“The creepy thing is that this school can’t put up a Nativity scene and display the three wise men and the baby Jesus, but it can put up a display that celebrates homosexuality and transsexualism to an audience of under-aged kids — something is a little sick about that. If a guy in a trench coat stopped any of these kids on the street and talked to them about these subjects, he’d be in big trouble.” [Damien. TheDamienZone.com ] 
School officials in Union Township are preparing to figuratively lynch a teacher at Union High School who allegedly posted comments on her Facebook site criticizing a school display recognizing Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender History Month and calling homosexuality “perverted.”
On Saturday, a local attorney who said he had initially been contacted by a parent, wrote to the district calling for the teacher’s dismissal.
I am going to assume that parent or the child was laying in wait for a teacher to do something “wrong” — you know the type — someone just waiting for a teacher to screw up — and where this teacher screwed up was by using Facebook in the first place. Facebook is like target practice for people who love to shoot down people who can indeed by shot down. Teachers and politicians turn themselves into sitting ducks when they sign on to Facebook.
The lawyer who is handling this mess, John Paragano, a former township councilman, provided the district with what he said was a copy of the Facebook thread that included the offending remarks. He did not say why the parent was scoping out the Facebook page of teacher Vicki Knox. Was she baited into saying this? Did the parent masquerade as a someone else in an attempt to extricate Ms. Knox’s opinions? Were these opinions otherwise unknown by students at the school? Just like the thousands of teachers who probably feel the same way Knox does, Knox was not smart enough to stay off of Facebook. If there is anything that should get her fired, it’s the simple fact that she is stupid for expressing her opinions on Facebook.
The copy of Ms. Knox’s Facebook status update was also provided to The Star-Ledger, in which Ms. Viki Knox, allegedly referred to homosexuality as, “a perverted spirit that has existed from the beginning of creation,” and a “sin” that “breeds like cancer.”
Hey. that’s her opinion. She wasn’t beating up any gay students or anything. There is no record of her showing any bias against gay kids — and kids in school shouldn’t even be talking about what kind of sex they like.
Obviously this information was supplied by a Facebook “friend” because only “friends” see another Facebooker’s posts. So my best guess is that somebody ingratiated his or herself with Ms. Knox and then pounced on her when she fell off the wagon of protecting her own privacy.
“Hateful public comments from a teacher cannot be tolerated,” wrote Paragano, also a former Union Township Municipal Court judge. ” “She has a right to say it, but she does not have a right to keep her job after saying it.”
Paragano sounds like a puppet for hire — a typical lawyer who has NEVER called somebody a “faggot” or a “homo” or whatever nasty word you can think of — never, never, never, — no NEVER — he is the most tolerant person on the earth.
Union Chief School Administrator Patrick Martin (a deer in the headlights) said the district is investigating the incident. In other words, they are going to fire the teacher and then a bunch of woe-is-me-and-my-child parents and their hungry lawyers will set out to destroy this teacher and sue the school and the city and the county and the state and anbody they can dig up from whatever graveyard it is where lawyers get their dead bodies.
Knox, 49, of Union Township, is also the faculty adviser to the high school’s student prayer group, The Seekers Fellowship, the local chapter of a nationwide organization.
Okay, she’s an African American church-lady and she is expressing her opinions. Merciless and tunnel-visioned as they often show themselves to be, gay activists like to compare their struggle with the struggle of blacks in America. Trouble is, black folks have less liberal predators in their midst. They do not to pretend to tolerate things. Sadly, they statistically vote against their own interests – but that’s a story for another day.
Knox did not respond to requests for comment. But two other people who wrote comments on the thread said Paragano’s copy was authentic.
Township resident Judy Amorosa challenged Knox directly on Facebook, writing “What kind of a Christian are you? God made each and every one of us — gay, straight, black, white, Christian, Jew, blond, brunette — and we should all love each other.”
Judy Amorosa — bless her heart — sounds like another one of those holier than thou people who have never expressed any opinions on anything or anyone unless it was lofty praise sent from heaven. She has always, throughout her entire life, been tolerant of EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY. As a matter of fact, she is so holy and glowing in the light of the Holy Spirit that she is going to be canonized by The Roman Catholic Church in a few years. She’s Mother Theresa disguised as a New Jersey housewife. Who’da thunk, huh?
