Friday, February 16, 2007

Connecting the Dots in Monty County

WashBlade editor Kevin Naff connects the dots between a tragedy and an outrage happening in Montgomery County, a neighboring county to DC in Maryland.

The tragedy is the apparent double suicides ofRachel Crites and Rachel Smith, two Mont. Co. teens who went missing and then were found dead in a car in the woods, from carbon monoxide poisoning. Crites' father released a diary entry by his daughter that said:

“Wherever I end up laying, whether buried or cremated, I want to stay with my true love, buried next to her. This is my choice. I’m sorry.”

And now the outrage: conservative groups in Mont. County are pressing the state board of education to overturn Mont. County's recently adopted gay-inclusive sex ed curriculum. The conservative groups include PFOX, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, who recently were distributing flyers at Mont. Co. schools about "quashing" same sex attractions.

Concludes Naff:

We don’t know if “the Rachels” were romantically involved or if they were ever exposed to PFOX’s message. But there’s no doubt that other teens in Montgomery County who are in the process of sorting out their sexual identity are subjected to the “ex-gay” myth in their schools.

These anti-gay crusaders have no shame. County officials should denounce their efforts and fight the curriculum appeal to its defeat. Let us hope something positive can come from this horrific tragedy and that other young people feeling alone and confused will find understanding and compassion from adults in their community instead of hateful and reckless propaganda.

PFOX: This isn't about opposing the "gay agenda." It's not about scripture. It's about teen age lives. Get it?

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