Wednesday, October 27, 2010

SheWired.com - Arkansas School Official Calls for Death of Gays on His FB: Keeps His Job?

SheWired.com - Arkansas School Official Calls for Death of Gays on His FB: Keeps His Job?

Arkansas School Official Calls for Death of Gays on His FB: Keeps His Job?

by Neal Broverman | Article Date: 10/27/2010 4:01 PM
Arkansas School Official Calls for Death of Gays on His FB: Keeps His Job?

After Arkansas school board member Clint McCance advocated on Facebook for the suicide of gay people, the Arkansas Department of Education condemned his comments, but said it may be impossible for him to be removed from office.

“In Arkansas law, the only way to recall a school board member is over a felony [committed by him or her] or absentee issues,” said Julie Johnson Thompson, the director of communications for the Arkansas Department of Education in Little Rock.

Thompson says McCance, as an elected official, answers to voters, not Midland school district’s superintendent. “[The Arkansas Department of Education] doesn’t have any control over his job,” Thompson pointed out.

But Thompson made it clear her office condemns McCance’s Facebook comments, in which he called gay people “fags” and “queers,” and encouraged them to kill themselves if they didn’t get AIDS and die first.