The case raises broader questions about rights of teachers to speak freely in the age of social media. But teachers SHOULD NOT be on Facebook because there is always a student or a parent who will set out to get you — the story about Viki Knox is ample testament to that unwritten rule.
It has also prompted gay rights advocates to question the ability of teachers who express such views to enforce New Jersey’s new anti-bullying law, adopted last spring in the wake of the suicide of Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers student who killed himself after learning he had been watched, via webcam, having sex with another man.
TheDamienZone is so sick of this new bully thing. Why do gays think that they are entitled to less bullshit than the average person. If a kid dresses poorly and gets bullied, nothing will happen, but heaven forbid if he is gay and somebody calls him a name — or she’s fat — or he has a handicap — or he is a minority — what a mess.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey released a statement defending Knox’s First Amendment right to make the comments. You never thought you’d hear me standing up for The American Civil Liberties Union, but this time they got it right. Of course, had Ms. Knox been a white teacher, they’d be the ones going after her. Lawyer Paragano would not be in the picture.
“Although we do not agree with the sentiments expressed on Ms. Knox’s personal Facebook page, her comments are protected by the First Amendment,” stated Ed Barocas, the group’s legal director. “The ACLU believes that the response to offensive speech is not the restriction of speech, but more speech.”
Barocas added, “The school has the right to investigate whether she is performing her job in accordance with school policies and the state’s Law Against Discrimination.” Sounds like they are half-assed siding with her, doesn’t it?
But Garden State Equality, a gay rights group, joined the lawyer Paragano in calling for the teacher’s dismissal.
“Teachers are supposed to be role models for our children, not hatemongers,” said Steven Goldstein, who chairs the group. “I don’t see how this teacher could possibly be effective in implementing the state’s new anti-bullying law, designed precisely to teach children that bullying, including cyber-bullying, is unacceptable.”
Your article is despicable and makes this Gay Maplewood NJ man sick. I hope Union School District cans that Homophobic un-Christian Vicki Knox.
It makes you sick? Let me tell you something and see if this makes sense to you. These kids are kids — 17 and under. If you spoke to them on the internet or on the street and you talked to them about removing testicles and fashioning vaginas and cutting off breasts and constructing penises from fat and skin, you would GO TO JAIL! Of course kids are going to want to know how a man becomes a woman and and how a woman becomes a man — and all the various combinations therein.
I have nothing against anyone who has a gender identity crisis and I would stand shoulder to shoulder with any LGBT person who was maligned or hurt or dsicriminated against — but these are kids — and no matter what Ms. Knox’s opinions might be, everyone is losing sight of the real issue which is: You can’t teach kids about the subjects that are NOT appropriate according to the law — but yet you can build monuments to various recipients of vaginoplasties and phalloplatsies and breast implants and breast removals. Further still, you can’t have a Christmas manger scene– do you see the mentally SICK aspect of this?
Do you think that ambushing a misguided teacher on Facebook is fair despite the fact that she has dedicated her life to teaching Special Ed kids without incident?
You will say that putting up a display in tribute to homosexuals and transsexuals is not about surgery and the more lurid details of how Chastity became Chaz, but kids are very curious about these things, and when they go on the internet to explore these curiousities, they will bump into a lot of nasty stuff — nobody ever thinks about that.
So, in the end, they’d rather crucify some dopey woman who is too stupid to keep her opinions off Facebook. Do you think she is the only teacher in her school who feels the way she does? — think again.
Damien https://thedamienzone.com
Viki Knox should be fired. There is no excuse for her posting on facebook.
Her posting only shows her stupidity & lack of professionalism.
Public school teachers need to understand that social media are not confidential venues, and in fact, are public venues. Public school teachers sign employment contracts that commit them to ethics codes. Violations of the ethics codes can lead to dismissal and revocation of one’s teacher’s certificate. The New Jersey Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act requires all teachers to receive a certain number of hours of training in how anti-minority bullying provokes higher rates of teen bullycide. The appearance is that this teacher did not receive those required instruction sesssions and also, that she is oblivious to teacher contract law and how it governs certain forms of expression in non-confidential forums. As far as the narrow-mindedness about and hostility against gender dysphoric persons that have transitioned, and the contempt for their humanity, that contempt could not be expressed in a form any more ripe for satire than that seen here, coming from a supposed “Christian” bemoaning a lack of legal authority to impose religious beliefs on others. How very Christian, to mock gender dysphoric individuals that have transitioned, and to put the emphasis in the Christian mockery of these human beings not on their humanity but on medical aspects of the treatment of their gender dysphoria. You might perhaps know that a certain percentage of people in every population are born “intersex.” Are you going to mock them too, to demonstrate your Christian charity to us further, or do you reserve your mockery and contempt only for those only whom you suppose to be gender dysphoric and not actually born intersex?
