Anti gay-marriage pamphlet distributed on campus

Several men distributing pamphlets condemning same-sex marriage by referencing the Bible were present on the CVHS campus on the first day of the school year. The men distributing pamphlets entitled “What does the Bible REALLY say about Same-Sex Marriage?” were first reported to campus patrollers by a teacher.

After the teacher reported the men, who were distributing the pamphlets on the corner of Santa Maria Avenue and Mabel Avenue, campus patrollers asked them to leave, as they did not have visitors’ passes. They immediately complied with the request.

“Anytime someone comes onto campus, they need to obtain a visitor’s pass,” said CVHS Principal Mary Ann Valles. “If that isn’t done, we ask that person to leave campus. The reason for this is that we want to be informed of and approve of anything being distributed on our campus.” Before the men were removed, however, they managed to give many of their pamphlets to passing students.

“In the Bible,” claims the pamphlet, “there is never any recognition of any type of same-sex union or marriage. Instead, the Bible only has a repeated condemnation of any other union outside of marriage between a man and a woman.” The pamphlet goes on to say that “laws should never seek to encourage same-sex behavior, but should rather discourage such unhealthy, sinful behavior.”

The harsh content of the pamphlet, according to Valles, “violated our anti-discrimination policy.”

“What the pamphlets are really doing is spreading dirty lies about LGBT people,” said Frankie Canto, one of the student organizers of Castro Valley’s first gay pride rally, which occurred over the summer. “[Those men are] really trying to turn people against[LGBT people] by making us seem like we have no standards, no morals, and no values.”

Canto, however, hopes that the pamphlet does not give readers any misconceptions about the LGBT community.

“Some Christians and Catholics believe [LGBT people] are demons amongst their community,” he said. “But in reality, we’re just normal people who live the same boring lives everyone else does.”