Arkansas school official accused of anti-gay screed
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By JILL ZEMAN BLEED, Associated Press Jill Zeman Bleed, Associated Press – Wed Oct 27, 5:42 pm ET
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A member of a northern Arkansas school board, commenting on a campaign to get people to wear purple to show support for bullied gay and lesbian youth, purportedly posted on Facebook that the only way he would wear purple is "if they all commit suicide."
The Arkansas Department of Education on Wednesday condemned the alleged posting by Midland School Board member Clint McCance.
The Advocate, a magazine that reports about gay issues, first reported about the posting on its website. The Facebook page has been disabled, but The Advocate posted a screen grab of the alleged postings that it says someone forwarded to it.
McCance's alleged posting was in response to a Facebook campaign that asked supporters to wear purple last Wednesday to show solidarity after several gay and lesbian youths killed themselves, reportedly because of bullying.
"Seriously they want me to wear purple because five queers killed themselves," the posting reads. "The only way im wearin it for them is if they all commit suicide. I cant believe the people of this world have gotten this stupid. We are honoring the fact that they sinned and killed thereselves because of their sin."
McCance didn't respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday left at his office, and his cell phone voicemail box was full and not accepting new messages. He told the Arkansas Times that the issue had been "blown out of proportion" but declined further comment. Officials at the Midland School District said Superintendent Dean Stanley was out of the office and not available for comment.
In a statement, the Midland School District distanced itself from McCance's comments and said the school does not "support or condone" what was written on the Facebook page.
"Mr. McCance was not acting as an agent of the school board, but as a private citizen when this comment was posted. This post does not reflect the thoughts of the board or administration of the Midland School District," the statement said. "The district strives to foster an environment that discourages all forms of bullying and an environment that encourages a safe and productive educational climate of all of our students."
The Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights advocacy group, said it plans to buy two full-page ads in local newspapers Friday urging McCance to resign.
A Facebook group, "Fire Clint McCance," had more than 23,000 members by Wednesday afternoon.
The state Education Department said in a statement Wednesday that it had no jurisdiction over elected school officials but that it would investigate any reports of bullying that arise because of the incident.
"The Arkansas Department of Education strongly condemns remarks or attitudes of this kind and is dismayed to see that a school board official would post something of this insensitive nature on a public forum like Facebook," the department said.
The Arkansas School Board Association also denounced the remarks.
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Furor grows over purported anti-gay remarks from school board member
State education department weighs inBy Gavin Lesnick
LITTLE ROCK — More than 23,000 people have joined an online campaign calling for the firing of an Arkansas school board member who is purported to have made anti-gay remarks on his Facebook page.
The effort seeking the dismissal of Midland School District board member Clint McCance centers on posts visible on a screenshot of a page that appears to be McCance's online profile. The image is posted on a Facebook group calling for McCance's firing that had 14,300 supporters as of 11:30 a.m.
The Advocate, a magazine that reports about gay issues, first reported about the posting on its website. The Facebook page has been disabled, but The Advocate posted a screen grab of the alleged postings that it says someone forwarded to it.
"Seriously they want me to wear purple because five queers committed suicide," the posting reads in the screenshot. "The only way im wearin it for the is if they all commit suicide. I cant believe the people of this world have gotten this stupid. We are honoring the fact that they sinned and killed thereselves because of their sin."
No profile bearing McCance's name is publicly available on Facebook and a man who answered a phone associated with one of McCance's businesses Wednesday would not verify that he wrote the postings.
"I can't comment at this time, I've got to talk to my attorney," said the man, who hung up when asked if he was McCance.
No one answered the same number Wednesday afternoon, but the message identified it as McCance's.
Other postings shown in the same screenshot use an offensive term for homosexuals and state the writer enjoys "the fact that they often give each other aids and die" and would disown his children if they were gay.
A message left with Midland Superintendent Dean Stanley was not returned Wednesday morning. A school official said she believed he was out of the office until Friday.
In a statement, the Midland School District distanced itself from McCance’s comments and said the school does not “support or condone” what was written on the Facebook page.
“Mr. McCance was not acting as an agent of the school board, but as a private citizen when this comment was posted. This post does not reflect the thoughts of the board or administration of the Midland School District,” the statement said. “The district strives to foster an environment that discourages all forms of bullying and an environment that encourages a safe and productive educational climate of all of our students.”
The Arkansas Department of Education condemned the remarks in a post on its own Facebook page, saying it was "dismayed to see that a school board official would post something of this insensitive nature on a public forum like Facebook."
"Because Mr. McCance is an elected official, the department has no means of dealing with him directly," the statement read. "However, the department does have staff who investigate matters of bullying in schools and we will monitor and quickly respond to any bullying of students that may occur because of this, as we have with other civil rights issues in the past."
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Campaign called on McCance to resign and said it had sent letters to the U.S. Department of Education, the Arkansas Department of Education and the Midland School District calling for an investigation into his conduct. The group calls itself the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization.
