Tennessee private school bans homosexuality

[EmptyClosets]

Tennessee private school bans homosexuality

Click here to read the news article.

Thoughts?

[Bibliophile]

I dont like the idea but that is not a reason in my opinion to try to change it. To be honest the school is well within its rights.First and foremost t is a PRIVATE institution and no one is forced to go there. Secondly is that it is a religious school that has its own views on homosexuality and no one has a right to force them to act otherwise. So in short if the parents of people going to the school take issue then it is a matter for the school board to deal with. If they dont then things stand and if not listened to well they dont have to send their kids. Its not a matter for the local, state or federal government to get involved in.

[fiddledeedee]

Someone should get a bunch of bi people to apply!

More seriously, this is the choice of the school and nothing can be done about it. It is a sad thing, but as Bibliophile said, it's a private school.

[Zontar]

How the hell do you "ban" homosexuality?

And haven't you guys forgotten that private institutions are already barred from discrimination on things like race and religion?

[Hexagon]

What, seriously, gays aren't protected by the state? If I applied for a private school here and got rejected for being pansexual/trans then I could sue them. Also, as Zontar says, how do you ban homosexuality? Its not like they can read minds, and homophobic xtians tend to have bad gaydar... Do they ask you to tick a box saying your straight on the application?

[Bibliophile]

Originally Posted by Zontar

How the hell do you "ban" homosexuality?

And haven't you guys forgotten that private institutions are already barred from discrimination on things like race and religion?

Yes but not sex apparently. Because I know there are women only gyms and the Free Masons are a male only organization. On top of that this is not a store or other place of business. This is a RELIGIOUS school and a private one at that. You are saying that you have the right to tell this school I dont care about your beliefs or how you view your religion you HAVE to take my money and let me go here? I am sorry but I am not buying it. Frankly I see no reason not to let a store or other non publicly funded business or institution be raciest or against a particular religion in this day and age. They should be able to sell and serve who they like. Though once it gets out that they are that foolish I bet business will die for them or they change. I dont promote those ideals myself but if a person wants to be an idiot then I see no reason for me or anyone to FORCE our ideals on them. I see the reason for the laws in public places and places that take state funding but in the privately owned world I dont. I may not agree with what some people would do with it but I dont think its my place to force them to sell to or serve anyone.

Rubiks what I think they are talking about by banning is that if you are found to be homosexual or are known to be before hand you will be kicked out or denied entrance accordingly.

[Revan]

Sorry but frankly I'm going to say this. The United States cannot honestly call themselves the "land of the free", and claiming it is is a falsified claim. I know you guys might hate me for saying this, but how can the USA be a land of the free if no matter what year it is, SOMEONE is denied to be who they are. That's not freedom, that's confinement.

[Markio]

Maybe it's because I've only gone to private school, but this does not sound like a new concept at all.

I actually got accepted with a big scholarship to a Christian university in the US that explicitly states in its rules that homosexual activity is not allowed and is grounds for dismissal.
So, I didn't go to that one. I've met gay people from that school at a conference and it seems like the implication for those students is that they must seek LGBT support off-campus and in their local community.
I hope that a day comes when Christian institutions are able to interpret their religion in a way that does not condemn homosexuality. It's possible, after all!

[Meropspusillus]

I really don't think being a religious organization is grounds for being allowed to discriminate. If my religion teaches that I am only allowed to associate with people of my race am I allowed to make an institution that only lets in white people? Certainly not. You're entitled to believe what you want, but you're not entitled to discriminate based on your beliefs.

On that note, they get away with it because they're not forbidding homosexuals from being in the school, just homosexual behavior. It's not "discrimination": you're just not allowed to do gay things. Being gay may be part of who you are, but acting on it at school isn't (not saying this is true, just probably the legal argument behind it). Also, LGBTQ individuals probably aren't protected under Tennessee law.

[Elven]

Seriously? I don't care if they're private, that is just... pathetic. The state not running the school is not a reason for them to get away with it. If I was to run my own shop/company should I be allowed to refuse to hire a sex, sexuality or ethnicity? I should think the answer is no. What I would call an exception is single sex schools as they are not intentionally offensive to the other sex.

I think you'll find that in general people in girls/boys schools get on fine with members of the other gender, they are seperated in this way under some assumations/ideas that girls and boys function better in education apart from one another which is probably partialy true, not that I much like the idea, still they are not taught to hate and discriminate against the other gender. Seperation however can cause a lot of problems such as schools in the past for specific races in apartheid, etc. Banning homosexuality like this is most certainly offensive, it is going to cause hate and discrimination in the children attending the school which may even last them their lifetime.

