Let him be.

Kevin Jennings is the newly appointed Assistant Deputy Secretary at the Department of Education for the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools. He is also a teacher, an author, a human rights activist, and an openly gay man. He spent his formative years growing up in the strictly religious Baptist South, where he endured an adolescence of taunting, prejudice, and harassment because of who he was, and because people simply didn't understand. Although he is still somewhat bitter from his experiences (who wouldn't be?); Jennings rose above his negative past to become the founder of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, an organization which preaches acceptance and understanding, as well as equal rights for all students. GLSEN has been making a difference in the lives of young people through grassroots outreach campaigns, research, and positive change in educational communities since the early 1990s. Because of his commitment to fairness and safety in schools, Jennings was appointed by President Barack Obama to his current position as "Safe Schools Czar" within the Education Department.

But the harassment has not stopped. Like environmental visionary Van Jones before him, Jennings is the newest target for right wing religious extremists and their slew of media henchmen. He has been labeled a "radical homosexual activist," and every word and action over the past 20 years of his career has come under severe scrutiny. On the conservative Christian website, humanevents.com, situated between a donation link for Sarah Palin's PAC (::shudder::) and a promotion of Newt Gingrich's weekly newsletter (it's free!), is an article titled "Kevin Jennings- Unsafe for America's Schools."

Their homophobic paranoia precedes them in this case, as they have diligently worked to convince themselves that Jennings is unsafe for our nations children. The Family Research council, who were at the forefront of Van Jone's smear campaign, have made the claim on their website that Jennings intends to make schools "safe for sexual predators," while the geniuses at human events are certain that Jennings wants to capture every sexually confused child and lock them away to a lifetime of gayhood.

Give me a break. This absurdity would be laughable if it weren't so disturbingly reminiscent of our general inability to see past the end of our own social noses. Jennings has stated nothing about his intent to make schools "gayer." He has simply pledged to reduce bullying caused by close-minded misunderstandings, and to promote education on Gay, Lesbian, and Straight identities so that our children don't live to become grown-up bullies like those at the FRC.

I beg the FRC, Rush Limbaugh, FoxNews, Human Events, all of these promoters of fear and mistrust... let the man be! Let's give him a chance to prove his worth as an effective protector of our children before we condemn him for his personal life.

And honestly, is it actually detrimental to teach our children about tolerance? Or would it lead to a more peaceful educational environment? Would an increased exposure to a controversial issue harm their delicate minds, or open their hearts to the reality of our beautifully diverse world?