Anoka-Hennepin Superintendent Belatedly Admits Anti-Gay Bullying Contributes to Suicides

Anoka-Hennepin School Superintendent Dennis Carlson (pictured) seems to be belatedly admitting that the anti-gay bullying that has been rampant in his school division (located in Michele Bachmann's district) and encouraged by a recently eliminated Christianist backed policy may have contributed to some of the wave of suicides within the district. It's unfortunate that Carlson refused to open his eyes or grow sufficient spine to speak up before lives were needlessly lost. Instead until the Justice Department began its investigation and lawsuits were filed, Carlson seemed only too happy to kiss the asses of the Christianist bigots. Of course the timing of Carlson's statements is suspicious given that mediation efforts are approaching in the lawsuits against the school division. In fact, Tammy Aaberg, a district mother who lost her 15-year-old Justin to suicide caused by anti-gay bullying, notes the suspicious timing of Carlson sudden enlightenment. The Twin Cities Pioneer Press looks at Carlson conveniently timed statement. Here are highlights:

A week before Anoka-Hennepin school leaders are due back in court to try to mediate lawsuits still against the district, Superintendent Dennis Carlson issued an apology to those he might have offended with his comments about the district's past student suicides.

In a one-page statement posted Thursday on the district's website, Carlson said he meant "absolutely no disrespect" to students or parents who might have taken issue with his past remarks on the matter. Earlier, he had said the district's investigation into seven student suicides from November 2009 to July 2010 hadn't found a connection to anti-gay bullying.

Parents of those who died and others in the district have said at least four of the students were bullied for their real or perceived sexual orientation before their deaths. Some have claimed the district's Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy contributed to a hostile environment for gay students. The lawsuits pending against the district also mention the suicides.

Tammy Aaberg . . . said Carlson's statement seems suspiciously timed given what might be an approaching settlement on the lawsuits.

Six former and current students who claim they were bullied for their real or perceived sexual orientation sued Minnesota's largest district last summer. Including relief for the students, the lawsuits seek a repeal of the district's Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy. That policy was replaced this month. . . . . Aaberg - who has become a crusader for gay rights in the district since the death of her son, who was gay - said the apology didn't seem sincere.

In defense of his earlier statements, Carlson said they were made because the district's investigation into the deaths did not uncover evidence to suggest bullying was "the main reason" for the suicides, and also to encourage others who knew or believed otherwise to come forward, his statement this week said.

That explanation fell short for Michele Johnson, who lost her 13-year-old daughter, Samantha, to suicide in 2009 after she was bullied by other students at Anoka Middle School for the Arts because they thought she was gay.

Before Samantha's death, Johnson said, she complained to several administrators about the bullying after finding out her daughter had stopped going to volleyball practices. Nothing was done, she said.

"When Dennis Carlson made that first statement about the investigation, I was just devastated," Johnson recalled. "There was no investigation. Nobody talked to me; nobody talked to Samantha's closest friends....They were just trying to cover their butts."

Covering their butts and kissing the asses of Christianist parents seems to be standard procedure for far too many school administrators. It certainly seems to be the course taken by the York County, Virginia schools after the anti-gay bullying induced suicide of Christian Taylor.