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A group of parents of Green Valley High School students is planning to file a lawsuit to stop the production of two plays, "Rent" and "The Laramie Project," at the school, according to Las LasVegasNow.com, the Web site for Channel 8 TV station in Las Vegas. The parents find that the subject matter in the play contains adult themes that are not appropriate for a high school production, according to the Web site. LasVegasNow.com reports that the Clark County School District policy does not allow any movie to be shown at school that has mature content greater than PG. The movie "Rent" has a PG-13 rating, so the parents want that carried over to the content of the school production, the Web site reported. More:
Parents plan lawsuit over Green Valley High School plays
(via LasVegasNow.com) · October 24, 2009 · 9:58 AM
Discussion: 33 comments so far...
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Just another example of the NEA trying to push the homosexual agenda onto our children.
If anyone thinks those productions are too adult for high schoolers then I would have to say that those people are wildly and sadly out of touch with high school students of today.
The real motives here are political, as the redneck above so eloquently stated.
I am willing to wager that 50 years ago those same parents would have been yelling and screaming against school integration as well.
I'm sure African-Americans everywhere thank you for comparing their struggles to that of homosexuals.
I hope that this article is incorrect, or that these parents will reconsider. "The Laramie Project" tells the tragic story of a young man who was brutally murdered because he was gay. The movie "Rent" features gay characters in the early years of the AIDS epidemic. These are real historical events that high school students have every right to learn about and consider. Moreover, no public high school student, whatever his personal values or those of his family, is ignorant of the existence of gay students around him. Have these parents considered the impact of their act on students who are gay, and trying to get by in high school cultures which are either ignorant, indifferent, or hostile to them? Ethical people do not attack others in weaker positions, and this lawsuit is a discredit to these families.
LKM...do a little more reading into the subject of Matthew Shephard..whom the story is based on. He was not beaten and murdered because he was gay...it was a robbery. This all came out later in testimony. I find it ironic that you feel high school students have the right to be exposed to the "history" of gay people and a disease the welcome into their bodies by their own immoral behavior...yet you would be the first to cry foul if we introduced the "history" of Christ or Allah into a classroom setting. Because you think homosexuality is morally wrong and goes against the values you try to teach your children...suddenly people are ignorant, or hostile. Tolerance is a two way street pal...you want everyone to tolerate your ideas...but you don't tolerate those opposing yours.
Redneck sure picked the right user name.
thank you
Human beings are all the same. Hitler proved that a su*cker is born every minute. The GOP uses gays, god, guns, abortion, etc., to divert their serfs attention that the GOP is comprised of mass murderers and Nazis. Flown completely under the radar, is the fact Boy George, Lott, Blair, Olmert, lard-a$$es Cheney-Hastert, Frist, Tenet, Delay, McConnell, and Boehner, are all guilty of Iraq-NAM war crimes and crimes agaisnt humanity. Iraq-NAM is all about GOP "grin and grip" sessions, oil pilfering, WASP and Judeo crusade, and war profiteering for Cheney, GE-NBC, Blackwater, and Halliburton. "Dang me, dang me, they oughta take a rope and HANG me, high from the highest tree, LAURA would you weep for me". Lucky for Boy George and his Nazis posse that O'BUMBLER and Holder are lacking in the STONES dept.
I wonder if anyone has actually asked the students how they feel about putting on these plays? "Protecting" teens by using censorship doesn't work, and fosters resentment on the part of the "protected" people. Yes, they are people, not infants, and they can and will think for themselves.
If you want to close your eyes and ears to problems within your community...you must be a redneck.
I love it when lcdr mandingo shows up on the Sun and RJ sites. I call his comments "my morning chuckle." They never cease to make me laugh, mainly because I wasn't aware there is internet access in the storm sewers under the city.
Holy sh*t! Redneck, you could not be more wrong about the motives for the killing of Matthew Shephard! It was an afterthought that the murderers of this boy stole his sneakers. To you that makes it a robbery and not a gay bashing? You are truly deluded! The boy was so horrbly beaten (pistol whipped) that the sheriff's deputy who found him didn't even know it was a human being, much less a child!
"The Laramie Project" has already been presented by a HS in the Valley; Las Vegas Academy put it on several years ago to much acclaim. But, like redneck, Fred Phelps and his merry band of bigots protested the production.