Indeed, she has the right to free speech. Where she chooses to speak freely, however, is another matter. You’d think that a teacher would be smart enough to not use a social media outlet to express her outrage and fury at anyone, let alone vilify the LGBT community. If the supposed “leaders” of any given school feel free enough to publicly admit to such hatred, what are the repercussions to the students? Gay or straight, they deserve better role models. She should be fired her views and lack of tack does not belong in any public school.
I agree and I said as much in my blog. Thank you, John.
Damien https://thedamienzone.com
Damien,
You are a fairly clever writer, you work hard to spin things in a way that agrees with your outlook while trying to pretend not to. I congratulate you for those skills.
But they can’t change a few simple truths:
1. 150 years ago “Bible believing” groups supported slavery. 100 years ago, even 50 years ago they supported segregation, sexism and miscegenation laws. Today such groups support homophobia. Hatred has many names, but ultimately, the only effect of attempting to use any religion to further hatred, no matter how rationalized, is to taint the religion. The hatred, whether based on race, gender, marital status or sexual preference, is always immoral, no matter what it hides behind.
2. I have three children. This woman is responsible for teaching children. As a parent I have some right to know that a person who is going to teach my children is not a bigot – not about race, not about gender, and not about sexual preference. As an American I have a right to know the same about teachers who will teach children who many someday interact with my children in my country.
3. There is NO OTHER GROUP that this woman could have so brutally condemned in a PUBLIC forum and not already been out of the district. If she had made equivalent racial or ethnic or religious comments – she would be gone. It is a sad testament to the continuing prejudice fed so adroitly by a portion of our religious community, that these particular people, this particular group is somehow dehumanized in the eyes of enough folk so that there is even a conversation about whether or not she should be permitted to stay.
The simple, just, answer, is no.
And to the person above who says he is sick of the discussion of bullying. Let me say sir that as a parent of three children, I am NOT SICK OF IT. I have never bullied anyone in my life. I was popular in school and was never bullied, and I protected my friends when necessary. There is NO EXCUSE EVER for harming another person, either verbally or physically, and NO EXCUSE for a professional who enters the field of education to not immediately intervene in any situation where bullying is occurring. Let me be VERY clear buddy — not just bullying about sexual orientation. BULLYING, PERIOD. One suicide over this outrageous, unacceptable, immoral behavior was more than enough -and we have had far more than one. It’s time bullying stopped, forever. No matter what excuse is given for it.
Regards,
Reyn
You were only popular in high school because there was nobody who knew enough to pick on pedantic fundamentalist atheists.
Here’s where the fine line is resting. Every boss in the country has the right to fire someone if they feel they are not the right fit for the job. This is made even more true in states that are right to work states, which I will admit I am uncertain if New Jersey is one. She made a statement, which are her beliefs. She posted them in a public forum, thus placing them out there for everyone to see. In a state that has issued in the past year the most stringent laws against any type of bullying. It got a reaction from both sides of the fence.
Yes, she is entitled to state how she feels. That is protected in the Constitution. She exercised that right. She doesn’t have the right to keep her job should the town feel that her views, now public by her own hand, counter act what they feel to be what they want within their school system. That is the right of her employers. While I found her views deplorable in a lot of ways, I would have pulled my child out of her class for a far more pressing reason. Her ability to spell and use grammar is lacking at best, and that’s is just as big a tragedy in this situation.
To the members of the Union Township Board of Education
To the Superintendent of Education, Union Township
To the Principal, Union High School
Ladies and Gentlemen:
It has been brought to my attention that one Ms. Viki Knox, a faculty member at Union High School in the Union Township school district has publicly and repeatedly stated her view that “homosexuality is ‘perverted’” and “breeds like cancer.” Supposedly, these and similar comments were placed on her public Facebook page.
