God I fucking hate that phrase "Everything happens for a reason." Stupid meaningless platitude.

Also, fuck religion.

That is all.

@ 1 Way to paint it all with one brush you are no better than Diana Medley.

Plenty of Christians are fine with homosexuality as are people of other faiths.

I hate "differently" and I expect to be treated better because of it. Dammit.

Ms Medley coming out as a lesbian in 3...2...

"Diana Medley should be fired."
You mean she hasn't already?!

@2 I think the point is that without organized religion to legitimize the crazy of people like Ms. Medley, that crazy stays on the fringe where it belongs, instead of in the mainstream, where it currently is.

Plenty of great people are religious. But respecting those people and respecting the institution of organized religion are two different things.

"I think God puts everyone in our lives for a reason," for some reason strikes me as the most offensive part of that thing. As if special needs kids, and gay kids, are put on earth to teach her patience or how to pretend to be tolerant, or some damn thing. Not actual human beings just as real as she is, but props in her journey to god's throne.

It's too bad, really, that someone who does something so noble, performs a task that is so honorable and needed so desperately (if it's done well) as to teach our young people who have special educational needs can be so inhuman and myopic when it comes to others who are only different than her in one aspect.

I just finished watching the Oscar-nominated doc How to Survive a Plague this morning, and my first impulse is to take a baseball bat to this woman and I would if I weren't a moral person. It just goes to show you that our universities - which are supposed to enlighten and open the world to its students - can graduate people who remain in the dark recesses of unworldliness.

PS: the correction didn't take - I would never take a baseball bat to this woman for I am a moral person.

Looking forward to hearing you on CBC in the morning, Dan. I'm sure you've probably been told this, but you could be Peter Staley's twin brother. It's uncanny.

@4: I was just thinking that "Medley" might just squeak by as the gayest named invoked in public discourse this week.

They changed the headline in the online version of the story too. It originally read, “Local Students And Staff Want Gays Banned From Prom” and this morning it read, “Local Students Want ‘Traditional Prom’, Gays Banned”.

Lets hear it for Journalism. But at least other news outlets picking this up are still headlining the fact that at least one teacher on staff is involved in it and wants gay kids banned from the prom too.

If she had said that the students with learning/developmental disabilities were, while loved of course, without purpose in life, she would have been fired before she drew her next breath. BTW, the next bullshit non-NALT Christian that says they love me while condemning me in the same breath is getting punched in the fucking throat. Metaphorically, of course. I LOVE them, but I disagree with their existence. I mean their CHOICE. Is this being recorded?

@ 10 where on the CBC will Dan be tomorrow?

The notion that God "created everyone equal" is so far from reality that it borders on insanity. Clearly this woman has led an incredibly charmed and sheltered (ignorant) life, where she's never heard of birth defects, just as an obvious example.

@8: Just so you know, you don't necessarily have to possess a teaching degree to be a special needs teacher. One of my relatives is one, and she possesses no such degree or any like it. If my relative is any sort of indicator, in a sufficiently small or desperate district, they'll take damn near anyone. So it's entirely possible that this woman has never seen the inside of a university.

Everything happens for a reason.

But often, not a good reason.

@6 is correct. It is great that many religious people can reject enough of their own holy texts to call themselves moderate. But if they continue to hold up said holy texts as, well, holy, then they are providing a cover for those who believe more of the text.

Think of it this way: if all of society rejected supernatural beliefs, we'd have a much easier time calling BS on hateful religious claims. As it stands, religious people have decided some supernatural stuff is okay and, having discredited reason, hold a weak position when they decry certain supernatural beliefs but not others.

@ 15 yes, very true. I have the lowest level of certification possible for child care, and many years experience. I could get a job as a TA for special needs in an elementary school in a heartbeat, because this makes me considerably more qualified than 3/4 of the people currently working in the field.

