According to the Center for Public Education, school boards have one primary purpose: “first and foremost school boards look out for students.”  They do this, in part, by determining policies, selecting curriculum, and providing oversight and accountability for the schools in their districts.  So the last thing you’d expect from a member of a school board is to publicly and openly encourage people — including students from Midland School District which he represents — to kill themselves.  And yet, that’s what Clint McCance did.

In response to the “Spirit Day” organized on October 20th to show support for LGBT teens following a wake of suicides in September, McCance wrote on his Facebook page “Seriously they want me to wear purple because five queers killed themselves. The only way im wearin it for them is if they all commit suicide.”  In response to a comment criticizing his remarks, McCance noted that “I also enjoy the fact that they often give each other aids and die.”  While everyone is certainly entitled to their opinions, no matter how hateful and neanderthal they might be, is this really the sort of attitude we want in our school board members?

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign doesn’t think so.  “Clint McCance has put a face on the hate that devastates our young people,” Solmonese said.  “McCance shouldn’t be allowed near children, let alone managing their education.”  More than 9,000 people on Facebook agree; a page calling for McCance’s resignation has already been set up.

Now, I’m all for protecting the right to say what’s on one’s mind, but I also believe that, especially when it comes to our children, we need responsible, loving people looking out for them, not the sort of cowardly, hateful monster who would say “I would disown my kids if they were gay. They will not be welcome at my home or in my vicinity. I will absolutely run them off.”  I think Arkansas and the Midland School District can do better.

Tags: arkansas, bullying, glbt, hatred, lgbt, public schools, school board, schools, spirit day, suicide

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 27th, 2010 at 9:00 am and is filed under Education, LGBT Parenting, Parenting Issues, Parenting News, Safety. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.