Return Of The Knuckle Draggers

I don’t have much to add to this Inquirer online article, except to say that Diane Gramley and her fellow fascists at the American Family Association should crawl back to western PA and keep their noses out of our business…

Schools drop recognition months
Objections to Gay and Lesbian History Month led the district to remove other tribute months as well.

By Susan Snyder
Inquirer Staff Writer

Dogged by public controversy and "phone calls that bordered on terroristic threats," the Philadelphia School District has removed recognition of Gay and Lesbian History Month from its 2007-08 school calendar, and - in an effort to be fair - similar months, including African American, Hispanic Heritage, and Asian Pacific American.

Other designations, such as the International Day of Disabled Persons, also are gone from the calendar mailed to about 200,000 parents and other affiliates, district officials said last night.

The only days that get recognized now are the ones that mean a day off from school, said Cecilia Cummings, the district's senior vice president for communications and community relations.

For the first time last school year, the district included the gay and lesbian month designation - which is in October - along with several others in an attempt to follow a long-standing district policy requiring equity for all races and minority groups. "Diversity" was the theme of the calendars.

The move brought an immediate backlash, with people berating district officials at public meetings.

"We were just not prepared for the controversy," Cummings said. "We were besieged by calls, threats, letters, and we didn't have the manpower to staff it. Nor did we have the preparation or training to really figure out how to deal with this issue in a way that could keep kids safe. We had meetings where adults were calling kids names."

Removal from the calendar has no effect on curriculum, Cummings said. Furthermore, Black History Month, as well as gay history events, will continue to be held in schools.

The district's decision to retreat on the calendars was first announced in the Philadelphia Gay News last week. Cummings said the district thought it was fair to tell that newspaper first.

But the effort to avoid controversy may backfire.

Some groups on opposing sides already have begun rifling off news releases.

"It is appalling that a school district would drop months that recognize and educate our schoolchildren about the history and contributions of America's diverse fabric," said Malcolm Lazin of Philadelphia, executive director of Equality Forum, an international gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil-rights group.

The American Family Association of Pennsylvania, based in Western Pennsylvania, applauded the decision. The group wrote to the district last year opposing the decision to include the month.

"This was an excellent choice. They were listening to the parents," said Diane Gramley.

Shelly Yanoff, executive director of Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth, criticized the decision.

"I think it's a sad day when people can't honor their differences and come together and recognize that they have a commitment to a whole," she said. "There's never been any progress in this world or in this country without some controversy."

Greg Wade, president of the Home and School Council, the district's parents group, was unsure: "I think they were brave in what they did last year, but I understand their decision."

J. Whyatt Mondesire, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP, could not be reached for comment.

Neither could James Nevels, School Reform Commission chairman, or commissioner Sandra Dungee Glenn, who led the district's push to require an African American history course for graduation - a first in the country.

Cummings said the district had received some complaints about the calendar in previous years, including objections to Black History Month's being noted, but never as much as last year.

I think it’s a logical progression, by the way, to try and frighten children about people different from them in this manner so that they may be more predisposed to the type of thinking Digby assaults here when they become adults.

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