Whoa. When I read Mr. Savage's first post on this subject, I supposed that she was just a special ed teacher, that she helped children with their reading and writing and developmental issues. In that capacity, the issue of homosexuality is unlikely to come up. What does it matter if a teacher is a howling homophobe if she is nothing but caring and professional when the kids are around?

But if the kids come to her with what she calls "their problems," then she's been dealing with homosexuality as part of her job. Which means those kids are being knocked for a loop, to put it kindly.

@ 15 & 18 -- I don't know what state(s) you are in, but in Iowa a Special Education teacher most certainly does have to be a certified teacher & their qualifications are more rigorous than those of Gen Ed teachers. A quick look at the Indiana DoE website and this seems to be the case in Indiana, as well.

I'd like someone to parse this for me. I can't, for the life of me, figure out what Ms. Medley thinks she's saying with this:

"A gay person isn't going to come up and make some change unless it's to realize that it was a choice and they're choosing God," said Medley.

Here is Diana Medley's Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/diana.alumbaugh…

Ms. Medley is the poster child for why abortion should be safe and legal.

The assistant manager at the grocery store that I work at is a flaming queer, and his purpose in life is to make mine a living hell. So you are wrong, Ms Medley; you are wrong.

After reading several articles over several days it is my sincere wish that Diane Medley should be relieved of her position at your school. She is clearly not fit to work with special needs children. Her belief that "God created everyone equal [sic]" coupled with her statement that she uses this belief to help "care for" the children she has placed in her charge, makes her unfit for her job.

Everyone is entitled to opinions, beliefs and their own actions as prescribed by these beliefs, but when these actions directly conflict with effectiveness in a position (especially one of authority and nurturing) that person has an obligation to remove themselves from the position so as to do no harm.

Judges do it. A recusal is not just effective, it's the law when there is a conflict of interest.

If that person does not remove themselves, then it is the obligation of the institution that employs them to make a decision that is best for the population it serves. You serve the children of your community.

She needs to be fired. Not because she believes that gays are evil, or that it's a choice or that she believes that "they" have no purpose on this earth, all of those make her a bigot, small minded, oblivious to facts, mean spirited, ignorant, fearful and condescending as well as a bad Christian.

She should be fired because: if you believe that everyone is created equally, and you are on record for stating that "being gay is a choice" while you are in charge of a group of people who are separated from the main stream specifically because they ARE create differently and have SPECIAL NEEDS, you cannot effectively perform your duties as a special Ed teacher.

You can only condescend, create inferiority, suppress creativity and further the lie that if people would only make better choices, they would all end up successful.

This is demonstrably not the case. She is blind to the ONLY fact that allows people to do her job well: children are different.

They are born different from each other. While we all are people and we have more commonalities than we have differences, it is precisely those differences that we must seek to understand, embrace, and use to strengthen each other.

She cannot do this successfully if her belief is that sexuality is a choice, or (by proxy) that autism is a choice or mental retardation, or cerebral palsy etc.

She cannot BOTH believe that God created everyone equally and that He created special needs children differently. These beliefs cannot exist together.

She should be fired for lack of logic, lack of understanding and lack of compassion. She is not the type of person who should be creating future adults. Fire her. For the children. All of them.

Fired for you church beliefs come on stupid threatening to petition to get her fired from education is idiotic. Savage you know its true the bible says it that a man should sleep with another man. The old testament says it. Nevertheless, to fire her is wrong because she is following christian values. I am sorry if they want to have a prom gay and lesbian and then kiss well that they should have thier own separate prom. Why should straight people have to see them hug perhaps kiss or more if it goes against our morals. Anyways, if the prom is to be composed of same sex and heterosexual both sexes should keep their hands off each other and no kissing etc. This issue is so complicated

I wouldn't have wanted this woman within 50 miles of my developmentally-disabled daughter. Nothing hurts special ed kids like patronizing pity.

I have a SpEd kid, and as a SpEd parent, we RELY on these teachers for a LOT of what our kids need in a day/week/month/year/lifetime. I love how she managed to put down her students in the same breath as putting down the gay kids. That's a talent, a double-edged comment like that? Really! You should get an award for that Diana!

