Roseville High Students Face Anti-Gay Protest on First Day

Two anti-gay protesters greeted students at Roseville High School Thursday. The pair denounced homosexuality and called for an end to school-sanctioned groups such as the Gay-Straight Alliance.

[Shayl Hansen]

Hi, Im a student at roseville and I was there the day of this protest and I was there with the group of students who stood up and protested the presence of these anti-gay prostesters at our school. And I want to know why the students who stood up against these men were not mentioned at all in this article

[Christy]

By some chance are these guys members of the Westboro Baptist Church?
You know, the lovable Phelps and his gang. lol

[luckygirl1969]

Shayl Hansen wrote:

Hi, Im a student at roseville and I was there the day of this protest and I was there with the group of students who stood up and protested the presence of these anti-gay prostesters at our school. And I want to know why the students who stood up against these men were not mentioned at all in this article

Good question.

[Dixie Wrecked]

Why is it okay to have a pro-gay organization at a school but it's not okay to have a pro-straight organization. Either both sides should have a right to exist or neither should. I'd say that a public school attended by children under 18 is an inappropriate venue for the Gay-Straight Alliance, a Mormon club, or a Young Republicans club. Universities; sure. High School kids should be there to learn the basics. They cand "find themselves' on their own time.

[Christy]

Dixie Wrecked wrote:

Why is it okay to have a pro-gay organization at a school but it's not okay to have a pro-straight organization. Either both sides should have a right to exist or neither should. I'd say that a public school attended by children under 18 is an inappropriate venue for the Gay-Straight Alliance, a Mormon club, or a Young Republicans club. Universities; sure. High School kids should be there to learn the basics. They cand "find themselves' on their own time.

Sorry, but I must disagee.
I see nothing wrong with having a Gay/Straight Alliance at the high school level. They lend support and teach tolerance and understanding. Most individuals know their orientation by the time they are 10 years old, and if they are gay, in a predominately hetero world, they need all the support they can get.

[Christy]

BTW, these men were holding up signs that were demeaning and hurtful to any gay person (& their loved ones) that may have seem them. That includes any gay students that were attending that school. Do you believe that was the appropriate venue for that type of protest?

[SadDadAlso]

Shayl Hansen wrote:

Hi, Im a student at roseville and I was there the day of this protest and I was there with the group of students who stood up and protested the presence of these anti-gay prostesters at our school. And I want to know why the students who stood up against these men were not mentioned at all in this article

Were you protesting their right to protest or the message that they were sending out? Either way the constitution grants them the right to protest and their right to free speech as it does for you and your 'side'.

What was the outcome of your side of the protest? Did you all end up agreeing to disagree?

[WilliamB1026]

I asked my Mom once, after celebrating Mother's Day and Father's Day, When is Children's day? She said: "Every day is Children's day."

So, I say to you, Dixie, when you state that "it's not okay to have a pro-straight organization:" nearly every organization is a pro-straight organization. "Pro-straight" is ubiquitous.

I would agree with you that student-religious organizations (Mormon, Christian, whatever) are best suited to off-campus meetings, before/after school times.

The only reason I might disagree with you about a gay-straight alliance is that, whether people know it, and accept it, or not, there are GLBTQ students in high school (and middle school). These kids don't want to stay in the closet like their predecessors might have been prone to do. I wonder how the gay kids feel when the "pro-straight" prom comes around? Or when the "pro-straight" girl cheerleaders cheer on the "pro-straight" boy's athletic team?

I see nothing wrong with an organization that unifies people rather than dividing people. Yep, the protesters had a right to be divisive and hateful ("god hates gays"). But I think a unifying and tolerant message (as delivered by Shayl Hansen, above) is more productive that hatred.

[Amazon Queen]

Shayl Hansen wrote:

Hi, Im a student at roseville and I was there the day of this protest and I was there with the group of students who stood up and protested the presence of these anti-gay prostesters at our school. And I want to know why the students who stood up against these men were not mentioned at all in this article

If you were protesting the presence of the protestors, does that mean you are against free speech?

[Craig]

Dixie Wrecked wrote:

Why is it okay to have a pro-gay organization at a school but it's not okay to have a pro-straight organization. Either both sides should have a right to exist or neither should. I'd say that a public school attended by children under 18 is an inappropriate venue for the Gay-Straight Alliance, a Mormon club, or a Young Republicans club. Universities; sure. High School kids should be there to learn the basics. They cand "find themselves' on their own time.

There are many pro-straight organizations. They are called football, baseball etc. Have you ever seen an openly gay high schooler be accepted into those crowds? No. And the reason it is so important to have these organizations is a large number of gay teens commit suicide before they ever reach college. These groups help prevent that. Your logic is like saying there is no need for regular counselors in school - because it's not teaching the basics.

[Amazon Queen]

Craig wrote:

<quoted text>
There are many pro-straight organizations. They are called football, baseball etc. Have you ever seen an openly gay high schooler be accepted into those crowds? No. And the reason it is so important to have these organizations is a large number of gay teens commit suicide before they ever reach college. These groups help prevent that. Your logic is like saying there is no need for regular counselors in school - because it's not teaching the basics.

Come to Sacramento and you WILL see openly gay students accepted into the mainstream. My son even has an openly gay teacher. They call him "Mr. Fabulous".

I saw that movie "Boys Don't Cry" set in Oklahoma. I feel for you back there.

