The recent outpouring of hate and ignorance by parents opposed to the anti-bullying policy was appalling. The demonstration was reminiscent of the protests of the white mobs over desegregation at the University of Mississippi.

Those who claim they oppose the policy on moral Christian grounds must realize that they are being neither moral nor Christian. If they sincerely reason as to under what circumstances Jesus would tolerate brutalization of another human being, they would realize there are none.

I remember well from my Junior High and High School days the misery suffered by anyone whom the cliques even intimated might be gay – or poor or less popular or less athletic or have a minority political view or have lower academic achievement – or any of a number of reasons the child might be considered different. As a parent, I would be devastated if my child suffered the ridicule and harassment that our current policies obviously do not adequately address.

Paul Sheridan should be commended for trying to put an end to this herd mentality, and for attempting to offer some sort of protection for these children. Instead, his name is being dragged through the mud as someone who is trying to indoctrinate our children into a perverse lifestyle.

The opposition to the anti-bullying policy is an embarrassment to our state. I urge all thinking people to contact the Governor, the Attorney General, and the state and local School Boards to ask them to do what they can to implement the policy without hesitation.

Elliot M. Namay, Jr.

As published in the Charleston Gazette, October, 2002