This scares the FUCK out of me for her students. But on the other hand, thank you so veeeeery much for putting all your cards on the table. Thank you for showing everyone who you are. Thank you for letting your country, your state, your county, your city, your students and families EXACTLY who you are. Now they can make informed choices about your position in their lives. And I hope they fire you. Tomorrow.

Well she thinks like the rest of the world, 95% that is "I DON*T CARE IF YOUR GAY". Just don't exploit it around me nor family members is our minds. NO on firing her, she just spoke her mind which the constitution allows.

@32, read your comment aloud. To other people. Dipshit.

It is a joke, right, that the two comments on this thread which insist this teacher has done no wrong...

...are almost unintelligibly written?

Well, Dan's getting some new readers out of this affair. Ill-educated, ignorant, bigoted ones who understand neither equality nor the recent history of advancement in understanding the nature of homosexuality, but still.

@32: Maybe 95% of the people in your social circle think like that, but actually more than half of all Americans, a number which is steadily growing, believe gay is normal and gay people deserve equality under our constitution. The ironic contradiction in your own post, in which you call for gay people to be censored in their speech and activities around you and to be treated unequally under the law while citing the constitution to support Medley's right of free speech, illustrates that while you have a right to enter the public discourse, you only embarrass yourself by doing so.

You are the new racist grandma.

OMG. Yes, please insure that this chick is fired. That is by far the dumbest thing I have ever heard from someone who is supposed to be teaching children, Whats next? Is she going to teach them to hate and or commit hate crimes against gays? This woman is pathetic, but we need special people like her around.

@32 - "exploiting" their homosexuality? You mean by having higher depression and suicide rates? Or by daring to live their lives like everyone else gets to? Maybe you could exploit your brain and do some actual thinking for a change. Your ignorance is far more dangerous to your family than anyone's sexuality will ever be.

"If we're going to pretend that this is a free country, we can't deprive anyone of her income on account of her opinions, however odious those opinions might be"

Actually that's not true.

Freedom of speech protects us from the government punishing us for our speech as regular citizens.

However your job may require a restriction of your freedom of speech, and if you take certain jobs you are implicitly agreeing to restrict your speech in certain ways.

I can't bash my employer in the media. If I do I will be fired. A solider can't criticize the President publicly. That will get them reprimanded. A sales clerk can't call their black customers the 'N' word no matter what justification they try to use.

The idea that you can say what ever you want and you can't be fired for it is an uniformed, and childishly simplistic view of the first amendment right to freedom of speech. That's not how it works.

No country is completely free. Part of living in a society is a shared agreement that we give up certain freedoms in order to get the benefits that a cooperative society grants. No, you can't say what ever you want and expect to be free from all repercussions. If a teacher says something publicly that interferes with their job or violates their employment agreement they can and should be fired.

A teacher who creates a hostile educational environment for their students not only can be fired, but should be fired.

@36. I can't walk into a classroom and tell kids that they are all stupid and worthless and expect to keep my job. I can;t single out just the non white children and tell them they are inferior to their chosen-race classmates. And I can't single out gay kids and tell them they have no purpose.

"This is a free country" does not permit bigots in schools. Or do you think it's OF for some Klan member to don a hood and robe and start teaching our kids too? Can we have Al Qaeda teachers in our schools encouraging suicide bombings? I'm guessing you just support freedom of teachers to be bigots in this case because you happen to condone her particular flavor of bigotry.

whether you agree or not with her comments this is still america and freedom of speech is still the right of EVERYONE. should you be fired for expressing your opinion? I don't think so. political correctness is going to far in this country. Is it ok to bash christianity and judism? you have your view and they have theirs. Freedom of speech means each of us is intitled to have an opinion.Who is the real hater here the teacher or the people trying to get her fired!

