Local Paper Publishes Racist, Homophobic Letter After Lesbian Teacher's Dismissal in West Virginia: VIDEO

Last week, the Lincoln County Board of Education voted to fire lesbian teacher Kelli Burns after three separate hearings, the Lincoln Journal reports:

In a series of claims regarding the situation, Burns told The Lincoln Journal, late last week, that she was comfortable exposing what she termed the "completely inexcusable trashing” of her sexuality and her "so-called lifestyle” by the school system. She further alleged that students had been forced to write submissions saying that she had "tried to turn them gay.” Burns expressed her overall dismay regarding the process in her comments to The Lincoln Journal. "What has this process taught our youngsters? Every day they stand and recite an anti-bullying pledge right after the Pledge of Allegiance. And then they watch for months one of their favorite and most successful teachers be bullied by some staff and administration. The fact is some students actually went on record to teachers and administrators, saying that they were tired of watching me be trashed and slandered and bullied in the classroom. It was brave of them and I admire them for that,” Burns said late last week.

The Journal itself is now coming under fire for publishing a letter it received regarding Burns' dismissal.

Said the letter, which was transcribed from a voicemail the paper received:

"We were really glad to hear that School Board is getting rid of them queers. The next thing is we need to get rid of all the n****rs, the spics, the kikes and the wops....You know even them Catholics, they are wrong as baby eaters...We need to clear them people out and have good, white, God fearing Christians and everybody else needs to be put to death for their abominations....We'll keep Lincoln County white and right. Thank you."

The Lincoln Journal posted a lengthy interview with Burns online about the letter and the dismissal.

Watch the interview, and a news report on the printing of the letter, AFTER THE JUMP...

ACLU Calls on California School to Stop Discriminating Against Gay Students or Face Lawsuit: VIDEO

Students at a Southern California high school have called on the ACLU for help, saying they're experiencing bullying and discrimination from students and peers, and the ACLU has notified the Hesperia Unified School District of pending litigation, the L.A. Times reports:

The letter makes specific allegations against the faculty and administration of Sultana High School. It recounts “persistent censorship” of activities and announcements by the Gay-Straight Alliance club.

“Indeed, the club’s very name has typically been truncated from ‘Gay-Straight Alliance’ to ‘GSA’ when morning announcements are read over the intercom, with the words ‘gay,’ ‘lesbian,’ ‘bisexual,’ ‘transgender,’ and ‘queer’ omitted entirely,” the attorneys’ letter reads...

...The letter also accuses the school of allowing and failing to investigate discriminatory remarks by faculty and administration and pressuring the club's lesbian faculty advisor to leave, contributing to an atmosphere of hostility and bullying among students.

The school intends to hold its prom at a Los Angeles hotel in April, and students not dressed in traditional gender-defined clothes won’t be allowed on the bus to the event, according to attorneys. A number of young women in the club want to wear tuxedos to the prom. And a male student wants to wear heels with a tuxedo.

Watch an NBC4 report, AFTER THE JUMP...

Christians Outraged Over Most Fabulous Story Ever Told: VIDEO

Some Christians are reportedly outraged over a Massachusetts charter school's production of The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, a gay reteilling of the Bible's creation story, Raw Story reports:

Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) on Sunday reported that Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Public Charter School (PPVA) has been flooded with emails and phone calls calling the adaptation of the Genesis story “blasphemous and hateful.” Some messages threatened to organize protests through churches in the South Hadley area.

“While we have no control whether organizations from other states decide to protest the show, it is clear to me that many of the most recent emails are attempts to coerce PVPA into canceling the play,” Head of School Scott Goldman said in a statement last week. “Allowing this to happen would very much go against the grain of our unique, artistic and intellectually rigorous PVPA community and the larger Pioneer Valley Community.”

The show will be going on for three nights this weekend.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

'Broadway's New Musical 'Kinky Boots' to Support Landmark Columbia University LGBT Health Initiative: You Can Too

Columbia University Medical Center recently established a new groundbreaking LGBT Health Initiative. Never before has a medical school included such specialized training in LGBT issues as part of its curriculum for physicians and psychiatrists 

The director of the initiative, Anke A. Ehrhardt, Ph.D., who is also Director of the Division of Gender, Sexuality, and Health at  the NYS Psychiatric Institute and the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, explained the program in a memo sent out late last month.

