Boy, 15, reprimanded for backing traditional family in school paper

'Wegner's opinion included a paraphrased quote by Dr. Cameron from the Family Research Institute saying that children of gay parents are "more apt to report sexual confusion, more apt to abuse substances, less apt to get married and more apt to be socially disturbed." - article

Reply:

"In most ways, the accumulated research shows, children of same-sex parents are not markedly different from those of heterosexual parents."

- AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS (AAP)
- 'Coparent or Second-Parent Adoption by Same-Sex Parents' - POLICY STATEMENT - PEDIATRICS Vol. 109 No. 2 February 2002, pp. 339-340 - Pulished: 02/01/10

'You are normal
Homosexuality is not a mental disorder. All of the major medical organizations, including The American Psychiatric Association, The American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics agree that homosexuality is not an illness or disorder, but a form of sexual expression.'
Source: Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Teens: Information for Teens and Parents

- America Acadamy of Pediactrics
Published online: 11/2008

"The superintendent called him ignorant and said he had the power to suspend him," Staver said. "He's using his position to bully this student." - article

Ok.

So, the Superintendent shouldn't name call, and bully students, right?

And yet:

"Wegner's opinion included a paraphrased quote by Dr. Cameron from the Family Research Institute saying that children of gay parents are "more apt to report sexual confusion, more apt to abuse substances, less apt to get married and more apt to be socially disturbed." - same article

The criticism of the insult...

is in DEFENSE, of more, insults.

So, it's 'ok' to insult lgbt students in school.

But 'not' to insult students when you are repremanding them...

for, insulting lgbt students at school.

I agree, the superintendet should not have called the student 'ignorant'.

And BECAUSE of that, I am against people using biased publication, or scripture...

to drive gay teens to take their own lives!

**'Police probe bullying after NY teen's suicide' - By Carolyn Thompson - AP - Published by DSNews - 09/22/11

'AMHERST, N.Y. Police are investigating whether criminal charges should be filed after the suicide of a 14-year-old New York boy...' - article

14 years old.

Brandon,

Keep up the good work!

You are absolutely right!

I'm also not surprised

to see the Dr. quote the many

problems that "children" of homosexual pairs have.

Homosexuals should never be allowed to adopt.

A foster home is a better place for children.

Again to Brandon,

Don't back down!

Keep speaking up for what is right!

Great job!

Good on you, Brandon for standing up for your morals and not bowing down to bullying.

Homosexuals should never be allowed to adopt children. There are far too many husbands and wives on waiting lists to adopt children as it is! Robbing a child of a mother or a father in same sex relationships is selfish. I don't know what I would do without BOTH of my parent's influence. Children need both a mother and a father. That has always been and always will be the ideal role models for raising children.

Again, kudos to Brandon for fighting bullying for backing a traditional family!

Of course the left believes in freedom of speech, as long as what you say they agree with. As soon as you have an opinion outside of their realm of understanding, they immediately close their minds, belittle the other person, and seek to destroy them.

I may not agree with everything the kid said. But, kicking him out of school is going a bit far. Why doesn't the school throw people out, when they shove the idea that two daddies or two mommies living together is normal? What is wrong with traditional families? If we stopped having traditional families, then society as we know it will be destroyed and decay. Let's see how far society can go if everyone was gay and never strayed.

@ Globetrecker
you wrote: "I don't know what I would do without BOTH of my parent's influence".

May be you wouldn't make bigot remarks as the one you wrote.

Cris. B. and Globetrecker:

I'm sure you would be opposed to anybody claiming justification to killing anyone based on different beliefs.

However, your hero of todays was precisely doing that: "He also quoted scriptures like Leviticus 20:13: "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."

Are you willing to assume or share responsibility for all the bloodshed of lgbt people that takes place in the U.S. and around the world? If you are, come out and say it.

But if you say it, please don't talk about Christ or the gospel. Because obviously you don't know God.

Public school newspapers shouldn't have opinion sections. Otherwise, you get public funding vs. freedom of speech issues. If the 15 year old was asked to write his opinion, he did nothing wrong. The gay couple that complained did nothing wrong either because the paper is publicly funded with their tax dollars. The school is to blame for creating a no-win situation.

It all depends on where you live people. I had a very similar experience here in Utah when I wrote a paper about how religion causes more problems than it solves, and how I believe that it still causes serious issues today. I was subjected to almost the exact same treatment by my fellow students who were religious. This kid is completely wrong,IMO, and the Family Research Council and the Bible are hardly objective sources. However, the school should leave him alone. My real point however is that EVERYONE needs to stop being so sensitive and get over themselves. Your not more important than anyone else people.

Please don't tell me that secularists have not abused the right to free speech. I support anyone's ability to excercise their 1st ammnedment rights, and this school district has crossed the line...aggressively. You may not like the student's opinion, but in the forum he used, he has every right to express it.
If the district had held their ground while not condoning the opinion, if might have passed, but they cowered in the fear of PC, abused the rights of the student opiner and did plenty of their own bullying. I hope he sues and prevails. This kind of garbage needs to stop.

@ Pagan:

Generally the DMN news does not allow me to rebut your posts, but here goes.

Have we reached the point where only opinions you agree with can be expressed.