It is sad that in the year of 2013 that someone would make such ignorant and very stupid comments. However, no matter how much I do not like her logic, I disagree that she should be fired due to this. Mr. Savage, I am a fan of your articles and I enjoy them very much. But I personally feel that having a petition to get her fired is not going to solve the problem. I truly do feel that the GLBT community should have all the same rights that straight people do. Gays and Lesbians should be free to marry (and I don't mean Civil Unions, but marriage itself). Yes, what she said was ignorant, short-sighted and very stupid. But in my personal opinion, responding with with your petition only puts you on the same level as her. Ignorance only begets ignorance. As hate only begets hate. Mr. Savage, I implore you to contact this woman and find out why she is so misguided. As being an African American, there was a time many of an older generation had dogs attack them and have water hoses used on them. I do not think that many of them called for people to be fired for their racist comments. It was through marches and protests that equality (for the most part) was achieved. Did you know that there are still Southern States that still do have Whites only proms? Should those administrators be fired for doing this? There are many out there that would say yes. I think that through education and sitting down with people like Diana Medley and have her understand that such statements do not advance us forward towards equality for all, but rather harms everyone of us. Yes she does have the freedom of speech to say moronic things and yes, you do have the right to reply with a petition to get her removed. But this I think is a case in which no one wins. We all need to work together to make people like her aware that she is on the wrong side of history. It is time that Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgender people have the same rights as all others. We are moving forward in a better direction, but when sad instances like this occur, let us not respond with emotions no matter how hard it may seem, but rather let us respond with logic. Good day Dan and keep up the excellent work.

It is sad that in the year of 2013 that someone would make such ignorant and very stupid comments. However, no matter how much I do not like her logic, I disagree that she should be fired due to this. Mr. Savage, I am a fan of your articles and I enjoy them very much. But I personally feel that having a petition to get her fired is not going to solve the problem. I truly do feel that the GLBT community should have all the same rights that straight people do. Gays and Lesbians should be free to marry (and I don't mean Civil Unions, but marriage itself). Yes, what she said was ignorant, short-sighted and very stupid. But in my personal opinion, responding with your petition only puts you on the same level as her. Ignorance only begets ignorance. As hate only begets hate. Mr. Savage, I implore you to contact this woman and find out why she is so misguided. As being an African American, there was a time many of an older generation had dogs attack them and have water hoses used on them. I do not think that many of them called for people to be fired for their racist comments. It was through marches and protests that equality (for the most part) was achieved. Did you know that there are still Southern States that still do have Whites only proms? Should those administrators be fired for doing this? There are many out there that would say yes. I think that through education and sitting down with people like Diana Medley and have her understand that such statements do not advance us forward towards equality for all, but rather harms everyone of us. Yes she does have the freedom of speech to say moronic things and yes, you do have the right to reply with a petition to get her removed. But this I think is a case in which no one wins. We all need to work together to make people like her aware that she is on the wrong side of history. It is time that Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgender people have the same rights as all others. We are moving forward in a better direction, but when sad instances like this occur, let us not respond with emotions no matter how hard it may seem, but rather let us respond with logic. Good day Dan and keep up the excellent work.

@42: Who's the real hater, here? Still the teacher. FFS. grow up. Your argument is like saying that police and prosecutors are the real criminals for persecuting those who commit crimes.

As far as your rudimentary and incorrect understanding of freedom of speech goes, please review post #40.

I don't think she should be fired, she should continue her roll as a teacher and be forced to chaperone the dance, so she can be reminded of why she was wrong.

Firing her, just lets a bigot lose her job, she'll continue to be a bigot somewhere else. If you fire her, she'll do the same thing at another school.

@26 GIG: You seem to be conflating "equal" with "same".
It has always been my understanding that when people say something to the effect of "all children were created equal" or "god created everyone equal", they are saying that everyone has *equal value* NOT *identical characteristics*.

Believing that everyone has equal worth, and should be treated with equal respect, is not the same as saying that everyone *is* the same or should be treated the same.

