One News Now back on anti-gay track with weak article

While the editorial page in my state continues to bombard Sanford for his stance on stimulus money, One News Now is back on track with its verbal gay bashing:

A family advocate is encouraging parents to keep their children home during the "Day of Silence."

The Day of Silence will take place in junior and senior high schools across America on April 17. David Smith, the executive director of the Illinois Family Institute, explains what the Day of Silence is all about.

"Well, often students take a vow of silence on this day to protest perceived or real injustices against students who are homosexual, self-identify as being homosexual, bi-sexual, transgender or -- I'm sure there is another acronym out there, too -- but anyway, those students who are perceived or self-identify as that, they take a vow of silence," he says.

Smith notes schools handle the event in different ways. Some choose not to participate, some allow students to participate outside of class, while others will have teachers who participate in the classroom.

What a weak ass article. Where is the hyperbole? Where are the code words? There is only this:

"Now we object to the ones who are doing it in class, disrupting school time, because it is a tacit endorsement, an approval, of this political protest," he contends.

The family advocate encourages parents to find out if their child's school is participating in the event, and if so, to keep their children home on that day. "We're asking you to first complain about it, and then consider pulling your child out for the day," he adds. "We're calling it the 'Day of Silence Walk Out.' In fact, there is a website [called] DayOfSilenceWalkOut.org."

By pulling a child out of school for the day, Smith says the school will be hurt monetarily as well because school funds are based on a daily average attendance.

For the record, Day of Silence events generally do not disrupt school time. In past years, they have been successful with lots of students participating.

Disruptions have only come when phony "pro-family" groups have gotten in the mix and decided to raise a fuss, like Ken Hutcherson unsuccessfully tried to do last year.

My guess is that Smith and company will still try to spin success by counting all absences that day as protests against the Day of Silence.

But the odds are that despite that, the Day of Silence will be a success again this year.