04.21.06
Palm Beach school board chair calls gays a ‘species’
At a meeting of the Palm Beach County School Board on April 5, school board chair Tom Lynch referred to gay students as “a protected species.”
The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council has demanded that Lynch apologize for the remark, saying that it dehumanizes gay people by implying that they are a separate species and not part of humanity.
“When another school board member, Dr. Debra Robinson, asked Lynch what he meant by “species,” Lynch replied, “We added sexual orientation” to the school’s anti-harassment policy.
In published reports, Robinson said Lynch’s choice of words bothered her.
Rand Hoch, founder of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, e-mailed Lynch a letter demanding that he apologize.
“He was talking about ‘protected classes,’ but when it came to gay people, we became ‘species,’” Hoch said. “To have someone in charge of educating our children refer to one segment of humans as a separate species is appalling. The truth is, we’re all homos-—-homo sapiens. There is no other species of humans.”
Lynch: no degradation intended
Lynch did not respond to repeated phone calls seeking his comment. But he told the Palm Beach Post in its April 8 edition that no slight was intended.
“It wasn’t meant as any kind of degradation,” Lynch said. “It’s actually a very positive comment. I meant we need to protect people we say we’re going to protect. If the word offends somebody, I have no problem apologizing for it.”
But Hoch said that no apology has been forthcoming.
“He could have easily clicked on the ‘reply’ button and responded to my e-mail with an apology and explanation,” Hoch said. “But that hasn’t happened.”
In his letter to Lynch, Hoch wrote, “Gay men and lesbians are parents, children, friends and neighbors. We are not some sub-species of humanity.”
Consistent with anti-gay past
Hoch contended that Lynch’s remark was consistent with his past hostility to gay rights efforts. For example, Lynch voted against adding sexual orientation to the school district’s anti-harassment policy in March 2003.
According to an article in the March 26, 2003, edition of the Boca Raton News, Lynch “objected to including the new language, saying it would create an additional ‘protected class’ and might give rise to more lawsuits.”
“He objected to adding sexual orientation because he claimed it could open the school district up to lawsuits,” Hoch said. “Well, if a kid is beaten up just because another kid thinks he’s gay, there should be a lawsuit.”