The House bill as written, along with a companion piece in the state Senate, would ban the teaching or furnishing materials on human sexuality other than heterosexuality in public school grades of Kindergarten thru 8th grade, reports Out & About.

“Sexuality is a very complex issue, and some parents have different philosophies about the issue,” said Rep. Stacey Campfield (R-Knoxville). “We are saying that schools should remain neutral; we’re not advocating for or against the homosexual lifestyle.”

“This bill is a slap in the face of local control of education,” said Chris Sanders, board chair of the Tennessee Equality Project, who added that the bill was drawing attention away from more vital education-related issues.

A hearing and debate is scheduled for Wednesday.

Wesley Huggins, 22, was taken into custody Thursday and charged with vandalism, setting fire to personal property or land, and assault.

Huggins and 23-year old Ross Burton were seen by officers attempting to set fire to the gay pride flag in front of the building Wednesday morning.

When approached by the officers, the two suspects began fighting with them and attempted to disarm them. Both fled the scene, but Burton was caught a short time later and taken into custody.

Meanwhile, it was learned Thursday that Burton is a member of the Memphis-based 164th airlift wing of the Tennessee Air National Guard.

Though there is no known connection, an MGLCC billboard depicting gay local former Marine Tim Smith was destroyed in September. The billboard read, “I’m gay and I protected your freedom.”

Plainclothes officers observed Burton and another man — who fled the scene and remains at large — attempting to set fire to the rope that runs up the flag pole in front of the MGLCC.

When police officers approached the men, an altercation ensued, and one suspect attempted to disarm an officer. Additional police were dispatched and some reportedly received lacerations and abrasions from the struggle. The suspects fled, but Burton was located and arrested.

Burton is being charged with aggravated assault and vandalism under $500.

This event marks the second act of vandalism against the MGLCC in two months. In September, an MGLCC National Coming Out Day billboard at Poplar and High was destroyed. No word on whether the two crimes were related.

Full story at the Memphis Flyer.

The American Civil Liberties Union announced today that they have settled out of court with two Tennessee school districts sued on behalf of local students for blocking classroom access to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Web sites.

The lawsuit alleged that Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and Knox County Schools violated the rights of three students by denying them access to LGBT sites.

The ACLU claimed that the filtering software used by the districts blocks access to Web sites specializing in LGBT policy issues, including the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network and Human Rights Campaign. In contrast, the suit notes, students are able to access Web sites that condemn homosexuality or advocate “reparative therapy” programs that attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation.

Filtering Internet access at schools is a common practice, particularly within districts that receive federal Internet access subsidies known as the E-Rate program. The federal law known as the Children’s Internet Protect Act requires schools receiving such funding to utilize a “technology protection measure” to prevent students from accessing obscene or harmful materials, but Crump argued that the law doesn’t apply in this particular case. “Schools that receive E-Rate funding are only required to filter obscenity, child pornography, and certain other sexually explicit materials,” she said. “The Tennessee schools are blocking access to the sites of civil rights organizations that advocate for the fair treatment of LGBT persons. Federal law does not require the blocking of this valuable information.”

As part of the settlement, the school districts agreed to unblock the LGBT Web sites. If the districts re-block the sites at any time, the ACLU says it will bring the case back to court.

“We are pleased that a favorable agreement has been reached with the school departments without the need for further litigation. The schools rightly realized that students should be able to access the important information available on the educational Web sites that were being blocked,” said Catherine Crump, the ACLU’s lead attorney on the case. “This is an important step towards eliminating unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.”