In California, five high school teachers last week objected on religious grounds to displaying posters in their classroom that were designed to prevent bullying of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students, though several of the teachers have now relented in the face of a school board order from last December. The banner, designed by the Gay-Straight Alliance at San Leandro High School south of Oakland, shows a rainbow flag and reads "This is a safe place to be who you are."The banners, along with faculty training about racism and homophobia, were required in the 2002 settlement of a lawsuit filed by a San Leandro High teacher who was disciplined after teaching those topics in his honors English class in the mid-1990s. Various aspects of the story were reported Wednesday and Thursday by the San Francisco Chronicle, WorldNet Daily, and 365Gay (1 , 2). School principal Amy Furtado said that her expectation is compliance by next week's deadline for hanging the posters. Superintendent Christine Lim who is responsible for the policy said, "This is not about religion, sex or a belief system. This is about educators making sure our schools are safe for our children, regardless of their sexual orientation." [Thanks to Rick Duncan via Religionlaw listserv for the information.]
