Ottawa Catholic School District Board Superintendent Says Gay Students Are Welcomed And It Will Not Marginalise Anyone With Scripture, Two Years Later Ohio Hearings Officer Says Termination Of Science Teacher Who Taught Creationism Fair, GLBT Museum Opens In San Francisco, Maryland Legalisation Of Same Sex Marriage Likely

In the wake of the Halton Ontario Catholic School District’s deeply inadequate handling of the board’s cowardly implementation of an equity and inclusion policy that prohibited the formation of gay-straight alliances, the superintendent of the Ottawa Catholic School Board, Tom D’Amico, tells the Ottawa Citizen “A student who is openly gay in our schools, we want all of our students and staff to accept (them). We don’t want to see them marginalised in any manner.” D’Amico, who heads the equity and inclusion committee, says the board seeks to create a supportive and welcoming climate for students, staff, and parents, and it does not intend to marginalise anyone with the Scripture, saying “These teachings, we don’t want to use as condemnation for any of the students in the school.” D’Amico says that the Ottawa English Catholic school board, adhering to the Assembly of Ontario Bishops’ suggestion, does not use the name “gay-straight alliance” but that clubs exist that offer the same supports. “I don’t focus on the title; I focus on the objectives and the end result the group is trying to achieve in the schools,” he said. “We don’t want to create a group whose title may result in increased bullying, as opposed to decreasing it and creating better understanding of individual differences.”

On Friday, an Ohio state hearing officers conclude that a Mount Vernon teacher repeatedly defied authorities and deliberately ignored the United States Constitution when he continually used his eight-grade science classes as a platform to promoted his religious beliefs, and that his actions merit dismissal, according to the Columbus Dispatch. John Freshwater had been unpaid leave (with paid benefits) since 2008 when the Mount Vernon school board voted to fire him, saying he taught creationism and intelligent design, failed to remove religious materials from the classroom, and, perhaps most troubling, burned crosses on the arms of students during science experiments. Before a teacher in Ohio can be formally fired, they are entitled to a hearing before a referee, who then offers recommendations to the school board. Freshwater’s hearing occurred sporadically for two years, costing taxpayers $700,000. The referee’s report, issued late Friday, is nonbinding, and the board of education, which now includes two different members from the board that originally voted to dismiss Freshwater, is under no obligation to accept the recommendation.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports on the opening of the city’s GLBT History Museum, only the second museum in the world that is devoted entirely to the archiving of gay and lesbian materials, the other one in Germany. The museum is the culmination of efforts by the city-based GLBT Historical Society, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2010, and has sought to open a museum for a decade, says Executive Director Paul Boneberg, the society signing a five year leased on the once empty 1,600-sqaure-foot storefront space located at 4127 18th Street, in the Castro. Don Romesburg, one of the museum’s curators, says “Telling our stories transforms our lives and our society and takes us out of the margins. The museum is at the heart of that project.”

CNN on the growing swell of support for same sex marriage in Maryland, on the day the state Assembly begins its 90-day session, not only Democrats optimistic about approving a measure legalising same sex marriage, but a leading Republican, Senator Allan Kittleman, sensing the momentum that see Maryland become the sixth state to officially recognise same sex marriage, has instead said he wants to offer gay and lesbian couples the same rights afforded to straight married couples under state law but without the stigma of religion. “Civil unions would grant the same rights as marriage, but just shift the role of something that is viewed as a religious institution to something more secular,” he said. “I just really believe, it is more the libertarian in me, that government needs to be out of something that is religious. The disagreement we have in society on gay marriage is from the religious aspects of it.” However, Morgan Meneses-Sheets, the executive director of Equality Maryland, the state’s largest gay rights advocacy group, disagrees, saying “We’ve taken those small steps forward. It’s time to live with the promise that is marriage equality. No other institution provides the legal protections.”