White House is right to stand by Jennings

By Melissa Hoskins - McClatchy-Tribune News Service

COPENHAGEN -- President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have shown leadership by not giving in to anti-gay extremists.

They know that Kevin Jennings, assistant deputy secretary for education, who heads up the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, is the right person for the job.

First, Jennings knows schools. For more than a decade, he was teacher and later a principal. He has been recognized for his excellence, earning awards from the prestigious National Association of Secondary School Principals and the National Education Association. These organizations have both released statements in support of Jennings.

Second, he has spent the last two decades trying to make our schools safer places for all students. In 1990, he founded the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network. He and the organization have created innovative programs to combat homophobia in our schools and the violence that flows from it.

He has worked with school administrators around the country. They know him and respect him, and he knows and respects them.

Recently, 53 Republican members of Congress sent a disingenuous letter to Obama urging him to fire Jennings. It's clear from that letter their main objection is Jennings is gay.

They accuse him of “pushing a pro-homosexual agenda in America's schools.” Actually, GLSEN's mission, as it states on its Web site, www.glsen.org, is to see that “every member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.”

The most disgusting element in the letter is the smear that Jennings “ignored the sexual abuse of a child” when a “15-year-old” told Jennings he had an affair with an older man.

The “child” was actually 16, the legal age of consent in Massachusetts. Further, the 16-year-old in question, who is now 38, told CNN he never actually had any relations with an older man.

So let's be clear. Republicans are out to get Jennings because of who he is. They want to revive their pet wedge issue. They are using Jennings to score points against Obama and to energize their right-wing base.

Their campaign is reprehensible.

Jennings has dedicated the better part of his life to making schools safe for all students, including the most vulnerable. Let us not forget this year alone, two 11-year-olds took their own lives unable to deal with constant anti-gay bullying.

Jennings has been a leader against bullying of every stripe in our schools, against violence from whatever corner, against drug use wherever it crops up.

We need safe school environments for our children. They need to be free to be themselves, where they can learn and become contributing members to society, unburdened by hate.

This has been Kevin Jennings' mission.

Obama and the secretary of education are right to stand strong against the latest pressure from the right. Thankfully, Jennings can continue doing his job of making our schools safe for everyone.