Report: Cobb school employees hail from anti-gay religious group
11 ALIVE: POLITICS
Doug Richards | December 12, 2023
MARIETTA, Ga. — Three Cobb County school administrators were affiliated with a hate group, according to a report Monday in the online Cobb County Courier. The Southern Poverty Law Center says the Powder Springs-based group called for the death penalty for gays and lesbians.
The three administrators work in the public school system’s communications and marketing divisions.
When the Cobb County board of education fired a teacher earlier this year after she read a book about gender stereotypes to fifth graders, it seemed to be part of a curious pattern of uncharacteristically angry official rhetoric from Cobb public schools, explained state Rep. Teri Anulewicz (D-Smyrna).
“Hitting a bunch of right wing talking points in an email that was sent to every parent about a lawsuit?” recalled Anulewicz. “You can share facts about litigation without sprinkling in hyperpartisan rhetoric.”
Now, the Cobb County Courier reports that three officials in Cobb’s school administration had been part of a group called American Vision—a place with a nondescript Powder Springs storefront, but a fiery online presence that the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as a hate group.
American Vision is a group whose founder, Gary Demar, has called for the death penalty for uncloseted homosexuals, citing the Bible’s old testament.
The tie between the employees and the group is troubling, said Anulewicz.
“If I’m a parent who is gay or lesbian; if I’m a teacher, I would be very concerned to know that there are people in positions of authority making these policy decisions in the district who do not think my existence necessarily is valued,” she said.