Priest in Newark Church Pressed NJ School To Cover Gay Mural Painted by LGBT Students
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| Mural painted over by school |
Jane Clementi, co-founder of the Tyler Clementi Foundation, speaks about NJ’s conversion therapy ban, during an interview at her home in Ridgewood on April 18, 2019. She is the mother of Tyler
Clementi, who died by suicide after being bullied because he was gay. North Jersey Record
New Jersey's largest gay rights advocacy group is condemning a Bergen charter school for destroying part of a student's mural that supported the LGBT community.
The Bergen Arts and Science Charter School in Hackensack, which leases its building from Holy Trinity Church, a Catholic church in Hackensack, painted over part of the mural that a 16-year-old student created because the church found it offensive.
The group Garden State Equality was enraged by that act, and is asking the Archdiocese of Newark to have the school restore the mural.
“It is offensive, unconscionable, and flatly unconstitutional for this church acting as a for-profit landlord to restrict a public school’s curriculum or censor student speech within those walls. This type of hate-fueled bigotry is precisely why New Jersey needs LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum to promote acceptance and understanding,” said Garden State Equality Executive Director Christian Fuscarino in a statement.
A student at the Bergen Arts and Science Charter School painted a mural for an art project. The church, which owns the building, demanded the school paint over a rainbow heart signaling LGBTQ rights.
A student at the Bergen Arts and Science Charter School painted a mural for an art project. The church, which owns the building, demanded the school paint over a rainbow heart signaling LGBTQ rights. (Photo: Student)
Garden State Equality also said that the church has restricted education at Bergen Arts and Science before, including by forcing a school psychologist to remove a poster supportive of LGBT students.
The student who did the mural, a high school junior, told NorthJersey.com and The Record that the school was forced to paint over part of a mural that included a rainbow heart.
I would like to ask this priest what in the picture did he find inmoral, ungodly or brought him bad memories of his past? Which one of those? None? why do this? I guess he forgot The name Tyler Clementi, the young man that killed hmself after being bully in the school......Iam starting to think that this so called priest or one like him had something to do with the athmosphere of bullying in school that killed Tyler. I never met tyler but I know about him. If these students are being taught that a rainbow heart is bad because gays painted it, then it most be ok to make fun of them.
BRING THAT MURAL BACK!! MUral and Moral are so close but I see no morality in those that took part in this. Lets say enough is enough!!
Adam Gonzalez, Publisher
I would like to ask this priest what in the picture did he find inmoral, ungodly or brought him bad memories of his past? Which one of those? None? why do this? I guess he forgot The name Tyler Clementi, the young man that killed hmself after being bully in the school......Iam starting to think that this so called priest or one like him had something to do with the athmosphere of bullying in school that killed Tyler. I never met tyler but I know about him. If these students are being taught that a rainbow heart is bad because gays painted it, then it most be ok to make fun of them.
BRING THAT MURAL BACK!! MUral and Moral are so close but I see no morality in those that took part in this. Lets say enough is enough!!
Adam Gonzalez, Publisher
The Archdiocese of Newark, in a statement released on Thursday, asserted that there was no order to cover the rainbow heart, and that school officials must have made the decision to do so. But the mural did include "some symbols of sexuality that were inappropriate for the building," which is used by church parishioners as well as the school, the statement said.
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Holy Trinity Church raised two concerns, according to the statement: "First that the school refrain from consistently painting on the building surfaces. Secondly that the school remove some content in a new painting, which included some symbols of sexuality that were inappropriate for the building, as the building is utilized by parishioners of the church as well as the school."
The Rev. Paul Prevosto, pastor of Holy Trinity Church, told NorthJersey.com that parishioners brought the mural to his attention because of a depiction of male figures that looked "obscene." The mural included abstract figures with interlocking circle and arrow symbols that represent the male gender.
Prevosto also called the mural "offensive" and said he told the school to "take care of it."
The student, who did not want her name published, said her honors art class had painted murals inspired by great artists in the school cafeteria. She painted a piece featuring colorful silhouettes of people and a rainbow heart that was a replica of work by gay artist Keith Haring, whose colorful graffiti-style art gained popularity in the 1980s.
Distraught by the incident, the student took to Twitter for support.
"So ...my school's owned by a Catholic Church and they want me to take down my Keith Harring mural that supports the LGBT community," she said. "They think it's inappropriate...I'm heartbroken and I really never thought this could actually happen. Please help."
The Catholic Church prohibits sexual activity between people of the same gender and its Catechism calls homosexual acts "intrinsically immoral and contrary to the natural law."
But the church has also emphasized that homosexual people are not inherently sinful and should be welcomed in the faith community.
Cardinal Joseph Tobin of the Newark Archdiocese has called for the church to be more inclusive, and he has celebrated Mass for openly gay Catholics.
The school's lease agreement with the school includes a stipulation about Catholic values and states that "anything contrary to our Catholic sensitivity should not be displayed or seen."
New Jersey this year became the second state in the nation to adopt a law that requires schools to teach about LGBT history, including the political, economic and social contributions of individuals who are gay and transgender. The law takes effect in the next school year.
Officials from Garden State Equality noted that charter schools like Bergen Arts and Science, which are public schools run by private organizations, will be required to comply with the law.
"Decades ago, the United State Supreme Court held that students ‘do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,’” said Garden State Equality board member and former state bar president Thomas Prol. “It is sadly ironic that an educational institution is now delivering a lesson in censorship to these students during their tender years."
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