| National Teachers’ Union Officially Endorses Homosexual Marriage, Adoption |
| The National Education Association, a labor union with 3.2 million members, voted to endorse homosexual marriage, adoption, and more at its national meeting this month.
“They will help to overturn legislation that is discriminatory against same-sex couples,” Jeralee Smith, cofounder of the Conservative Educators Caucus within NEA, told OneNewsNow. A five point action plan on homosexual issues was adopted by NEA’s Representative Assembly, where thousands of delegates passed it by voice vote. This means NEA will lobby for policy changes on homosexual marriage, legal and healthcare benefits for same-sex couples, and more. Observers believe that NEA wants to overturn the federal Defense of Marriage Act, though they call it an implied intention, rather than a stated goal. A commenter on the Queers United blog wrote, “There were many of us who wanted stronger language, but were happy to have something that would pass in more conservative areas.” An effort to remove religious protections was soundly rejected by delegates. Yet NEA’s action plan only affirms that religious institutions have the right “to refuse to perform or recognize same-sex marriages.” This raises questions about church freedom on homosexuality, apart from marriage, such as in a church’s hiring decisions. The plan also fails to address freedoms for individuals and privately owned businesses. Companies that do not offer same-sex partner health benefits — or adoption agencies that decline to place children with same-sex couples — could find NEA lobbyists working against them. At least one delegate tried to speak against the action plan. “As soon as she mentioned the words ‘marriage should be between a man and a woman,’ she got booed,” Smith said, according to Baptist Press. “The chair stopped the booing and reminded everybody that in a democracy everyone gets to have their say,” she said. Smith also said that the Conservative Teachers Caucus hoped to speak against the action plan, but did not have an opportunity. Certainly, not all teachers share the official NEA position on issues like homosexual adoption. Yet schools have been sufficiently effective, in teaching students to support homosexuality, that many activists say future generations’ textbooks will tell how backward Americans once were. This makes it vitally important for families to teach the rationale and historical backing for traditional values like man-woman marriage. The Representative Assembly vote, which opens the way for NEA to spend large sums of money on pro- homosexuality advocacy, underscores NEA willingness to promote an activist social agenda. “Money that NEA teachers make by teaching our kids is being spent to combat our longstanding American values,” said Karen England, Executive Director of Capitol Resource Institute. “NEA delegates may have passed the action plan by a clear majority, but every time this issue has gone to state voters, the result showed a very different set of priorities,” she said. |
