UPDATED: Arkansas School Board Member Says Gay Students Should ‘Get AIDS and Die’
Arkansas School Board Member Says Gay Students Should “Get AIDS and Die”
McCance took to his Facebook page last week, to blast what became known as Spirit Day, a day where all around the country, people wore the color purple to remember those LGBT students who were victims of bullying or suicide. For McCance, this was nothing more than a day of honoring “sin.”
“Seriously they want me to wear purple because five queers committed suicide. The only way I’m wearin’ it for them is if they all commit suicide,” McCance said, in one of the most ugly outbursts in recent memory. “I can’t believe the people of this world have gotten this stupid. We are honoring the fact that they sinned and killed themselves because of their sin.”
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“Being a fag doesn’t give you the right to ruin the rest of our lives. If you get easily offended by being called a fag then don’t tell anyone you are a fag. Keep that shit to yourself,” McCance wrote. “It pisses me off though that we make a special purple fag day for them. I like that fags cant procreate. I also enjoy the fact that they often give each other aids and die.”
Let’s repeat this once again: this is a school board member. Someone charged with upholding the Midland School District’s mission of “making a difference” in the lives of students. And his reaction to the recent spate of anti-gay bullying and LGBT students who have committed suicide? To release a diatribe so vile, it makes the Westboro Baptist Church look like Miss Manners.
I am at a loss for words. “Backwards, evil asshole” just doesn’t quite cover this.
Update: Hat tip to Locker…
Arkansas officials condemn anti-gay comments on Facebook
The Arkansas Department of Education has condemned anti-gay comments made by a local school board member and posted on a social networking site.
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A strongly worded statement signed by Dean Stanley, superintendent of the Midland School District, disavowed the remarks. “The district strives to foster an environment that discourages all forms of bullying,” the statement read, “and an environment that encourages a safe and productive educational climate of all of our students. The district is very diligent in pursuing and addressing bullying of any variety on our campuses.”
A separate statement sent to CNN by Julie Thompson, director of communications for the Arkansas Department of Education, said the department is “dismayed to see that a school board official would post something of this insensitive nature on a public forum like Facebook.”
Because McCance is an elected official, the department cannot deal with him directly, according to the statement. But staff will be monitoring schools to provide a quick response in case students are bullied because of McCance’s comments, it said.
“Because McCance is an elected official, the department cannot deal with him directly, according to the statement.”
That right there is significant in many ways. I myself have no children, so there may be some who would claim that I have no stake in such things and should probably just STFU. But they’d be wrong, and they’d be wasting their breath.
We all have a stake in such things. These things affect the youth of our nation, our future leaders, doctors, scientists, and so on.
This, combined with the pro-ID movements and school boards in a handful of other states has convinced me that I must pay more attention to, and scrutinize more closely, those who run for school board positions.
I hope it has the same affect on you.