Sometimes I wonder why we waste our time creating blog posts about Sterling District Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio. He seems to relish the controversy and bask in the criticism. Lowell of Blue Virginia put up a post yesterday about Delgaudio’s opposition to H.R. 4530, the “Student Non-discrimination Act”. This act would basically protect LGBT students from bullying and harassment. Nothing objectionable there, right?

But no. Not according to The Man in the Orange Hat. You see, TMOH takes any opportunity he sees to spin anything referencing LGBT issues as a “homosexual agenda to radicalize America” (paraphrasing mine).Here’s what TMOH has to say about H.R. 4530:

You see, the Homosexual Classrooms Act contains a laundry list of anti-family provisions that will:

• Require schools to teach sodomy and other appalling homosexual acts so homosexual students don’t feel “singled out” during already explicit sex-ed classes;

• Spin impressionable students in a whirlwind of sexual confusion and misinformation, recruiting and even pressuring vulnerable teens and pre-teens into the homosexual “lifestyle”;

• Effectively outlaw voluntary prayer in schools, and expose students who pray privately to lawsuits and even criminal prosecution for “religious intimidation”;

• Exempt homosexual students from punishment for propositioning, harassing, or even sexually assaulting their classmates, as part of their specially-protected right to “freedom of self-expression”;

• Force parochial schools to secularize and purge any reference to religion because radicals claim it creates a “hostile learning environment” for homosexual students.

Simply put, The Homosexual Classrooms Act will use schools as weapons to eradicate traditional values in the next generation of American students.

Scary stuff, huh? Here’s what the actual purpose of H.R. 4530 states:

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES

(b) Purposes- The purposes of this Act are–

(1) to ensure that all students have access to public education in a safe environment free from discrimination, including harassment, bullying, intimidation and violence, on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity;

(2) to provide a comprehensive Federal prohibition of discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity;

(3) to provide meaningful and effective remedies for discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity; and

(4) to invoke congressional powers, including but not limited to the power to enforce the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and to provide for the general welfare pursuant to section 8 of article I of the Constitution and the power to enact all laws necessary and proper for the execution of the foregoing powers pursuant to section 8 of article I of the Constitution, in order to prohibit discrimination in public schools on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Not so scary after all. As a matter of fact, it seems like pretty prudent legislation.

We here in Loudoun have had to put up with the antics of TMOH for a long, long time. Until recently, no one stood up to Delgaudio and his hate speech. Come 2011, Loudoun will have to make a choice – will we continue to be mired in the politics of hate championed by a bigot like Eugene Delgaudio? Or will we finally progress to the point where everyone in Loudoun County (and America, at that) can accept and respect the diversities of everyone, be it race, creed, color, or sexual identity?

I think we all know the answer to that, but until we rid ourselves of miserable people like Eugene Delgaudio, we will be stuck in the Dark Ages.