According to media reports, she is said to have to have called homosexuality “a perverted spirit that has existed from the beginning of creation” and a “sin” that “breeds like cancer”. Ms. Know has used theschool as a forum for disseminating her religious points of view and has until now been allowed to serve as faculty advisor for a student religious group.
I think it goes without saying that there are gay and lesbian students in her class, and in every class of every school within the Union Township district. I think I further goes without saying that there are gay and lesbian parents of students in every class of every school within your district as well. Ms. Know is surely entitled to her point of view, but I wonder whether her conduct is appropriate to the classroom or to a social forum wherein her views can be readily accessed by her students, their parents and the entire community. I think if you will replace the words “homosexual” and “homosexuality” with the words “Jew” and “Judaism” you will get the point I am trying to make here.
I do not believe Ms. Knox belongs in a classroom, or in any capacity wherein she will be allowed access to children and youth. I believe that her conduct merits dismissal, and further (and more importantly) merits an investigation into her professional fitness and – if found lacking – the withdrawal of her teaching credential.
I speak from the perspective of a professional educator, an educational administrator and an individual who has been involved in the effort to achieve LGBT equality and civil rights for several decades. This incident is not only a grave insult to the district’s LGBT students and the gay and lesbian community, it has done immeasurable damage to the reputation and good name of your school district and the institution at which Ms. Knox was allowed to teach. I have only this morning seen features on this incident appearing in the LGBT media worldwide, and it has made headlines in Australia, the UK, South Africa, and France.
I respectfully suggest your immediate action on this matter, and I request the favor of your reply to this message.
Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely yours,
William A. Courson
Montclair, New Jersey
William Courson sounds like an old biddy and a pedantic pain in the ass. The “Jew” / “Judaism” thing makes no sense. You can’t compare exposing kids to transsexuality and homosexuality to Jews and Judaism. Also — this HAS NOT made the news in France unless it was on some unknown gay programming funded in the USA. You needn’t have any worries on that score because when it does make the news in France, it will be on some comedy show where they will laugh at silly American behavior. This is the kind of story they love for all the wrong reasons. BTW — this would not happen in a French school. They don’t push adult issues on kids. The parents are too busy parenting and the teachers are too busy teaching. Courson and other “its all about being gay” people like him, miss the point. The remarks made by Viki Knox are not the issue. You have to dig deeper. I run the risk of repeating myself but let me explain the hypocrisy of this entire mess. Union High school does not have school prayer — if a teacher tried that she would be out the door. That has to go on behind closed doors — and that is as it should be. Other examples to wit: The school is not allowed to have a Nativity on the lawn at Christmas — if a teacher who erected a Nativity Scene with students holding the hammer and screwdriver, he’d be ousted– perhaps even if he had one on his OWN lawn. All it takes is one stalking and hateful parent to complain about that teacher‘s private property. You will argue that such a thing could never happen — but it eventually will. Some of these parents are evil sons of bitches. Union High’s Christmas vacation is called a “Holiday Vacation and I’m not even sure what their Pledge of Allegiance policy is, but I am CERTAIN that there are parents associated with student in Union High who have issues with that too. The kids are denied so many wholesome things because of sick politically correct policies, but it’s okay to expose them to transsexual and homosexual agendas. It doesn’t make any sense. If William Courson, whoever he is, went around Union High in a trench coat and talked about homosexuality and transsexuals to the students, he would rightfully be thrown in jail. KIDS ARE CURIOUS! If you expose students to this stuff at an early age they will hit the internet and look things up — and some of them will reach nasty parts of the internet They might even put themselves in danger. Some of them might just not be prepared for this. These are kids — and in the eyes of the law they are MINORS/CHILDREN. Take it to the college level and I would support it 100%. I support ALL LGBT people throughout the world. I abhor violence against LGBT and LGBT youth and any hazards that befall a kid just because he’s “different.” Why, instead of putting up some cheapo bulletin board monument, doesn’t the school have a private counselor for kids who want to discuss these thing WITHOUT being provoked into doing so by pictures of Chaz Bono in all her manliness? William Courson closes his letter with, “I respectfully suggest your immediate action on this matter, and I request the favor of your reply to this message.” Who does he think he is — Quentin Crisp? What he’s really saying is that he wants the teacher fired because he is the smartest person in the world when it come to talking about homosexuality. (sigh) If Ms. Knox receives anything other than a termination as penalty the outcry will be so great that she will have to be fired. She hasn’t got a prayer – so to speak. If, however, she does get fired, it should be because she was too stupid to keep her opinions to herself on a social networking website.