As for the comments on AIDS, they are also incorrect. Seventy percent (70%) of AIDS cases world-wide are heterosexual in nature. Of those, 70% are female. These numbers can be confirmed through the CDC, and I didn't pull them out of my *ss, like redneck does with his statistics.
To anyone who has not seen "The Laramie Project" either on the stage or on film, I suggest that you rent it, as it is on DVD. If you can walk away from this movie and not be truly moved, then you are, indeed, a REDNECK!
I'm curious as to who chose these plays, teachers or students. Saw rent on broadway, it is appropriate for high-schoolers (like its movie rating anyone 13 or older).
Is it too much to ask that a High School Theater production be entertaining & uplifting instead of depressing, heavy and political?
I think the content is inappropriate for minors, and there is nothing "cutting edge" about it.
Whether these plays represent a specific "agenda" is not relevant. What is more relevant is how schooling has become so politicized in the past two decades. The conservative believes everything about public schooling is part of a liberal agenda (nope!) while the liberals believe everything has the same moral value (nope!). Meanwhile, the students are caught in the middle and forced into an argument that isn't theirs. These are high schoolers; let the students, with the help of teachers and the oversight of administrators, make the choice.
Rating the two plays as appropriate for teeners above the age of 13 explains a lot. The two plays are in the same pattern as the movie The Lottery. The setting is in a New England town; the ritual is murder by vote by the adults. The lottery vic is the person with the winning number. Death is by stoning with the children being urged to join in the fun.
Comment removed by staff.
Maybe most of you have been out of school too long to remember that the majority of theater people are from the "isle of misfit toys". Right brain creative and yes, gay. Is anyone surprised that a theater group would choose plays about gay issues?
That being said, a public school is not the appropriate place to air an agenda. There are plenty of plays that could be done that have no other agenda than to entertain the audience. So long as there is no Christmas play, Catholic, Muslim, Islam, Darwin, Methodist, Freeemason, Mormon, Republican, Democrat, Independent, Communist .........
This is an excerpt from the link in this article to the original story ....
"Which is not to say Hemme doesn't love her fluff, too. Green Valley High premiered the stage version of High School Musical 2 two years ago, and was in talks to premiere another family-friendly Broadway hit this year. When that musical wasn't ready, however, the performing arts committee elected to produce Rent: School Edition. And that, coming after Laramie, has some of the school's parents complaining."
The parents had no complaint until the second gay issue production was added.
It seems the performing arts committee for Green Valley High, had gay on the agenda for 2009.
Talking about the hate crime bill Tuesday on Face to Face... then Friday... the attorney/parent representing the GVHS parents suing the school district over the plays. Hope to find students, too.
Wait a second....You mean to tell me that RENT was about gays? And here I thought it was about young people surviving and struggling to cope in the world as young adults. Hmmmmm, I better rent it again because I must have missed the whole primise.
Of the eight main characters, 2 are HIV positive, 2 have AIDS, 1 is bisexual, 1 gay professor, 1 gay lawyer.
No gay theme there. Just a typical cross section of entertainers.
Why not let the students vote? Most of the seniors are over 18 and legally allowed to vote on such issues as same sex marriage, etc. Why not let those younger kids get some experience of studying an issue and standing behind your belief at the ballot box?
RENT shows what can happen to your life should you use illegal drugs or have unprotected sex. We want kids to know the consequences of those actions, right? People don't get AIDS just from being gay.
To the argument that they were upset when GVHS added the second gay play. What would happen if next year they decide to do Smokin' Joes cafe` and then Porgy and Bess? Will the school be sued for pushing a black agenda? What if they do Once On This Island, and then put on South Pacific? Will they be sued over pushing a Pacific Islander agenda?
The veiled discrimintation against the homosexual community shown by these parents is laughable. They talk about wanting to be family friendly, don't gay people have families?!?!?!
To all of these parents that are pushing this gay bashing agenda -Accept the fact that you are a bigot and that you are encouraging your children to do the same.
Disgusting.
