April 13, 2008
Hal Hitler
Michael Wood READ TIME: 4 MIN.
On April 3 Lexington Public Schools Superintendent Paul Ash announced that the town would be piloting a new diversity curriculum for grades K-5 that will include, among other topics, discussions about families with gay and lesbian parents. The announcement of the diversity curriculum brought the expected jeers from the local anti-gay activist group, MassResistance, but word of the curriculum attracted the attention of a notorious New Jersey white supremacist, Hal Turner, who called on listeners to his Internet radio show and visitors to his website to hunt down Ash at his home and assault him. The threats to Ash's safety have prompted police to initiate an inquiry, but Turner's reaction appears to be completely out of step with the reaction within the town of Lexington, where news of the curriculum has attracted little controversy.
Ash declined to comment for this story. Lexington Police spokesman Lt. Det. Joseph O'Leary said police became aware of the threats posted on Turner's website over the weekend and have initiated an inquiry. Turner posted a photo of Ash and what he claimed was Ash's home address.
"We have initiated an inquiry. We're taking zit seriously. But having said that, I can't release any details of the investigation," said O'Leary.
On his website Turner urged his supporters to go to Ash's home and attack him.
"I would laugh if some concerned father(s) donned ski masks and gloves, took a ride over to this arrogant prick's house and knocked the living shit out of him. I advocate parents using FORCE AND VIOLENCE against Superintendent Paul B. Ash as a method of defending the health and safety of school children presently being endangered through his politically-correct indoctrination into deadly, disease-ridden sodomite lifestyles," wrote Turner.
Turner, to put it lightly, is a radical white supremacist and anti-Semite. One posting on his website promises his listeners, "From our corrupt government to street savages, all will incur our wrath. This nation will be White again and under our control again. Those opposed have only three choices: Submit, leave or die."
Lexington CARES (Community Action for Responsible Education and Safety), a local parents group that supports LGBT inclusion within the schools, issued a statement condemning the attacks on Ash and publicly supporting the diversity curriculum.
"We are appalled and saddened by the attack on our superintendent for simply working to ensure that our schools are safe and welcoming for all students," read the statement, provided to Bay Windows by Lexington CARES co-chair Pam Hoffman. "The pilot diversity curriculum recognizes that Lexington has lots of families, including children raised by gay or lesbian parents. This is simply part of our community's ongoing tradition and commitment to respect and welcome all families and all children in our public schools."
Hoffman, who has two children in Lexington schools, one in elementary school and one in middle school, said that Ash's office has made the diversity curriculum available to members of the community who visit his office, and she has looked at outlines of the curriculum. She said the curriculum formalizes a longstanding practice of encouraging discussion of diverse family structures when talking about family in the younger grades. Bay Windows contacted Ash's office and School Committee Chair Thomas Diaz to obtain a copy of the curriculum, but neither responded to the requests.
"I hope my child will be in a class that pilots the curriculum next year," said Hoffman.
Lexington CARES formed in response to another attack on Lexington schools for their inclusive stance on gay and lesbian issues. In 2005 David Parker, the parent of a student at Estabrook Elementary, was arrested during a dispute with school officials about the use of gay-inclusive materials in his son's class. Parker demanded that officials notify him before any classroom discussion or use of materials about gay and lesbian people, and when officials denied his request Parker refused to leave the school; he was later arrested. Parker partnered with MassResistance to generate publicity around his arrest, and he and his wife, Tonia, joined with another local family, Rob and Robin Wirthlin, to file a federal lawsuit against the town demanding the right to be notified before any discussions in their children's classrooms involving gay and lesbian people. In January a federal appeals court dismissed the lawsuit, finding that a parent's religious views do not give him or her the right to exercise control over a public school curriculum.
Lexington CARES launched soon after Parker's arrest to send the message that the majority of Lexington residents supported the schools' inclusive curriculum. When Parker held a rally at the Lexington Town Green in September 2005 his crowd of about 50 supporters was dwarfed by the approximately 300 people that Lexington CARES had turned out for a counter-protest across the street.
"Lexington is a town that's open and welcoming, and our values are well known," said Hoffman.
While Turner's attacks on Lexington and its diversity curriculum have generated the most media coverage, Parker and MassResistance have also spoken out against it. And while neither Parker nor MassResistance advocated outright violence against Lexington school officials, Parker came fairly close to doing so during an interview about Turner with WHDH's 7 News.
"Should there be a show of force against this, yes. But violence at this time is not the answer," Parker told 7 News in a story broadcast on April 7.
Michael Wood is a contributor and Editorial Assistant for EDGE Publications.