Now, I don't think that Medley believes that everyone has equal worth ("gays have no purpose in life"), I just think that hanging your dispute with Medley on an inaccurate definition of "equal" makes your otherwise legitimate frustration with Medley's attitude easy to dismiss.

I loved the first four paragraphs of your impassioned letter @26, and got excited about having something to copy-paste-send to the school administrators. I'd love to see a rewrite of the second half that doesn't depend on the equal=same straw-man so I can shamelessly steal it and send it to the administration. Will you oblige?

@44, Let's break it down with a race analogy, similar to the one you used. Suppose a teacher who works with students of all races publicly declares that she feels that her nonwhite students are subhuman but that she loves and cares for them all the same. While that teacher might benefit personally from the compassionate journey toward understanding you extoll, her students will benefit most from having a different teacher immediately.

Some people are confusing "having an opinion" with making ignorant and bigoted statements toward her own students. One is ok, the other is not.

The only cliche she missed was "There but for the grace of God go I..."

@47: She says on the video that she has actively counseled gay students about their sexual preference in the past. She is trying to enact a discriminatory policy with regards to the prom at the school she is employed. She is reaching out to parents, teachers, and students with the message that gay people have no purpose. She is NOT keeping her backward bullshit opinions to herself (and, more crucially, from her students), she is actively campaigning behind them in the media. She should be fired YESTERDAY.

Just sent this to Mark Baker:
One of the defining facets of my 20s and early 30s was the dissolution of my relationship with my parents. After I came stumbling out of the closet, it took almost a decade to rebuild that relationship. We went years without speaking. It was very hard - for all of us. To be frank, though, it was never about my sexuality, per se. It was about the shame and embarrassment my folks were afraid I'd bring on the family. I remember many, many "what if people find out? What will they say?" conversations. It never felt personal - it was cultural.

Hearing "personal opinions" like Diana Medved's voiced publicly sends chills down my spine. For a person in a position of authority to imply (much less state outright!) that gay is not okay in IN sets a foundation of intolerance with a ripple effect that will reach thousands of families. Her words are embarrassing, unnecessary, cruel, and, yes, hateful. They enable a culture of bullying, shame, suicides, and self-hatred for millions of kids. They enable the EXACT CULTURE that drove my family apart almost 30 years ago. So please, no matter your own personal politics, please keep the years of pain my entire family endured in mind. Remove Diana Medved from her teaching position.

@42- If I said the Jewish students shouldn't be allowed at the prom, I'd get fired. Freedom of speech means the government won't arrest me for speaking my mind, that is all.

This woman has no place influencing young minds. I hope she doesn't have blood on her hands, for her sake as well as any kids who may have ended themselves after talking with her. Shameful!

Here's hoping for change.....
(Email sent to Diana Medley)

Hi Diana -

I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume you've been getting a lot of feedback regarding your on camera appearance where you discussed your religious and personal views regarding LGBT individuals. I'm not going to give you any negative comments or ask you to edit your belief system. I am going to ask you to consider though, just for a moment, that everything you know is wrong. I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm saying, stop for one moment and listen to someone tell you something you can't believe. Listen to someone tell you the sky isn't blue. Because, let's face it, the sky isn't always blue. And sometimes, we're wrong.

- Purpose Server

After reading all of these comments it's quite obvious that it is not only the "hetrosexuals" who have significant issues..I don't care how you lable them. The're issues that, if left unattended, will continue to fester until the stigma will return, worse than it ever was before. Maybe, just maybe keeping ones sexual preference and orientation a private matter wasn't such a bad idea after all. Somewhere in the past, I would suppose that, this issue has been to this point and the failings of all those concerned resulted in the issue(s) being cast out of what is considered polite society.
All I will say is that if there is any chance, it will take considerable patience and a desire on both sides of these issues to get to a livable state of being.

Diana Medley has been suspended this week. They're not saying if it's with our without pay.