High School is a dangerous, freaky, semi-safe place where tolerance is NOT practiced, but dictated. It is a place of politically correct education. Parents can hope their teens graduate with the ability to think for themselves on a variety of views (not just those spoon fed to them or twisted to conform to political correctness) - OR - smart parents offer opposing views at home, raise questions, & fill in the gaps in order to teach their children to ask themselves "who, what, where, when, why." Regardless of how "adult" teens may be in todays society, they should not have to portray a brutal murder to learn gay tolerance. High Schools put on more than 2 plays a year. I believe one gay play is tolerance enough. For 3 years my child read "The Diary of Anne Frank." When I requested a different book, (there are many forms of prejudice to learn about) this parent was firmly told "NO." I applaud the parents in Green Valley for planning to sue. Deans & Principals can be quite intractable. While we are considered responsible for you as parents, it is our right to seek equity and compromise in your education.
I have an idea...how about a play based on the story of Jesus of Nazereth. During intermission we can have local clergy offer up prayer to Christ with the student body. For an encore maybe the teachers and student can step to a podium and read from the scripture.
I have yet to see the evidence of a gay gene. So, as such, it is not something a person is born with. If it is caused by something other than genetics or a medical cause of some sort then it is a lifestyle choice.
Being as at this time it remains a lifestyle choice it becomes a morality issue which is equal to a religious issue which would fall under the seperation of church and state.
There should be no proselyting allowed for the church or cult of gay in the public school system.
Let's get back to what school is meant to do which is teach everything except social values. Those are to be taught at home and if they are not being taught in the home, perhaps the child should be moved from the home.
Moderation in all things. Too much of anything is bad for you.
Regardless of whether "Rent" is ever performed, these young people are sure getting an education from the "adults" involved, aren't they?
I'd wager what a lot of them are hearing at home regarding the issue would be rated more adult-themed than PG13, and contains much that would be deemed "for mature audiences only."
in high school in 2009 you're a freak if you are a cute girl and NOT dating another girl.
thank you for showing how limited the intelligence of some people in vegas are.
I take it that destruct_mutt is a research scientist working in the field of genetics, by his latest comment. There is no "gene" that causes homosexuality, but rather a combination of things, most likely amounts of progesterone and testosterone in vitro. Homosexuality is NOT a "lifestyle choice", just as heterosexuality is not a "lifestyle choice". Who in their right mind would "choose" to have a life where you are despised, debased and derided on an almost daily basis in the press and on Faux News? Who would "choose" to be ostracized and shunned by your family and friends?
I have many, many friends who are homosexual, and they are intelligent, well-rounded, happy individuals who lead exciting and productive lives. THAT is the part of their "lifestyle" that they chose! In that many of them had to overcome the bigotry that is so prevalent in their lives, their journey has been all the more remarkable.
I take it mutt, that if your child were to come out to you as homosexual you would probably disown this child. And for that I say "Shame on you!" And by shaming you, I also shame all those parents (Mormons most prevalent among them) who have disowned their children. Too often we have heard parents of murderers and rapists being interviewed, and among their comments is "At least he's not gay!" How pathetic is that?
Those rednecks should go back to Alabama where they belong.
This is 2009.
The rednecks should go back to Europe. They won't even be tolerated there, they're too uneducated.
So NVCitizen please supply a link to your factual information, I would like to take a look at it.
Please explain Bi-sexuality to me as well. I guess maybe I don't understand the gay rules, because it seems to me if you are really gay, you would not play both sides of the aisle. To a real non-lifestyle choice gay, this must be quite disturbing.
I suppose that you have forgotten that Christians were tortured etc. for their lifestyle choice, unless of course, there is some hormonal imbalance in the womb or later brain anomaly that causes this as well. (Please supply link) It would have been much easier for many to deny their belief than to be tortured and killed like they were. Do you actually think the ability to suffer ridicule is scientific proof that something is real? Wow!! In that case, I am converted to Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Witchcraft and all other such persecuted peoples across the face of the planet. How ignorant of me. What a redneck!!
As far as one of my children being gay? Who knows, maybe one or both are, maybe I am, and in denial. But this I do know, I am not so weak willed that I would deny what the natural law has obviously determined to be the proper way for our species to procreate and survive and I would hope I have not raised my children to be so self serving and stupid. I would still love my child but I don't have to accept what they are doing. I would be sad that they will never know the joy of having a little one (child) of their own as a gay cannot pro-create.
Then, I would hope that the theater group that he or she belongs to would not shove 2 gay themed performances down my throat in the same year!!!
Shame on you!! You know, you are pretty full of hate and intolerant of others yourself. I am reasonably shure that any two heterosexual parents would be disappointed about their child being gay. The first person a parent blames when a child has a "problem" is their self. That's life. A selfish person wouldn't understand.