(AgapePress) - A pro-family leader says five public school teachers in the San Francisco Bay area are putting their jobs on the line to protect their students from "propaganda" that homosexual activists have forced into the classroom.

Image compliments of WorldNetDaily

Five teachers at San Leandro High School have refused to abide by a school district order to display a rainbow flag poster in their classrooms. The notebook paper-sized poster sports the logo for the San Leandro Unified School District (SLUSD) as well as the inverted pink triangle, an international symbol for "gay pride." Addressing itself to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, [and] questioning youth," the poster reads: "This is a safe place to be who you are. This sign affirms that support and resources are available for you in this school."

Last week, WorldNetDaily reported that the five teachers refused to display the poster because of their religious beliefs. But SLUSD superintendent Christine Lim said the policy calling for the poster to be displayed in classrooms is designed to make schools safe for homosexual students.

"This is not about religion, sex, or a belief system," Lim told the San Francisco Chronicle. "This is about educators making sure our schools are safe for our children, regardless of their sexual orientation."

However, Bob Knight of the Culture and Family Institute (CFI) takes issue with that statement. He believes Lim's talk of safety is cover for the homosexual agenda. "What [such policies] produce is intolerance toward anyone who won't accept homosexuality," he says, adding that in this case, that means "teachers who know that it's not a good thing to sell kids on the idea that it's okay to be gay."

Bob Knight

According to Knight, the heated debate going on at San Leandro High is not about safety at all. "This is about bullying people and saying you will kneel down and bow to the Baal god of homosexuality -- or we'll make your life very miserable," he says.

The CFI spokesman maintains the school district is demonstrating intolerance toward the five teachers who are choosing not to display the posters -- and those teachers, he adds, are courageous for standing up to the mandate.

"The school district has no business telling teachers to glorify behavior that has such a long list of known health risks," Knight says. "This ought to be treated as a public health issue -- not a matter of civil rights, as [homosexual activists] like to frame it."

And it is wrong, Knight adds, to force teachers into a situation that implies their approval of an unsafe and unhealthy lifestyle. "When you put a rainbow poster up in your classroom, you're lending the authority of the teacher to the gay-rights movement," he explains. In essence, says Knight, the district is saying: "Kids, go ahead and try this behavior. Even your teacher is for it."

The controversial poster was designed by students in the school's Gay Straight Alliance Club, under the supervision of a homosexual art teacher. The Chronicle reported on Thursday that tensions had eased at the school following faculty discussions about the "underlying message" of the posters. The principal says she expects to see the posters up in all 200 classrooms this week, and will have "a private conversation" with any teacher who is not in compliance with the policy.

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