BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS
Dad arrested after protesting 'gay' book
'Our parental requests for our own child were flat-out denied'
April 29, 2005
2005 WorldNetDaily.com
A father who protested a pro-homosexual book his 6-year-old son had been given in school spent a night in jail after being arrested by police.
David Parker, 42, confronted officials at Joseph Estabrook School in Lexington, Mass., Wednesday after his son brought home a copy of "Who's in a Family," a storybook that includes characters who are homosexual parents, the Boston Herald reported.
According to the report, Parker refused to leave a meeting after Lexington Superintendent Bill Hurley rejected his request that he be notified when his son is exposed to any discussion about same-sex households as part of classroom instruction.
Police arrested Parker for trespassing and he spent a night in jail before posting a $1,000 personal surety, Boston's WCVB-TV reported.
"Our parental requests for our own child were flat-out denied," Parker said in a statement.
Parker said school officials have continued to tell him he has no right to control whether or not his child is taught about same-sex marriage.
"What I am saying is, because of the same-sex marriage law, people are treating it as a mandate to teach the youngest of children. It is not a mandate to teach the youngest of children, particularly if parents say, 'Hold on, I want to be the gatekeeper of the information. It is not that I don't want my child to ever learn it, it is I want to control the timing and manner,'" Parker told the TV station.
Brian Camenker, director of the traditional-values organization Article 8 Alliance, told the Herald Parker also asked that his son be pulled from discussions involving homosexuality that arise spontaneously.
According to the Lexington Minuteman, Parker spoke at a school committee meeting Tuesday and complained that schools have "unfettered ... access to children's psyches."
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