This is good news from my old home (Massachusetts) courtesy of my old boss (Mark Wolf):
A federal judge in Boston has dismissed a suit by two families who wanted to stop a Massachusetts town and its public school system from teaching their children about gay marriage, court documents show.
The families last year filed the suit asserting that the reading of a gay-themed book and handing out to elementary school students of other children's books that discussed homosexuality without first notifying parents was a violation of their religious rights.
Federal Judge Mark Wolf ruled on Friday that public schools are "entitled to teach anything that is reasonably related to the goals of preparing students to become engaged and productive citizens in our democracy."
"Diversity is a hallmark of our nation. It is increasingly evident that our diversity includes differences in sexual orientation," he said.
He said the courts had decided in other cases that parents' rights to exercise their religious beliefs were not violated when their children were exposed to contrary ideas in school.
The big news out of Massachusetts, though, is what's NOT happening. The social contract is not unravelling there. Public morality has not collapsed. People are not marrying their pets. A plague of locusts has not descended. The sky has not fallen. The dog did not bark in the night. While there are still some people like the Lexington parents who filed the above-mentioned lawsuit, the rest of the Commonwealth is going about its business. Treating people equally really isn't such a radical idea after all.
What is a commonwealth, anyway? I know that MA is one, so is Virginia and Kentucky. What makes them so special? And how do I get some o' that common wealth? I'm worried about my weal...
Posted by: Rob Gehl | February 26, 2007 at 11:20 PM