damien
i was at the school board meeting, independent of any group, i walked away, feeling that this School Board has a lot of work to do to educate their teachers, The phrases of fag, typical of those people (speaking of the demonstrators against Ms. Knox), they are just like a cancer (speaking of the demonstrators against Ms. Knox), one thing i noticed there were not alot of her peers there, only some christian group whom the leader claims to be a ex-gay, so clearly they did not care about Ms. Knox, they were more concerned about there own agenda (that’s hating gays) I realized that Ms. Knox also has her own agenda, and if one of her students would go to her, she would have them repent for their sins, instead of educate or understand. This is not about Freedom of Speech, this is about the ability to teach our children without prejudice or judgement, and it is clear Ms Knox does not have that ability, and should be fired just for not meeting the states mandates. I was in conversation with some teachers who once again were more concerned about Tenure Rules and Regulations, and not about the quality of teaching our students. Which brings up another issue, our Governor is correct, we need to get rid of Tenure, because all we are doing is allowing bad teachers to continue to waste tax payers money and are just hanging around waiting for their pensions and their benefits. If tenure was no longer in play, Ms. Knox would have been fired last week. One other thing, after speaking with a very few of Ms. Knox peers, I can now understand why Union High School is rated so poorly, there are 322 high schools in NJ, and they are rated # 243, which only shows the school board they have alot of work to do to clean up this mess; and they should start by firing Ms.Knox and letting teachers no we will have zero tolerance against stupidity, hatred, bigotry and the poor practice of bullying.
“You can’t teach kids about the subjects that are NOT appropriate according to the law — but yet you can build monuments to various recipients of vaginoplasties and phalloplatsies and breast implants and breast removals.”
Inappropriate subjects, which I’m assuming are like religion, are separated from state schools – separation of church and state.
The “monument” of construction paper behind a glass case acknowledged the history of NOT JUST transgenders, but the ever so common gay, lesbian, and bi figures and leaders during LGBT Month. I’m sure theres a club for christians somewhere that will try to put up a display of baby jesus and the silent night in December. It is an extracurricular exposure of information, not a mandatory part of their curriculum for students.
However, I have a Human and Intercultural Relations Class this semester in college and it touches upon exactly these issues. We aren’t taught to go be gay and get penises on our vaginas or whatever. Don’t be ignorant. It’s about experience race, gender, and class in America.
Being in high school, all kids care about is their image and identity – a crucial time for someone with a different sexual orientation and image of themselves to find their true identity or live the majority of their life behind a fake identity like Jessica Stearns.
Whether you believe the act of LGBT is sin or not, knowing about it not sin, and censorship should be just as carefully regarded as freedom of speech.
But she’s an idiot and posted it on facebook -arrogantly and snidely defended her pride in her comments and said, “this is what I teach and preach.” So she fucked up and should be fired.
The students that “shouldn’t be exposed to this” are between the ages of 14-17 and ARE having sex, and ARE being exposed to it. Don’t wanna believe it? BELIEVE IT. From high schoolers I personally knew. Girls that are “going over their friend’s house for a sleepover” are changing at their house in a hot skirt, going out, underage drinking and doing god knows what drugs, having sex, and coming home like nothing ever happened. Don’t pretend these things are present in highschool because they are, so acting like it’s too much for their pristine eyes is denying the truth. Their voice shouldn’t be neglected. In a matter of four years, they have to figure out WHO they are, where they’re going to college, if they’re going to college, and who they want to be for the rest of their lives (’cause we all know it’s too expensive to change you mind and want to be an artist when your getting your M.D).
Maybe sometimes students should decide what they need to know more about, and they’re making it pretty clear.
Kristy — this comment from you is ample testament to your lack of reading comprehension. How did you even get into college in the first place? Where did I say that kids are taught to be gay? What article were you reading? If you don’t know the answer to that, I’ll tell you. You were reading my article but you were seeing what you wanted to see — you just skimmed over the headline and assumed that it was an anti-gay rant when in fact it was anything but that. I stated my opinions that gay students should have a place to go when they have questions — they do not need to look at silly billboards. Also, if you think for one second that ANY group could put up a cardboard cutout of the baby Jesus on a bulletin board, you’re even dumber than I thought!
Damien