EDITORIAL: Obama’s ‘safe schools czar’ acts up

The only safe thing that can be said about President Obama’s “safe schools czar,” Kevin Jennings, is that he’s completely inappropriate for an important White House appointment. Mr. Jennings has a long, troubling history, but the list just got a little longer with the information that he’s a long-time member of the extremist homosexual organization ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power).

On Oct. 11, 2008, Jeff Davis, Mr. Jennings “partner” of 15 years, described their first meetings: “The first few interactions were challenging for both of us. He was a member of Act Up. Act Up! So it’s like - you know - here’s a big gay activist.”

ACT UP’s demonstrations in the late 1980s and early 1990s centered on vandalism of churches, businesses and homes as well as disrupting public events. The Catholic Church was a favored target because it opposes same-sex marriage and the distribution of condoms. From New York to Los Angeles, activists disrupted Catholic Masses and desecrated Holy Communion, which Catholics believe is the body of Christ.

Churches weren’t the only target. ACT UP fanatics invaded the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour studio in 1991 and chained themselves to Robert MacNeil’s desk during a live broadcast. Protesters carried signs declaring, “The AIDS Crisis is Not Over.”

Mr. Jennings’ membership in ACT UP merely reinforces how unsuitable he is for the honor of serving as a presidential appointee. Everything about his ideology - from his admiration for North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) supporter Harry Hay to backing “Queering Elementary Education” to his use of false statistics - paints Mr. Jennings as an extremist. As usual, the White House has refused to answer questions about Mr. Jennings’ membership in this fringe group.

ACT UP, like NAMBLA, was not even considered a mainstream group among homosexuals. With his record of putting his radical agenda before everything else, Mr. Jennings doesn’t belong at the Department of Education in any role.