The student expressed an opinion, backed by a source (you disagree with)and the school paper printed it. he did not bully anyone, but he has certainly been bullied for excercising his 1st amendement rights.

You are always quick to cite sources in alleged support for you position. Are others not allowed to do the same? Or are we allowed to have only the opinions which must first be approved by you?

You are, by your own admission, gay. I have no problem with that, but I don't have to agree with the agenda you support. Nor do I have to simply shut up if I hold a different view.

I expect that many would take issue with my points of view on any given subject, but much blood has been shed to assure my right to voice those views.

"Homosexual couples shouldn't be able to adopt." --- bigotry is bigotry whether from a 15 yo or a 50 yo.

""If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." --- it would appear that this 15 yo is advocating killing gays. Definitely bullying.

"...children of gay parents are "more apt to report sexual confusion, more apt to abuse substances, less apt to get married and more apt to be socially disturbed." --- false. Numerous studies have shown that children of glbt couples are as well adjusted and normal as children of heterosexual couples.

Okay this is really stupid. He was given the assignment of writing the anti-adoption op-ed alongside the pro-adoption op-ed, so it's his fault he wrote about what he was told to write about?

@alt34;

It is possible to write an anti-adoption opinion piece without stating that gays should be killed.

@newintown;

You are right - bullying of ANY form must stop.

Thanks for running this story. It helps keep the locals frothing.

@Ranchhand
"It is possible to write an anti-adoption opinion piece without stating that gays should be killed. "

Then maybe this school should have an editor read these things before they go in the paper.

What happened to traditional education, where students were encouraged to reason for themselves and form their own opinions and arguments for/against anything and everything? It seems they are now taught to think for themselves and form their own opinions, so long as they conform to what everyone else believes!

When I was doing my degree, I would often debate a point I did not necessarily believe, simply because it was expected of me to see both sides of the argument...and I had to come up with quotes and opinions as to why each side might be so...it is called reasoning things out for yourself...

This young man explained his beliefs, backing it up with empirical evidence (however empirical anything might be, statistics and opinions can always be manipulated)as he saw it, and following it up with quotes from the scriptures, which, for him, were true...he put up his own argument against the system...if he had done that on, say, being against murder, nothing would have been said...because it was against homosexuality, he is breaking the rules...where is the equality and tolerance in that?

It's a crazy world, and getting crazier by the day!

Homosexuals should never be allowed to adopt.A foster home is a better place for children.Homosexuals should never be allowed to adopt children. There are far too many husbands and wives on waiting lists to adopt children as it is! Robbing a child of a mother or a father in same sex relationships is selfish.

REPLY: I am a Single GAY LDS Parent. I adopted a baby that was going to be aborted. No straight couple stepped up to the plate..I did. Better off in foster care, abused, raped, mistreated, less likely to go to college and that's just in the LDS Foster system. The reason heterosexual couples are on a waiting list is because they want perfect babies, where as homosexual adopters are willing to take the children heterosexual couples are willing to throw away. Brando is lucky he isn't being arrested for threatening to spill blood, I would have made charges against for him for threatening the life of someone else. Here's a novel idea. If you don't like gay people then straight people need to stop making gay children. The last I knew gay don't make babies, but we are sure willing to take your mistakes and love them as we raise them to be loving caring adults and citizens of the world.

For anyone desiring to write a similar article in the future, might I suggest you go to the New Testament, rather than the Old Testament for your scriptural references? That way, you won't be accused of trying to incite death/violence, whilst still putting forth a strong case for God and Jesus Christ's opinions on homosexuality. Go to the Topical Guide for references...there are a few to choose from.

I'm not against denying this young man his freedom of speech, but he needs to understand there are some hot, emotionally driven topics which are better left for journalists to discuss.

I know for example, if one of my nieces and nephews who attended high school out of state had a classmate which wrote a nasty, mean-spirited article about Latter-day Saints, I wouldn't be too happy about it, especially if that article lead to LDS kids at that school being bullied and threatened.

@kemitc

You said - "The reason heterosexual couples are on a waiting list is because they want perfect babies..."

Be careful not to lump all heterosexual couples into one based on the snottiness and narrow-mindedness of some. I'm sure you wouldn't be happy if I lumped all homosexual couples into one based on the same criteria.

I agree there are couples who want kids without problems, but when my wife and I began the process to adopt, one of the first things we were told was, "Don't expect a perfect baby. All kids, regardless of who they are, are going to have problems."

Repeatedly, my wife and I have told our adoption agency we are willing to take an older child, or a child with emotional problems, but so far, nothing.

Do I blame homosexual couples for this. No. I'm just simply pointing out where your over generalization is flawed.

You said - "Better off in foster care, abused, raped, mistreated, less likely to go to college and that's just in the LDS Foster system."

There is no "LDS Foster System." There's the Utah Foster Care system, which takes parents through a training course dealing with all kinds of problems and issues the kids might face. My wife and I were quite impressed with how it was done.

True, there are kids in foster care who have been raped and abused, but to label this as "LDS Foster Care," sounds more like a cheap shot than anything else.

I know the New England states has many gays and lesbian foster parents on their roles. If I heard about a foster child abused there, would it be fair to call it "Homosexual Foster Care?"