Just over a year ago, David Parker was arrested for trespassing onto school property. Parker, whose son was a kindergartner at the time, was on site to meet with the school’s principal and Lexington’s Director of Education to discuss his objections to the school teaching his child about homosexuality and transgender without his consent.
In a statement made after his arrest, Parker explained the situation, “We have officially stated on many occasions—to the Lexington school administration—a request that we be notified when these discussions are planned, and want our 6-year-old opted out of such situations when arising ‘spontaneously.’”
“Our parental requests for our own child were flat-out denied with no effort at accommodation. In our meeting on April 27, I insisted that such accommodation be made and refused to leave the meeting room. I was informed that I would be arrested.”
According to Parker’s opponents at LexingtonCares.com, “He claimed he had the right to do this based on the state’s sex education opt-out law. The school officials explained to Mr. Parker that the materials and situations in question were not covered by that law and that there was no practical way to implement his request in any case.”
Parker spent a night in jail for his actions. While being arraigned, Parker told the judge that he had not been given the opportunity to call his lawyer. The judge reprimanded him and set a $1,000 bail. He was then told he was not allowed onto any school property. The order has since been lifted.
In the past year, Lexington has erupted into chaos. A new school superintendent issued an order to teachers telling them not to inform parents about their children being taught about homosexuality. Peaceful protests by Parker supporters have turned ugly as gay and lesbian organizers as well as liberal-minded officials have disrupted them. In one case, the police barred Parker from speaking to the media at his own protest, because they feared the crowd would turn worse.
If this was not bad enough, The Massachusetts News reported that Parker’s son, now in first grade, has been a victim of a premeditated assault because of his father’s views. The paper, as well as others, quickly noted that this attack falls just days before the two-year anniversary of the legalization of gay marriage in the state.
The school has tried to play down the vicious attack. The aide, who had to be informed of the attack by a little girl on the playground, did not send Parker’s son to the nurse because she supposedly did not see any blood on him. None of the assailants were suspended.
According to the paper, the school has two articles about David Parker framed in the library for all children to see. The Massacusetts News also noted that, “Estabrook Elementary School is proud of its long-time involvement in various ‘Safe School’ programs that make the schools ‘safe’ for homosexuality but dangerous for anyone with a different viewpoint. The current rage there is the ‘Open Circle’ program, which has ties to GLSEN.”
While Parker has little to no support in Lexington, he has the support of the governor. Governor Mitt Romney made a televised statement the day after Parker’s arrest, saying, “We have in Massachusetts a parental notification statute specifically in matters related to human sexuality. If a parent wants to be informed of what is being taught in a classroom and wants to have their child withdrawn from the classroom for that portion of the class dealing with human sexuality, that parent has the right.”
Matthew Murphy is an intern at Accuracy in Academia.
