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FIRST-PERSON: Hidden agendas in the ‘I’m a victim’ claim

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McMINNVILLE, Ore. (BP)–Homosexual activists do a masterful job in portraying themselves as a threatened minority in need of special legislative protection. All the while, gay rights leaders assert with a straight face (no pun intended) that all they want to do is live and let live. However, a current situation in Oregon exposes the true goal of the homosexual rights movement — the forced acceptance of what many Americans maintain is a deviant lifestyle.

According to a recent report by the Eugene Register-Guard, “A lesbian couple has complained to the Eugene Human Rights Commission and the Oregon Child Care Division, alleging that O’Hara Catholic School refused admission to their 4-year old daughter because of their sexual orientation.”

Portland television station KATU reported on its website that Lee Inkmann, one of the women that adopted the girl as an infant, said that the school’s principal “told her in mid-August that having a family with two mothers at the school would confuse other children, and that gay unions are in conflict with Vatican teachings.”

I want to emphasize that O’Hara Catholic School is a PRIVATE school founded with a RELIGIOUS intent. As such, it has every right to set moral standards for students and parents. For a Catholic school to deny a child admission on the basis that his or her parents are openly homosexual should come as a surprise to no one.

However, Ms. Inkmann, who told the Register-Guard that she felt “called to my parish and the local parish school because of my developed Catholicism,” was puzzled over the decision. She went on to say, “I want my daughter to receive a Catholic education that will be in keeping with her teachings at home…” As a “developed Catholic” Inkmann must surely know that her lifestyle flies in the face of official Church doctrine regarding sexuality.

Why would you want your child to have an education that will eventually challenge your very lifestyle? Why would you place someone in a position of authority over your daughter who could well undermine something you believe so strongly? To do so is either very naive or very shrewd.

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While Inkmann may not be a gay rights activist, it certainly appears that something other than naiveté is motivating her actions in regard to the O’Hara School.

When Ms. Inkmann’s daughter was denied admission to O’Hara, she turned to the Eugene Human Rights Commission. Why? The only reason that I can fathom is to try to convince the school to compromise its convictions and accept her daughter. O’Hara officials would have none of it and refused to even meet with an advocate from the Commission.

Not surprisingly, The Oregon American Civil Liberties Union is siding with Inkmann on the issue. The Register-Guard reported Executive Director David Fidanque as saying a private school should fall under the mantle of “public accommodation,” and that a Catholic school “is essentially a business that provides services to the public at large.”

The Register-Guard also reported that Fidanque indicated that O’Hara School might be in violation of a state law that prohibits discrimination by state-certified, extended-day preschools on the basis of the parent’s marital status. As a result, Inkmann has complained to the Oregon Child Care Division, the state agency that oversees certification of childcare facilities. The OCCD is awaiting an opinion from the state Attorney General’s Office on whether the school is out of compliance.

What happens next is anyone’s guess. However, I would not be surprised if a lawsuit is filed in an attempt to force the O’Hara School to cease its policy of “moral discrimination.” Further, I anticipate that in the future homosexual activists will increasingly use litigation as a tool in an effort to silence conservative churches or, at the very least, beat them into submission.

Don’t be fooled by the current entertaining and seemingly innocent face of the homosexual movement. The activists driving the gay crusade have a singular goal — to force decent Americans to accept their deviant lifestyle. I believe that is at the heart of the situation currently unfolding in Eugene, Ore. Why else would an avowed lesbian couple seek to enroll their child in a Catholic school whose beliefs and teachings are opposed to homosexuality?
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Boggs is pastor of Valley Baptist Church, McMinnville, Ore.

KATU NEWS
http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=60304

EUGENE REGISTER-GUARD
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/08/29/c1.cr.twomoms.0829.html