Gay fairy tale sparks civil rights debate

By Jason Szep

LEXINGTON, Massachusetts (Reuters) – The crown prince
rejects a bevy of beautiful princesses, rebuffing each suitor
until falling in love with a prince. The two marry, sealing the
union with a kiss, and live happily ever after.

That fairy tale about gay marriage has sparked a civil
rights debate in Massachusetts, the only U.S. state where gays
and lesbians can legally wed, after a teacher read the story to
a classroom of seven year olds without warning parents first.

A parents’ rights group said on Monday it may sue the
public school in the affluent suburb of Lexington, about 12
miles west of Boston, where a teacher used the book “King &
King” in a lesson about different types of weddings.

“It’s just so heinous and objectionable that they would do
this,” said Brian Camenker, president of the Parents Rights
Coalition, a conservative Massachusetts-based advocacy group.

Camenker said he believes the school, Joseph Estabrook
Elementary, broke a 1996 Massachusetts law requiring schools to
notify parents of sex-education lessons. “There is no question
in my mind that the law is being abused here,” he said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next couple of weeks
there was some kind of (legal) action taken,” he said.

Lexington Superintendent of Schools Paul Ash said the
school was under no legal obligation to inform parents the book
would be read to the classroom of about 20 children.

“This district is committed to teaching children about the
world they live in. Seven-year-olds see gay people. They see
them in the schools. They see them with their kids,” he said.

“I see this as a civil rights issue. People who are gay
have a right to be treated equally,” he said.

“If it were North Carolina, this would be a whole different
story. But the law in Massachusetts is that gay marriage is
legal. We have lots of gay families in Lexington.”

The issue erupted in Lexington when parent Robin Wirthlin
complained to the school’s principle after her 7-year-old son
told her about the reading last month. She then turned to the
Parents Rights Coalition, which released a statement on the
issue to Boston media last week.

Since then, Ash has been swamped by e-mails on the issue
from across the country, some in support but many written in
anger including one from a North Carolina man who threatened
“to beat his head into the ground,” he said.

“I handed that one to the police,” said Ash.

CULTURAL DIVIDE

The issue underscores a growing cultural divide over the
issue of gay rights at a time when legal challenges seeking
permission for gays and lesbians to marry are pending in 10
states. Two U.S. states have legalized civil unions.

It also comes as California considers introducing school
textbooks highlighting the role of gays in its history.

Some legal scholars said the depth of emotion on the issue
nationwide means educators should include parents in the debate
on exactly when to start educating children on homosexuality.

“There is a difference between what is required and what is
the right thing to do,” said Charles Haynes, senior scholar at
the First Amendment Center, which produces guidelines for
schools and teachers on issues such as same-sex marriage.

“Some people believe that we are moving toward a kind of
normalization of homosexuality as part of the fabric of our
life. Others believe we are going in the other direction.
Because we are now in a fork in the road where we are debating
this, public schools are not the place to settle it,” he said.

“King & King” was ranked eighth among the top 10 books
people wanted removed from libraries in 2004, according to the
American Library Association. Its Berkeley, California
publisher, Tricycle Press, said complaints over the 32-page
book first surfaced in 2004 in North Carolina.

An Oklahoma legislator last year cited the book as reason
to impose new restrictions on library collections.

Written by two Dutch women, the book has sold about 15,000
copies in the United States since it was translated and
published in 2002. A sequel, “King, King and Family,” about a
royal same-sex family written by the same authors, was
published two years later.

“We believe all children deserve to see themselves in books
and these books were published for the children in gay families
and for their friends” said Tricycle publisher, Nicole Geiger.