[Revan]

Well don't forget, the Mormon church funded prop 8 which should have caused them to get their tax-free exempt status revoked but it didn't. Frankly religion has no place in controlling anything. I personally think that you can teach the morals of forgiveness and love of Christianity and such in these schools, but frankly using your dumb as shit part of your beliefs that denies people to be who they are, is ridiculous. I'm not bashing anyone's religion, I'm just saying how some people use it to attack others just really pisses me off.

[Chip]

Last I checked, there is still a well-respected university, Bob Jones University, that is openly and blatantly discriminatory to blacks (and other non-white races.) Non-whites who attend that school are not allowed to date anyone outside of their race. I know someone who went there who was biracial, and was called into the president's office for dating a white girl, and when he said he was biracial, was told he would have to "choose" which race he was, and only date people of that race.

How is this school allowed to get away with this? First, it's in South Carolina, not exactly a hotbed for openness and cultural diversity and acceptance. Second, it is not an accredited school, since its racial policies are prohibited by the accreditors. Yet it survives, mostly by educating ignorant bigots.

And I think it's pretty much the same thing for any private schools wanting to discriminate against gays. Except in a handful of states, there's no protection for gay people. Now, on the college level, I feel like, as Markio said, one can choose not to go to a school that will persecute someone for being gay.

But I feel like junior and senior high schools should not be allowed to do this because kids are just coming to terms with their sexuality (whatever it is) at that age, and it's their parents who are generally making the decision about what school the kid goes to, and not many 12 year olds are going to stand up and say "I don't want to go there because I'm gay and that school doesn't like gay people."

This is a place where religious freedom and common human decency collide. I don't like telling people they can't believe what they want, but I also don't like putting kids in a position of being told they aren't allowed to be who they are by a bigoted school.

[Pilgrim is hot]

I'm sorry but just because there private they should NOT be able to discriminate how they want, look at workplaces we have laws to protect against discrimination. If you use thee argument of them being "private" imagine what it would be like if the richest people decided upon who should prosper based upon there beliefs, this is DISGRACEFUL and they should be reprimanded.

[thecat06]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim is hot

I'm sorry but just because there private they should NOT be able to discriminate how they want, look at workplaces we have laws to protect against discrimination. If you use thee argument of them being "private" imagine what it would be like if the richest people decided upon who should prosper based upon there beliefs, this is DISGRACEFUL and they should be reprimanded.

I don't understand how America can be "the land of the free" yet allow this to occur. I don't care if it is a private school or not. These people will eventually go into the workforce and encounter the people that were banned from their schools anyway.

[caughtbywitness]

It's fine, until one of the people who made this new law finds out one of their sons are gay. :P

Or, realises that homosexuals get better grades than straight people, on average. Oh well.

[person54]

The kids that go there probably have no say in the matter when it comes to deciding where to attend so this seems really unfair, not to mention appalingly hateful.

[Bibliophile]

I simply dont get how the heck you guys are all ok with the idea of forcing a private business or school to go against what it believes simply because you dont like what they say. No one has the right to force another to do business with them if they do not wish to. Just because you dont like another persons values does not make it ok for you to legislate that they change them.
The comments about being land of the free. Well I will say this compared to other countries yea we sure are.

[Tim]

Because it's discrimination.

And in the US, that's illegal. It's just not been extended to sexual orientation yet in most states.

It may be privately owned, yes, but it's also a school. Where kids are supposed to learn acceptance. Doing this violates the school's very own philosophy.

[Revan]

Originally Posted by Bibliophile

I simply dont get how the heck you guys are all ok with the idea of forcing a private business or school to go against what it believes simply because you dont like what they say. No one has the right to force another to do business with them if they do not wish to. Just because you dont like another persons values does not make it ok for you to legislate that they change them.
The comments about being land of the free. Well I will say this compared to other countries yea we sure are.

Nope really don't see how you are. USA keeps people from being themselves in different parts of the country, just as they do in other countries. Clearly we just have different definitions of "freedom"

[aidan]

Originally Posted by Bibliophile

Just because you dont like another persons values does not make it ok for you to legislate that they change them.

I can't see how legislating against discrimination forces people to change their values. It just prevents people from forcing their values on to others.

The comments about being land of the free. Well I will say this compared to other countries yea we sure are.

Being just better than some other countries is a terribly low standard to be setting yourself.