Florida Agenda

HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA – A Pennsylvania woman says that—after suspending her son for his “sin” of being gay—the Christian school at which she was employed subjected her to “scathing condemnation and blame” for offering him her support, before terminating her as a teacher.

Sharon Wright is suing Covenant Christian Academy in federal court, after having taught at the grades K-12 school since 2002. Wright, whose two sons were enrolled at the private school, says that administrators refused to renew her contract after she requested accommodations for anxiety and depression—conditions she says were brought on by repeated harassment from school officials and faculty, after one of her sons, then a high school senior, came out in October 2009.

Wright’s complaint says that when school administrators learned her son is gay, they “took steps to immediately suspend him from school.” She says that the school’s headmaster, Joseph Sanelli, told her that her son was to be permanently suspended from school, and would not be permitted to return, until he “renounced his sin.” According to court documents, a school official told her “your son is broken, and it’s your job to fix him,” and that official’s wife told her that he “may have been abused as a child.”

Wright says that subsequent criticisms from school officials led to her acquiring adjustment disorder, anxiety, and depression, and that when she requested medical leaves of absence, she was denied an employment contract for the next school year.

EL PASO, COLORADO – The campaign manager for a Republican state representative inadvertently outed her boss’s son when she forwarded an email praising the lawmaker for her vote last month against civil unions. Lana Fore-Warkocz, who manages the reelection effort for state Rep. Marsha Looper (R-El Paso), accidentally revealed that the lawmaker has a gay son, when she forwarded an email that read in part, “God is truly to be praised for Marsha Looper, because she also has a homosexual son.” Fore-Warkocz added, “Praise God!” as she touted Looper’s support for an amendment to legislation that would “protect” religious organizations “from harm.”

But there was little in the way of praise from Looper, who told The Denver Post , “I’m very, very disappointed. I am disappointed that my campaign manager forwarded an e-mail that would include any member of my family in policy discussions.”

Looper is the second Republican Centennial State lawmaker with a gay son to vote against civil unions. During a special legislative session in which bill was readdressed by lawmakers, state Rep. Don Coram (R-Montrose) also voted against civil unions, despite having a gay son.

By AJ Cross

Dear Mom,

I have tried so hard for so long to get you to understand, but no matter how hard I have tried, you just chose not to get it. You are so blinded by your religion and sense of tradition to understand that the harder you hold on to your thoughts, the further you push me away. When dad left you years ago, you forgot that he left me too, and things were just as hard for me as they were for you.

Imagine how hard it must be to feel abandoned by dad, who physically left, and then by you, who emotionally went away. I have done everything I can do to make you happy. I kept up my grades, kept my room clean and did all of my chores; I never argued or gave you a hard time. I picked you up off the kitchen floor and cleaned the broken bottle of whisky that you dove into so many nights. My only mistake was not being smart enough to put a password on my computer. I never thought you would invade my privacy that way. I never thought you would read my emails and find out that I was spending time with him. I never thought that if you found out, you would move so quickly toward anger and disappointment.

Do you think that I want to skip gym class every week out of fear that one of the boys will see me staring too long in the shower? Do you think the look of  disgust on your face pleases me?

I wish you could see that I am still your son. I am not your Gay son, but simply your son who loves a little bit differently than you do.

I am sorry that I am the way that I am, and that you would rather lose me than love me.

They say you never know what you have until you lose it, and it seems that if I can’t get you to love me while I am here and alive, then maybe I will get your love after I’m gone.

I hope your God loves better than you do. I hope His capacity for understanding is better than yours. I hope that when you find me and this letter, that He will hold you in his arms the way I begged you to hold me in yours.

My dying wish is that you share this letter with as many parents as you can, so that they may reconsider their position when it comes to their own gay children. Most of all, I hope that you know I love you so much.

This is my last goodbye and my final apology.

Your Son,

Michael

P.S. To the parents who might read this letter: There are no hugs and I love you’s from the grave.

Ask my mother!

According to the N.I.M.H. (National Institute for Mental Health) In 2010 the leading cause of death for youth ages
15-19 in the U.S. was suicide. 1 out of 5 suicides were related to sexual orientation or matters of homosexuality.

EDITOR’S NOTE:
If you are affected by this column, it is important to remember many people have turned the negativity imposed on them by their friends and families for being gay into positives and have gone on to help many people affected in this way. AJ’s column highlights that suicide is not the answer, we must all work together to ensure another note like the above does not enter our world. It is the job of the Florida Agenda and myself to ensure that solutions are found to all problems within the LGBTQ community. If you identify with the above and feel you can’t go on. STOP and call 954-567-TEEN.