Statement on SCOTUS Decision

to Hear

G.G. v Gloucester County School Board

By

Dr. Rodney F. Autry

Senior Pastor, Union Baptist Church, Hayes, VA

“We are extremely gratified the High Court has agreed to hear the weighty case originating in Gloucester County.  The battle to maintain time honored protections for minors in delicate sexual environments has taken several twists and turns.  The Court is the sworn interpreter and defender of our Constitution and the freedoms which issue from it.  It is appropriate that they consider a matter which the Executive Branch has suggested can be resolved by fiat.  Unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats have no right to determine the welfare of the children of Gloucester County or of the nation as a whole.  We trust a timely, fair hearing of this matter will result in sensible solutions which guarantee our school children are assured that awkward, embarrassing and potentially dangerous conditions are not imposed on them.  The Gloucester County School Board is to be commended for championing this matter when other bodies have yielded to pressures from without.  At all points, they have shown rare courage while pursuing this matter with judicial savvy and professional constraint.  Their approach to this highly volatile issue remains a model for school boards elsewhere.  I trust that whether the Court issues a sweeping, landmark decision or a narrower ruling focused specifically on our case that Gloucester schools remain safe zones sexually where common sense, civil protections continue for school age children who have no vote in their own welfare.”