[Leeroy Kincaid]

We either have free speech or we don't. It shouldn't be restricted simply because people disagree with the message. If the courts permit crowds to protest against our country, (up to and including burning our flag), then protesting against gays should also be allowed. As long as the protest is not violent in any way.

[Craig]

Leeroy Kincaid wrote:

We either have free speech or we don't. It shouldn't be restricted simply because people disagree with the message. If the courts permit crowds to protest against our country,(up to and including burning our flag), then protesting against gays should also be allowed. As long as the protest is not violent in any way.

While I agree it's everybody's right to protest, I think you sometimes have to look at the venue. Do they have a right to protest against gays? Yes. Should they be allowed to do so at funerals? Absolutely not. This was distracting from the school day to many students, so the venue was wrong.

[SadDadAlso]

Craig wrote:

<quoted text>
While I agree it's everybody's right to protest, I think you sometimes have to look at the venue. Do they have a right to protest against gays? Yes. Should they be allowed to do so at funerals? Absolutely not. This was distracting from the school day to many students, so the venue was wrong.

Maybe they chose the school because they knew they would get press coverage and this would result in their message getting to more people than those that attended the school.

I have never understood why a person's bedroom preferences (some will say genetic and I cannot argue the point as I personally cannot confirm either one) must be displayed for all to see and why they are granted special legislation, etc. I have never seen a hetero bumper sticker, any anti-hetero legislation, hetero hate crime bills, etc.

[Doc_Holliday]

Julie P wrote:

<quoted text>
I would like to know that, too. Thank you for standing up to ignorance. I bet you made your parents proud that day.:)

So why is being anti-gay ignorant?
Do you realize how stupid you sound when you write and say things like this?
Ignorance is defines as: The state or fact of being ignorant; lack of knowledge, learning, information, etc.
The message these two guys were expressing was that they are opposed to the gay lifestyle and are getting it said. That is their constitutional right to protest.
To label them as ignorant clearly shows that you assume that knowledge, learning and information will somehow change a person's attitude/opinions about something that flies in the face of everything they know or believe in, that YOU yourself Julie are a bigot and nothing more than another vacuous pair of flapping gums.

If you refuse to allow the opposing side their rights then you are no better than the worst haters on the planet.

Notice that one of the poster's thinks that all religious-type clubs shouldn't be at the school, yet see no problem with gay clubs being allowed?
The enviro/liberal/gay lifestyles all share a core set of beliefs....which sounds like religion to me.
There is a fundamental reason that STRAIGHT is used to describe Hetrosexuals. Gay, in my opinion isn't a proper term. DEVIANT is more appropriate IMHO since gays/lesbians deviate from what was and IS acceptable morally and biologically.
In essence, simple rebellion against what is natural.

[SadDadAlso]

Craig wrote:

<quoted text>
There are many pro-straight organizations. They are called football, baseball etc. Have you ever seen an openly gay high schooler be accepted into those crowds? No. And the reason it is so important to have these organizations is a large number of gay teens commit suicide before they ever reach college. These groups help prevent that. Your logic is like saying there is no need for regular counselors in school - because it's not teaching the basics.

There are also many non-gay kids that commit suicide. Do they have special clubs at school for them as well?

When I was in high school (yes, many many years ago) none of the team sports banned gays, maybe the gays just did not want to play those sports and opted to play tennis, run track, etc. which are also very difficult sports. To call these sports hetero is absurd.

[WilliamB1026]

Yes, Huckleberry, religious organizations should not be allowed in the public school arena ... IMHO. ;-) There are other, and plentiful venues for that ... like churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, parochial schools, bible-study homes, that don't use secular tax dollars to accomodate specific beliefs.

By they way ... morality and unlawful are different things. Homosexual behavior between consenting adults may be a sin (depending on your beliefs), but it is not unlawful. Murder is morally wrong in Christian theology, and also illegal here. But "honor killings" (murder) are accepted and not prosecuted in other cultures, even in Brazil, a Christian country.

Your "moral" beliefs are best kept inside your church and your family. They may, or may not, hold up in civil law. And... homosexuality may have been selected by nature to exist because it benefits the survival of the species as a whole.

Other than that, we agree. The protesters had a civic right to peacefully protest.

[Amazon Queen]

Craig wrote:

<quoted text>
While I agree it's everybody's right to protest, I think you sometimes have to look at the venue. Do they have a right to protest against gays? Yes. Should they be allowed to do so at funerals? Absolutely not. This was distracting from the school day to many students, so the venue was wrong.

It's funny you should mention how it is distracting. My son found the "Day of Silence" to be a distraction and said that it caused a lot of division on campus.("Which side are YOU on?")

[I am a Policeman]

Craig wrote:

<quoted text>
While I agree it's everybody's right to protest, I think you sometimes have to look at the venue. Do they have a right to protest against gays? Yes. Should they be allowed to do so at funerals? Absolutely not. This was distracting from the school day to many students, so the venue was wrong.

You can't legislate class. Just like these a-holes that protest the war at the funerals of dead soldiers.

I agree with you, but it's tough to manage the details. Sometimes, you've got to take matters into your own hands. For example, if I see someone burning my flag, I'm going to open a case of whoopass......and shake it up first so it's real messy.

[Leeroy Kincaid]

Craig wrote:

<quoted text>
While I agree it's everybody's right to protest, I think you sometimes have to look at the venue. Do they have a right to protest against gays? Yes. Should they be allowed to do so at funerals? Absolutely not. This was distracting from the school day to many students, so the venue was wrong.

I'm not convinced that a school is the right place for any kind of protest. It will always be a distraction.