Mass. teacher read story of princes who fall in love to 7-year-old students

BOSTON - Two sets of parents filed a lawsuit Thursday against a Massachusetts town and its public school system after a teacher read a gay-themed fairy tale to children without notifying them first, their lawyers said.

The lawsuit against Lexington, a wealthy suburb about 12 miles west of Boston, seeks unspecified damages after book “King & King” was read to a classroom of about 20 children who were mostly 7 years old.

It also charges that the school broke a 1996 Massachusetts law requiring that parents be notified of sex-education lessons. It names Lexington Superintendent of Schools Paul Ash and several other school and town officials.

Lexington officials were not immediately available to comment. Ash told Reuters in an interview this week that the school was under no legal obligation to inform parents the book would be read.

“King & King” tells the story of a crown prince who rejects a bevy of beautiful princesses, rebuffing each suitor until falling in love with a prince. The two marry, sealing the union with a kiss, and live happily ever after.

‘A civil-rights issue’

Ash has said reading the book was not intended as sex education but as a way to educate children about the world in which they live, especially in Massachusetts, the only U.S. state where gays and lesbians can legally wed.

It was read during a lesson about different types of weddings. “I see this as a civil-rights issue. People who are gay have a right to be treated equally,” Ash said Monday.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Boston alleges violations of the federal civil rights of the two sets of parents, David and Tonia Parker, and Rob and Robin Wirthlin.

It also accuses the town and school officials of violating the Massachusetts civil rights code and the state’s parental notification law, according to the parents’ attorney, Boston law firm Denner Associates.

“This is plainly a civil-rights matter,” their lawyer, Jeffrey Denner, told Reuters.

The issue erupted when Robin Wirthlin complained to the school’s principal after her 7-year-old son told her about the reading last month. She then turned to the conservative Massachusetts-based advocacy group Parents Rights Coalition, which issued a statement on the case to the media last week.

Previous conflict with school

David Parker has been entangled with the town’s school system since he was arrested a year ago for trespassing when he refused to leave school grounds until authorities promised to excuse his son from classroom discussions on same-sex parents.

His son, who at the time was about 5 years old, had brought home a “diversity book bag” that included the book “Who’s in a Family?” The book includes pictures of same-sex parents along with other types of families.

The issue comes as California considers introducing school textbooks highlighting the role of gays in its history.

“King & King” was ranked eighth among the top 10 books people wanted removed from libraries in 2004, according to the American Library Association. Its Berkeley, California publisher, Tricycle Press, said complaints over the 32-page book first surfaced in 2004 in North Carolina.

An Oklahoma legislator last year cited the book as reason to impose new restrictions on library collections.

Written by two Dutch women, the book has sold about 15,000 copies in the United States since it was translated and published in 2002. A sequel, “King, King and Family,” about a royal same-sex family, was published two years later.

Prince Charles and Camilla??

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I would have acted the same way as David Parker. But I'd put my kids in private school too.

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Man I'd hate to be that guys kid(s).

What a shock there'll be when they leave the nest.

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Pxland

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Do you guys REALLY believe what your saying, or are you just trying to look like you care?

Theese are 7 YEAR OLD KIDS!!!
They're going to think its funny, and then (like me and my friends way back when) pickup the words (gay/fag/homo) and make fun of eachother.

Whos idea was it to read a gay story to some KIDS. People complain that kids arent acting like "kids" anymore... Its because were exposed to this crap early, for no good reason.

If somebody gives me a good reason for 7 year olds to be read a "king and king" type story, I'll stfu

Keep this out of MY classroom PLEASE
~Nate

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they're 7 YEARS OLD!!!
They've got another 11-12 years of mandated school left, and then move out... Or, they'll stay at home untill theyre done with collage, so save some $$

~Nate

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Funny how people who are affraid to let kids celebrate Christmas see nothing wrong with attempting to indocrinate little kids into the gay lifestyle

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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Not really. All he wants is for his kids to learn about this stuff in light of his own beliefs, not those of someone else. I'm sure they'll know all about "My Two Dads" and such when he thinks it's appropriate. But it's HIS choice, not some teacher's who has an agenda.

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1980 300-D 225,000 miles. Donated to the National Kidney Foundation.
1980 240-D manual, 297,500 miles. Totaled by inattentive driver.

I'm all for the pursuit of happiness as long as it doesn't infringe on mine, but I have to agree that reading a gay-lifestyle fairy tale to 7-year olds seems bizarre and wildly inappropriate. As a parent, I do find it a bit disturbing...

This is certainly reasonable.

I was thinking more along the lines of having a reactionary, malcontent, A-hole of a father who is so scared of what other people do that he has to sue his childs school district, the town, the superintendant, the teacher, "and several other school and town officials".


That kid needs to be hate schooled. Oops, I mean home schooled.

These kids won't pick up derogatory euphamisms from this book as you state. They will pick those up from Jimmy's hate-monger father.

If they want to stay at home and make collages of gay people I say more power to them.

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Pxland

2001 Honda Accord

1995 Jeep Cherokee

1973 MB 280SEL 4.5

I don't disagree with you that it might be a little young. But it's all around and here to stay so they are gonna learn about it one way or the other.

Filing a suit helps nobody. As a matter of fact, if he wins his suit he hurts all of his neighbors and all of their kids. Is that better than a stupid fairy tale that none of the kids will remember in a year?

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Pxland

2001 Honda Accord

1995 Jeep Cherokee

1973 MB 280SEL 4.5

hate schooled/home schooled LOL that's great.....

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TXBill



Former owner of a few diesel MB cars
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It's a parent's job to introduce children to the world as they see fit. I mean, you could bring a 7-year old to a strip club too -- and for the same reason you cited -- but most responsible parents would deem that inappropriate. At that age, we should just stick to the basics and keep life as simple as possible.

I fairy tale being equated with a strip club. Yea what ever.

As someone pointed out, homosexuality is here and it is not going away. I would rather have children be read about to princes than to have them read a fairly tale about a princes who has to be rescued by a "man". Fairy tales in the past have been about white subservient women and white dominant males. Yet there is very little out cry about that except from those crazy feminist (sarcasm intended).

There was a study I read about last year (I cannot recall who conducted it) but it indicated that children were becoming sexually active at a very young age (IIRC at about 10-12 years old. Like it or not children are subjected to adult material at a much earlier age. They are maturing at a much earlier age. I see girls in their early teens who look and talk like they are in their late teens.

Assuming that the fairytale was in the same style as most other popular fairytales, I see no problem introducing them to a reality of life. IMO, if introduced properly, they will be less likely to become bigoted and hateful like some on this board. Knowledge is never a bad thing. What is done with that knowledge is up to the individual.

I seem to recall reading articles about the same type of reaction about inter-racial marriages, women getting the power to vote and own property, blacks and white interacting on a equal basis (remember the outcry about Lt. Ohoura on the bridge of the Enterprise and god for bid she kissed Kirk). Seems the world has survived those tempests in a tea pot. The bigoted religious right can stomp their feet and spew their venom all they want but the world will move on. One day, a person will be able to grow up in this world with out worrying about loving the wrong person or not having control of their own body. Till then, the rest of us just need to keep fighting the good fight

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well if the parents would actually do something and be parents other than complaining and sitting down and telling the children that some people are different. some people just dont have an open mindset.. times have changed its not the 20th century anymore.. its out there people.. deal with it or go move to an island inhabited by monkeys.. but watch out some might be rump rangers