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(Lebanon, Pennsylvania) A Pennsylvania school
district has been told to shut down its Gay/Straight Alliance for face God's
retribution.
Members of the Cornwall-Lebanon school board
looked on in disbelief as Abigail Jarboe told them that hurricane Katrina was
God’s way of punishing New Orleans in advance of Southern Decadence.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” she
said, adding that the same punishment could befall Lebanon, the Lebanon Daily
News reports.
The comment was similar to one from the leader of
an evangelical Christian group in the days immediately after Katrina struck New
Orleans. (story)
The Gay/Straight Alliance was formed at Cedar
Crest High School in 2004 with the board's approval.
“We shouldn’t tell them (students) it’s
acceptable behavior. It’s not acceptable behavior,” Jarboe told the board.
She then rhymed off several Bible verses she said
backed up her claims.
While she addressed the board, her husband, Carl
Jarboe handed out an article from the American Family Association Journal about
a young girl who claimed she stopped being a lesbian after becoming a
Christian.
The story claimed that she became a lesbian in
first place because of a GSA in her local school.
“These clubs promote this behavior,” Carl
Jarboe said, referring to gays as "sodomites".
The board took no action on the Jarboe's
demands.
"We respect their beliefs and freedom of
speech but when people make statements like its all the more reason kids need
groups like GSA," Paul Cates, a spokesperson for the American Civil
Liberties Union, told 365Gay.com
The ACLU has been instrumental in filing a number
of successful lawsuits across the country against school boards that have
blocked the formation of gay student groups.
"Because of GSAs students learn tolerance
and respect for all people," Cates said.
©365Gay.com 2005
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