Across the lifespan, new issues are emerging, including LGBT youth coming out at  earlier ages, new family identities being forged by same-sex marriage and co-parenting, relationships, and the aging of the first openly LGBT generation. We will  bring together scientists, clinicians, educators, and policymakers to respond comprehensively  to the critical issues facing LGBT people. For example, families, schools, and health providers  are often ill-prepared to offer support to LGBT youth, which increases their vulnerability to shame, low self esteem, isolation, loneliness and self-harm. We will conduct the research necessary to develop the tools that families, schools, and health providers can use to strengthen resilience among LGBT people. Such research will also inform the training of the  next generation of clinicians and educators and drive public policy to improve the climate of  schools and communities so that LGBT youth can thrive. 

The Initiative’s research efforts will recognize the diversity within the LGBT population  and the urgent need to understand the intersections among gender identity, sexual orientation,  race/ethnicity, social class, and age, as well as the specific needs of different groups.

Said Dr. Walter O. Bockting PhD, the initiative's co-director: "Almost every day in the news, there is another sign of progress in fighting stigma and in confronting the inequities found among the LGBT population. However, despite this dramatic increase in public awareness, research to guide this progress and training in evidence-based, culturally competent health care has lagged behind. To fill this gap, we will take LGBT health research, practice, education, and policy to a  whole new level by working collaboratively with faculty and students, colleagues in the field,  affected communities, and policymakers."

So important is this initiative to the LGBT community that the new Broadway musical Kinky Boots is hosting a special one-night only event at the show, featuring a pre-show cocktail reception with composer/lyricist Cyndi Lauper and director Jerry Mitchell, and a post-show talkback with book writer Harvey Fierstein. The evening will be co-sponsored by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, and all proceeds will go directly to program development for the Initiative for LGBT Health.

So if you're interested in seeing Kinky Boots and want to help Columbia implement this new initiative, you can get tickets to the benefit performance, the pre-show cocktail reception and post-show talk-back by calling Leigh Ann Brienza, Director of Development, at 212-304-7227, or by email at lab2213@columbia.edu.

There are still a few tickets left I'm told. Click the flyer for more details.

Is This Oregon School Principal Being Fired Because He's Gay? - VIDEO

A group of parents is demanding answers from the Gresham Barlow School District board, claiming that they're not renewing Principal Tom Klansnic's contract because he's gay. Klansnic has worked in the district for nearly ten years, KATU reports:

Denise McCloud is among the parents standing up for Klansnic to find out why his contract is not being renewed. She’s leading a group of parents to attend Thursday night’s district board meeting to find answers. “You know that’s what we’re trying to teach them. That we all stand up together,” she said. “That we all need to be looking out for each other. That we have each other’s back.”

Klansnic's lawyer is considering a lawsuit and believes that indeed, his sexuality is at the root of it:

“Mr. Klansnic went through a divorce and he revealed openly that he was gay. And his relationship with the distict changed almost immediately.”

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

UPDATE: There's a Change.org petition calling on the school board not to get rid of him.

Texas High School Pulls Lesbian Couple's Photo from Yearbook: VIDEO

San Antonio's Brennan High School is under fire for removing an affectionate photo of Felicia Rivera and Lalani Hernandez, a lesbian couple, from the Valentine's Day page in the school yearbook, KENS5 reports:

Rivera is lesbian. She said recently a school photographer snapped a photo of her holding her girlfriend on campus.

The photo was selected for the Valentine's Day page but was later rejected. Rivera said it was removed only after the yearbook supervisor discovered the picture showcased a lesbian couple.

"You shouldn't be discriminated against just because you're gay," Rivera said. "You shouldn't worry about people bashing you or talking behind your back just for you to be you."

Rivera's father, Felix, encourages his daughter to be herself and he's behind her 100 percent as she tries to have the photo reinstated. Felicia has gathered about 200 student signatures calling for the photo to be placed in the yearbook.

Watch their report and an awesome interview with the awesome dad, AFTER THE JUMP...