In the midst of an epidemic of anti-gay bullying and LGBT teen suicides, Union Township, New Jersey, special education teacher Viki Knox has this It Gets Better message for LGBT students: You’re perverted. You’re a cancer. I don’t have to tolerate or accept you.
This message was posted, slightly less coherently and in ALL CAPS, on Knox’s Facebook page, where she describes herself under her religious views as a “Jesus freak.”
(image courtesy of the Star-Ledger)
It’s unknown if Knox is Facebook friends with any students (a question that immediately popped into my mind), which would make the situation that much worse. Regardless, her message is clear: LGBT students at Union High School are sick freaks and perverts who choose to be the way they are and then parade their choices in front of poor, victimized Knox. What sent Knox into this anti-gay tirade, you ask? An LGBT History Month display on the school’s bulletin board. This is what she’s so angry about – the simple acknowledgement that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people have a history worth knowing about. This is what caused her to attack every LGBT person, including students she may come into contact with daily, on her public Facebook page. So much for being a role model.
You can see the picture Knox posted of the LGBT History Month display, along with the entire Facebook exchange, which has since been taken down but has been captured in all its virulent hatred by Garden State Equality, here. Here are some memorable comments from Knox:
Homosexuality is a perverted spirit that has existed from the beginning of creation. The word of God refers to it often.
I have friends and loved ones who are practicing/living as homosexuals. Yes I love can [sic] care about them…But how they live and their actions, behaviors, - CHOICES are against the nature and character of God!
…I know sin and it breeds like cancer!
As I [sic] 15 yr old girl, how many positive fulfilling sexual encounters has she had with a man to know or THINK she wants to only have sex with another female. Most of her experiences would have been with some male trying to practice his techniques and control on her. I haven’t run across any teenagers/young adults fortunate enough to be introduced to sexual relations by professionals: gigolo and escorts.
Why would I protest black history month. UHS/Union does a piss poor job acknowledging black history, Hispanic history month, great inventors, female artists, etc.
Why parade your unnatural immoral behaviors before the rest of us? AND YOU ARE WRONG! I/WE DO NOT HAVE TO ACCEPT ANYTHING, ANYONE. ANY BEHAVIOR OR ANY CHOICES! I DO NOT HAVE TO TOLERATE ANYTHING OTHERS WISH TO DO. I DO HAVE TO LOVE AND SPEAK AND DO WHAT’S RIGHT!
The display should not be in the high school. UHS is not the setting to promote, encourage, support, and foster homosexuality. How does this effect existing laws making it illegal for teenagers to give consent to engage in sexual intercourse! Hmm
Homosexuality is a conscious choice to engage in sexual relations with your same sex. Yes I have difficulty with adults nurturing and accepting these attitudes and behaviors in children. If a man was encouraging an eight year old girl to be a call girl/escort, everyone would be ringing DYFS off the hooks. If a nanny was encouraging her young males to practice self gratification and then do it to each other, the parents and community would be raising the dead!..But lesbians, gays, bi, etc that’s appropriate to teach love and happiness? Okay. Whatever you say.
It just goes on and on and on. It’s gross, but the exchange is worth reading, simply to see the outcry Knox elicited with her hateful comments.
Did I mention that Knox is the faculty adviser for the school’s prayer group? Well that’s nice – praying in school is okay, but learning about a significant part of our nation’s history? Not so much, apparently.
Knox is currently under investigation by the Union Township School District. A local attorney, John Paragano (who was tipped by a concerned parent), and Garden State Equality have called for her dismissal. According to Paragano: “Hateful public comments from a teacher cannot be tolerated. She has a right to say it. But she does not have a right to keep her job after saying it.”
The ACLU of New Jersey, on the other hand, has this to say (from legal director Ed Barocas):
Although we do not agree with the sentiments expressed on Ms. Knox’s personal Facebook page, her comments are protected by the First Amendment. The ACLU believes that the response to offensive speech is not the restriction of speech, but more speech. The school has the right to investigate whether she is performing her job in accordance with school policies and the state's Law Against Discrimination.
Of course, as the Star-Ledger article points out, this incident does call into question the ability of teachers with these kinds of opinions to enforce New Jersey’s recently-passed anti-bullying law.
The thought of Viki Knox inside a school near children – especially children who may be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender – sends chills down my spine. Knox is no role model, nor is she any kind of positive influence on any child. Homosexuality isn’t a “cancer,” but the viewpoint expressed by Knox is.
Feel free to sign a letter to Union Township School District Superintendent Dr. Patrick Martin demanding action.
UPDATE: According to the HRC, Knox went to Twitter in September to protest DADT repeal and proclaim that the end of the world is near. God is not amused, apparently. (I agree, God is not amused, thanks to Knox) Thanks to Luthien Tinuviel for sharing this in the comments.
(image courtesy of HRC)