Is this true?

[kohinoor]

Just read this in some german forum. Its followed by a discussion how strange Americans must be if this is true and where things like this will lead some day.

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June 17, 2005
Gay Coloring Assignment Has Parents of Nursery Schoolers Seeing Red

Parents of toddlers attending a Geneva, NY nursery school responded in outrage after their children were instructed to draw and color a known symbol of the homosexual agenda: the rainbow. The school has since apologized for the episode and is taking measures to prevent future incidents, including limiting the number of crayons and markers which children can use to color.


A move to limit coloring tots to three shades: red, white and blue

By Cole Walters, education correspondent

GENEVA, NY—When four-year-old Amanda Parker arrived home from nursery school at East Street Elementary last week, she was eager to show her parents the picture she'd drawn that day. But when the tot removed the crayon-on-manila-paper creation from her bulging backpack, her parents were shocked at what they saw. Amanda had drawn and colored a rainbow, the official symbol of the homosexual agenda in this country.


"To say we were taken aback would be a serious understatement," says Amanda's father Dan, a facilities technician. "As soon as we saw what she had in her hand our jaws just dropped." Then came the hard part: Dan and his wife Margie had to explain to their daughter what was wrong with the picture she'd drawn and the colors she'd used.

"She got it," he notes. "We tore it up as a family." That night, with Amanda tucked in and in the arms of the Sandman, Dan and Margie began to discuss filing a lawsuit against the school.

For school, not pot of gold
Administrators at East Street Elementary declined to talk to the press, but sources close to the school say that they've acted quickly to curtail any damage stemming from the incident. Katie Chernowitz, the teacher who encouraged her students to both draw and color rainbows, has been placed on indefinite administrative leave. The school has also moved to limit the colors of markers, crayons and paints that its K-4 students can use in an effort to prevent future rainbow incidents from occurring and further tarring the school's reputation.



Color me angry
That's good news, says peeved parent Connie Martineau, who called the school principal after her son Scout expressed some discomfort about the rainbow coloring assignment. "We've taught him well," says Mrs. Martineau. "He knows that a rainbow, especially one that includes colors like pink and purple, isn't just something you see in the sky after it rains. It's a symbol of the homosexual agenda."

Now, several of the parents have formed a committee to approve in-class assignments—from coloring to spelling exercises—to ensure that they meet strict family values standards. "If we had learned that the teacher expected them to color rainbows, you can guarantee that it wouldn't have happened," says Mrs. Martineau.

Searching for symbols
The rainbow incident is just the latest skirmish in an increasingly hard-fought culture war, in which parents like Martineau must be hyper vigilant in the event that their children are exposed to gay-friendly images and language in the classroom. Parents across the country are now on the look out for rainbows and the colors used to create them, as well as other known symbols of the homosexual agenda including dancing flags, kites, bubble gum, tambourines, whistles and green lasers.



Three colors: red, white and blue
Back at the Parker's house, Dan and Margie are helping Amanda prepare for another day at nursery school. Into the VeggieTales book bag goes a snack pack, a child's cardigan and a small box of crayons. This last item is new—just a week ago, Amanda routinely took a 64-count box of crayons to school, including a set of multicultural crayons to help her draw and color different skin tones. But today Amanda is taking just three crayons to school: one each in red, white and blue.

"That may not be every color in the rainbow but that's really the point," says Dan Parker. "If she has to give up a few colors to fight the homosexual agenda, it's worth it."

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Comments from the other side of the ocean?

kohinoor

[gee4]

I don't really get this ... on one hand they are saying -

1).  A move to limit coloring tots to three shades: red, white and blue.  Does this mean these colours are a symbol of the homosexual agenda?

or

2).  He knows that a rainbow, isn't just something you see in the sky after it rains. It's a symbol of the homosexual agenda."  Does this mean the 7 coloured rainbow is a symbol of the homosexual agenda?

Maybe I am reading this all wrong?  I have never heard of a rainbow referrred to as any homosexual agenda - completely news to me and I have a few gay friends!

G

[officeguru]

In my opinion they are taking this significantly too far.

