bill would silence teachers who are trying to protect vulnerable children from teasing and bullying.
Although sexual orientation is considered a partisan issue in the House, both Republicans and Democrats helped kill the bill to ban instruction about alternative lifestyles.
Spokesmen for the Board of Education denied that any pro-homosexual “agenda” is being taught at any school in the state.
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