This article was originally published October 27, 2010 at 11:15 a.m.
Updated October 27, 2010 at 4:57 p.m. -
"Seriously they want me to wear purple because five queers committed suicide," the posting reads in the screenshot. "The only way im wearin it for the is if they all commit suicide. I cant believe the people of this world have gotten this stupid. We are honoring the fact that they sinned and killed thereselves because of their sin."
In the words of Marc Hall, "So God thinks its better to be a liar than a faggot?"
Other postings shown in the same screenshot use an offensive term for homosexuals and state the writer enjoys "the fact that they often give each other aids and die" and would disown his children if they were gay.
WOW!! The mentality of some people…. I never thought I'd hear myself condone the willing spread of HIV, but perhaps some people deserve to get it just to learn a lesson. (particularly the author of that message)
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Absolutely disgusting, and it would be even worse if he keeps his position.
I joined the cause…
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Arkansas School Board Member Resigns After Anti-Gay Facebook Posts
Clint McCance, who came under immense fire this week for anti-gay Facebook posts, will resign from his position as vice president of the Midland School Board. He made the announcement Thursday night on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360."
He told Cooper that he regretted his inflammatory Facebook posts in which he said he wanted gay people to die and that he enjoyed the fact that gay people "give each other AIDS and die." In the same Facebook posts, McCance, 31, used the words "queer" and "fag" and said he would disown his children if they were gay, The Advocate first reported Tuesday.
"I would never support suicide for any kids," he said. "I don't support bullying of any kids."
He extended apologies to families that have lost children in suicides related to gay bullying and said suicide is not the answer. He also denied talking to any reporters before Anderson Cooper about the matter. One local blog reported Wednesday that McCance had said the matter had been "blown out of proportion."
McCance, who lives in Pleasant Plains, Ark., 70 miles north of Little Rock, said he was unaware, like many other people in rural America, about the seriousness of teen suicides. He called his comments "over-the-top" and that he went "too far with them."
"I brought more hurt on them . . . they don't deserve that and I do feel genuinely bad for them," McCance said. He added that he had hurt people on "a broad spectrum" and called his posts "ignorant."
"I'm not a bad guy . . . not a monster," he said.
He said he was resigning "to help my school, my community."
McCance said that his core beliefs haven't changed about what he reads in the Bible but that he will change the way he acts.
"I'm reaping what I've sown," he said.McCance has sent his wife and two daughters out of state for fear of their safety after receiving thousands of calls, hate mail and threats.
A group of gay activists from Little Rock traveled to Pleasant Plains Thursday morning. They carried signs that said "All Kids Matter" and "Resign." The group planned to return to Pleasant Plains Friday morning if McCance had not resigned. A Facebook campaign – Fire Clint McCance -- had gained more than 60,000 supporters since Tuesday night. Arkansas education officials condemned McCance's actions this week but fell short of calling for his resignation.
The Human Rights Campaign, the country's largest civil rights organization working to achieve LGBT equality, took an ad out in a local paper's Friday edition, calling for McCance's resignation. The group's president, Joe Solmones, said in a statement Thursday night after Cooper's show that McCance's decision to resign was a "step forward."
"What remains troubling is that Mr. McCance focused his regret on particular word choices not the animus behind those words," he said. "We hope he will take this time to reflect not only on the language he used but on what he can do to make the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and questioning young people better."
Following McCance's appearance, David and Amy Truong of Houston also appeared on Cooper's show. Their 13-year-old son, Asher Brown, committed suicide in September after bullying at school. They said he told them he was gay the day he committed suicide.
David Truong said he would pray for McCance, but Amy Truong said that McCance has "given himself a taste of his own medicine."
"Don't threaten him, don't threaten his family," David Truong said. "Show him compassion."
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The only thing this bastard regrets is that he got caught displaying his prejudices in public. No doubt this man has many demons in his closet. Thank God for his stupidity in posting his hate in a public Forum.
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May he fry worse than a french fry caught in the bottom of a deep fryer!
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A fitting reward for his "Service to the Community" indeed.
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The only thing he is sorry for is that he was caught. And since he was stupid enough to post on one of the largest social interaction sites on the interweb, you have to wonder if there's a small part of him that WANTED this attention. You know the old saying about 'The lady doth protest too much…'
I've always believed that the most virulent homophobes are the ones who are overcompensating for an attraction to the same sex. I firmly believe that Fred Phelps has a tremendous homosexual desire, but he has spent his whole life denying it and creating a hate-filled message that, ultimately, he is saying to himself.
There's a Scottish saying, 'More to be pitied than censured.' It fits here, but sometimes I do want to see them punished.
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i have to wonder if this guy has repressed homo feelings…
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He probabally secretly sucks cock in the mensroom anyways lol >:D
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…farm animal's cock. he is from arkansas after all ;D
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…farm animal's cock. he is from arkansas after all ;D
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :true: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
:pee: :pee: :pee: :pee: :pee: -
us elitist canadians… ;D
