The new definition of ‘hate’ is now simply saying “No” to homosexuality.
Wheatland is a community of about 3,400 in southeast Wyoming, with a school board dominated by dolts.
Platte County School District No. 1 has banned anti-hate bannersbecause the signs were co-sponsored by the Gay and Lesbian Fund forColorado.
“We’re a conservative community. We don’t need extremistorganizations coming in propagating their liberal views,” said dancestudio owner Joe Fabian, a school board trustee.
Starting in 2008, an elementary and a high school in the districtsigned up for “No Place for Hate,” a project run by the Anti-DefamationLeague in Colorado and Wyoming. The initiative works to “enhance theappreciation of diversity and foster harmony amongst diverse groups,”its mission states, and to “empower schools to promote respect forindividual and group differences while challenging prejudice andbigotry.”
Subversive stuff, huh? (Actually, yes it IS. — Ed)
As a reward for participating, the ADLprovided 3-foot-by-6-foot banners bearing the schools’ names, the words”No Place for Hate” and acknowledgments to the Gay and Lesbian Fund forColorado, as well as to Qwest and the David and Laura MerageFoundation, the two other major sponsors.
Concerned presumably that the mere mention of the words “gay andlesbian” could sway students’ sexual orientations, the district orderedthe principals of both schools to remove the banners. Trustees voted4-3 to back that decision.
Fabian, who was part of the majority vote, takes issue not just withthe Gay and Lesbian Fund but also with the ADL, a Jewish organization.He figures both groups threaten to erode the rectitude of his community.
“We have a different moral standard here,” he said, apparentlysensing my green horns over the phone. “We don’t need people coming inpromoting premarital sex, extramarital sex and all other kinds ofbelief systems.”
Principal Maureen Ryff approved “No Place for Hate” at WheatlandHigh School. “Not in my wildest dreams,” she said, did she think thedistrict would usurp her decision.
The ADL has dropped the district from its program, saying it makes no exceptions for homophobia.
Wheatland, it is worth noting, is about 90 minutes northeast ofLaramie, a town notorious for the 1998 beating death of MatthewShepard, a 21-year-old gay man. The Denver-based Matthew ShepardFoundation decries the school district’s decision.
“It’s disappointing, to say the least,” said executive director Jason Marsden.
“The delicious irony to me is that by their actions they themselvesestablished the need for programs of this type,” adds Fred Sainz, theGay and Lesbian Fund’s spokesman.
Abbie Geringer, an 18-year-old Wheatland High senior, said she regrets that Hategate is giving her town a bad name.
“The world is looking at us now like we all hate gay people,” shesays. “Removing the banner reflects the opinions of the school board,not the student body. The world is changing. Board members are waybehind the times in that respect.”
Susan Greene writes Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Reach her at 303-954-1989 or greene@denverpost.com.