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Fundamentalist Christianity has always been a "legalistic" religion, but the term has taken on a whole new meaning as the far right has unleashed its legion of lawyers to bully, harass and intimidate opponents. As the Neo-puritans increasingly lose in the court of public opinion, they are heading directly to the courts.
Blogger Justin Watt, for example, had recently placed a parody on his website Justinsomnia, making fun of an offensive billboard placed by the "ex-gay" group Exodus International. The Exodus billboard read: "Gay? Unhappy? http://www.exodus.to/." Watt re-created the billboard on his site so it read, "Straight? Unhappy? http://www.gay.com/."
This was clearly a legal parody of Exodus' ludicrous message and therefore was protected speech. Nevertheless, he and the website Ex-GayWatch, which reprinted the comical fare, were served with "cease and desist" letters from Rev. Jerry Falwell's Liberty Counsel.
The threats of frivolous lawsuits were conveniently dropped after Watt pushed back and enlisted the help of the American Civil Liberties Union and other legal groups. However, this case underscores the right wing's new strategy of using their vast financial resources to bully opponents who may not have the financial means to fend off a legal challenge.
For example, Viroqua High School in Wisconsin cancelled Diversity Day after the Liberty Counsel sent a nasty legal letter. They offered the bizarre argument that the school was violating the Establishment Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment by not inviting fundamentalist Christians and "ex-gays" to denounce homosexuality. Thanks to the Liberty Counsel, the students did not get to hear speakers representing African Americans, Latinos, Jews, Muslims, Native Americans and gay people.
With a taste of success, we are surely going to see more tort terror from the Liberty Counsel and other groups. GLBT and civil rights organizations must ban together and give school administrators the tools to fight off such challenges. If they do not, the right wing may systematically purge Diversity Days across the nation. Here are a few tips on how schools can fight back.
Intent: Diversity Days are clearly intended to foster understanding, open minds and further mutual respect in schools. They are about inclusion, while the aims of Liberty Counsel are about exclusion, and therefore disqualify them from taking part in such events.
They might argue that this is illegal because it does not allow for Christians to take part. This is demonstratively false, as fundamentalists can participate as long as they talk about ways to increase inclusion of Christians on campus. However, they have no special right to deviate from the lesson plan of teaching tolerance, to demean others.
Sectism: There are literally thousands of religions in the United States of America, including many different factions of Christianity. Clearly, a school isn't obligated to invite every last religious group in existence.
A school district can get around Liberty Counsel's complaints by inviting a speaker from a moderate Christian Denomination. Whether Liberty Counsel likes it or not, they represent just one of many versions of Christianity and are no more authentic, than say, the United Church of Christ or the Unitarians. To the best of my knowledge, there is no law that mandates that a school must choose a speaker representing Jerry Falwell's theological viewpoint. To suggest otherwise, is theocratic arrogance at its worst and what I refer to as "Sectism," because Liberty is asserting that its religious sect is superior to that of other braches of the faith. Nowhere in the Constitution does such imagined religious hegemony exist.
Ex-Gays: Inviting "ex-gays" to speak on campus is the intellectual equivalent of introducing unicorns into a zoology curriculum, just because a few superstitious people believe they exist. The "ex-gay" myth has been thoroughly debunked in every sphere from science to psychology. And the very people who claimed they have changed, usually have reverted back to their former gay selves.
School districts can circumvent the right wing's insistence on inclusion of ex-gays with limited effort. All they have to do is cite the American Psychiatric Association, which says that, "The potential risks of 'reparative therapy' are great, including depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior." What kind of administrator would want to invite in a group that could potentially cause so much damage to students? Having ex-gays is the equivalent of brining in Phillip Morris to discuss the "other side" of the smoking debate.
In the short-term, we can expect as much gavel pounding as Bible thumping, with the right wing taking cases to increasingly friendly courts. The Wisconsin war over Diversity Day and the imbroglio over the ex-gay parody are warning shots that the right has launched a new legal strategy. Let's not wait until Diversity Day is called Divinity Day before we respond to this ferocious assault on our mainstream values.
20 Comments:
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posted by Anonymous, at
3/27/2006 7:53 PM
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posted by Anonymous, at
3/27/2006 9:57 PM
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posted by Kurt W, at
3/28/2006 9:12 AM
And as for vampires and werewolves, why not let people hear their stories and decide for themselves. Enough with the "ex-gays", we ex-humans want to be heard and respected too; and what better place than a public school. But of course the assembly would have to be after sunset, unless bigots like kurt refuse to accommodate our needs. I'm sure he's a daylightist. Homophobia and nosferatuphobia usually go hand in hand. Vlad Tepes (Trannysylvania)
posted by Anonymous, at
3/28/2006 9:35 AM
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posted by Kurt W, at
3/28/2006 10:11 AM
It's so curious.
Growing up in a highly political household, I was taught that Republicans voted on fiscal/pocketbook issues and, Democrats voted on social issues.
It's not true.
Today, Republicans go to the polls on social issues like they recently did in Taliban Texas where they amended their state constitution to not recognize gay marriage.
posted by Christopher, at
3/28/2006 11:10 AM
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posted by Anonymous, at
3/29/2006 1:38 AM
Believe it or not, that's what most people (including GLBT) generally try to do. Until they are pressured into having to stand-up for themselves against barbaric religious folks who hide behind the bible in the name of hate, uh, I mean love... Or is it hate? Whatever they are hiding with/behind/because of/whatever, they need to get a life and stay out of everyone elses business. I would have to agree with Mary. Where are the "ex-gays"? I'm talking about the ones that are not on the payroll of some ex-gay ministry, and not ones that are still having sex with men (or women if the ex-gay happened to be female). These are the ones you don't hear about. Why, because they do not exist, just like a unicorn, leprechaun, or liger.
posted by Jeromie Brann-Hurt, at
3/29/2006 7:35 AM
Nope...it's not that they don't exist.
They just want to live their lives and not be active in any political spotlight.
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3/29/2006 6:09 PM
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