There is a symbol for the homosexual community to use that includes what could be be considered a rainbow of colors.  Yet everytime I have seen this symbol it is not curved as one would typically envision a rainbow, but rather it is straight lines of color layed ontop of each other.  Supposedly there are certain colors that when put together signify lesbianism - I'm not sure of those exact colors.  I'm sure the same could be for men that are homosexual.

My daughter (who is loves  draws rainbows, at school and home - and I have never had the first thought that of her promoting a homosexual symbol.  And I'm flabbergasted that the parents in that article jumped to that conclusion.  

And sending their daughter to school with only 3 colors... last time I checked - the world is not just red, white, and blue.  I'll all for families being entitled to their values, beliefs, etc - but the fact that they managed to get a school to change their entire curriculum and remove markers and crayons from the classrooms is just too much.  If this was either one of my children's schools - I'd take action against such movement.

Just my thoughts on this.

~~Office Guru~~

[donnap99]

This is the first I've seen of this story. Wouldn't surprise me terribly if it were true. Political correctness gone awry -- yet again!!!  

DonnaP99

[gee4]

I have to agree - the world is not just made up of red, white and blue - how narrowminded to teach children this way.

G

[peana]

Oh it must be made up.  What use is a white crayon?  

[gee4]

Too true

G

[kohinoor]

My kids do have a white crayon each (in addition to about 20 other colours) because sometimes they are doing things on coloured paper.

kohinoor

[reddrogue]

I don't know if this particular story is true, but unfortunately I wouldn't be surprised if it were.  People go 'way too far with politics these days.  If I were a parent in that situation, I'd simply HAVE to mobilize for the opposite of what these right-wing, homophobic parents are doing.  A rainbow is a fact of nature.  I suppose that is why homosexuals use a version of that symbol to represent their community.  But just because they use it does not change the meaning of the real thing.  The gay community has as much right to rainbows as everyone else, and I wouldn't give up my or my children's right to enjoy and appreciate these beautiful facts of nature just because gay people like them too.  Its just ridiculous.

[raindance]

Rainbows a sign of the "homosexual agenda"?  That's news to me.  The Bible explains the rainbow as being the sign of the covenant between God and Man!

All sorts of groups seem to claim all sorts of things as "their" symbols.  I like to think of rainbows as pretty things I see in the sky from time to time.

Raindance

[geminigirl]

What on earth is the world coming to?

What would make a parent see homosexuality in a child's innocent picture of a rainbow?  How twisted is that?  I'm sure the teacher in question was not trying to recruit for Gay Lib or whatever, merely getting her pupils to think about colour and shape.

Not only was the 4-year old probably traumatised / upset because Mommy and Daddy didn't like her picture but then to tear it up "as a family" - what kind of message does it send to the poor kid?

Btw, I'm wearing a pinkish-coloured dress today - am I trying to set some agenda?

The world has truly lost the plot...

[JessW]

What about the ridiculous nature of the story in relation to those poor sods (me included) who happen to be born on the sabbath day (you all remember the poem, don't you?  ie Monday's child is fair of face etc).

Jess (born Sunday 22 March 1970 ie bonny and blithe and good and 'gay' in the nice sense of the word!)

[officeguru]

I just have to add something on this topic.

My daughter's day camp had a Family Fun Night on Friday afternoon.  Shortly after arriving, my daughter told me she wanted to visit the face painting booth - so we waited patiently for her turn.  She spoke with the lady doing the painting and though her first choice wasn't an option - they quickly agreed on another option.  Imagine my delight and the humor I found in the situation when my daughter walked away from the booth proudly showing off a very colorful RAINBOW on her cheek.  Since I had forwarded this story to my boyfriend, he and I both started laughing and talking about how we could not understand what those parents could be thinking.  We started paying attention to how much colors are used around the camp and different items that are rainbow in color.  I could not imagine trying to tell the organization that they need to ban these things when they obviously need to be used to promote creativity and growth with children.  

Just for pure curiousity, I'll be researching this story to find out how things end up for the teacher that was put on administrative leave.

[tiffanyctd]

If you find anything, please let us know!

[reddrogue]

See Quasimondo.com/archives/000542.php.  I don't know if this forum will let me psst a link.  But Quasimondo dot com has a great little rainbow exercise you can do.  Hilarious!!!

According to Quasimondo, this story is a hoax, and I guess the sad thing about it is, it is so believable.  rr