Georgia county under fire for helping gays go to college
PFLAG - Parents, Friends, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
A recent newspaper headline in the Cordele Dispatch reads: Crisp County Board of Education has been asked to ban the presence of scholarship applications designated for gay students at the high school.
If you have a hard time stomaching the idea of people so close-minded that they would ask local school officials to remove scholarship information that would benefit gay and lesbian students, you’re not alone.
The scholarships in question are for LGBT students or allies looking to attend an accredited college or university. Scholarship amounts ranged, but the highest amount was $5,000.
The newspaper article goes on to say:
Superintendent Dr. Judy Bean received a complaint this week from a local minister regarding scholarships offered by an organization (Ed. note: They are referring to PFLAG.) openly supportive of homosexuality. The applications are reportedly available in the guidance office of Crisp County High School.
Rev. Tony Register of Wenona Baptist Church went directly to Dr. Bean as soon as he received a copy of the flyer which he said was displayed on a table among other scholarship materials.
“It is nothing more than a solicitation for homosexuality,” said Register. “To me it openly offers the opportunity to be ‘paid’ by voluntarily coming forth and admitting homosexuality or your support of the homosexual agenda.
“I think it is an outrage and should not be allowed in our schools.”
Click here for the entire article.
Once again, the southern, “good ole boy” mentality is finding its way into our lives. Why can’t these close-minded, ignorant hicks step outside their own insulated lives long enough to recognize that offering a scholarship to self-identifying gay men, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people is not a solicitation for other to “become” gay. The idea that gays are out recruiting should be a thing of the past. Perhaps these folks are too uncomfortable or unsure about themselves to understand this.
Stay tuned for a rebuttal letter by local pastor Renee DuBose. In the meantime, we suggest you write a letter to the editor of the Cordele Dispatch by clicking here.
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I can’t believe he would say something like that. If he prefers to let a student not receive scholarships because of his orientation i wonder what he really thinks about other people. Maybe he’s against Latinos, Asians, or etc.
I’m happy to live here in Georgia but i can’t wait for the close minded individuals to open up.
Unfortunately, this is the attitude expressed by many conservatives, Christian or not. Do remember, though, that there are congregations of Christians out there who do support gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people. One of those is right here in Athens: http://ourhopemcc.org. The pastor at this church wrote a rebuttal letter which will be posted soon.
Yeah that’s true. Thank you for the link
What should be and what is are two entirely different things, especially in religiously conservative places like rural Georgia. Add to that the ultra conservative aspects of the Baptist church and you have a situation where things just aren’t going to change any time soon, unless you’re speaking in geologic terms, not human/social.
People like the Tony Register assume we are recruiting because they are recruiting – recruiting naïve and uneducated people like themselves to join their particular group because they “know” that what they believe is right is what all people should believe, and do, and think. One of the biggest travesties is that these people use the word “Christian” to describe themselves. The hate they harbor, the malice and ill-will they wish toward anyone that is, or even supports GLBT people (he would probably include races other than his own, but that would get him in legal trouble) is something Christ would have denounced and actively fought. Come to think of it, he did.
Hopefully Crisp County school and government officials will not let themselves be railroaded into sanctioning discrimination in a public place. However, I wouldn’t count on it.