Students across America whose schools take part in "LGBT History Month" soon will be hearing praise for a transgendered killer who recently got out of prison.
According to a website promoting the observance, the personality spotlighted for Oct. 25 is CeCe McDonald, who was accused of second-degree murder and accepted a plea bargain of second-degree manslaughter after fatally stabbing a man with scissors.
McDonald is presented in LGBT History Month as a "prison reformer" who brought attention to the plight of transgender inmates.
"It is almost unbelievable who these activists think should be held up as role models," said Brad Dacus, the president of Pacific Justice Institute, which issued a statement on the controversy.
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Attorneys at the organization are calling on parents to pay attention to their public schools throughout October to see what is being taught as part of LGBT History Month.
"Every year, this celebration gets more disturbing and bizarre, but telling kids that a killer is a hero represents a new low," Dacus said.
The organizers pick 31 "icons" of the LGBT movement who they urge schools and students to study and celebrate.
The roster this year includes Richard Adams, Faisal Alam, Tallulah Bankhead, Natalie Barney, Bernice Bing, Ivy Bottini, Lord Byron, Allan Berube, Michael Callen, Tseng Kwong Chi, Margaret Cho, Jean Cocteau, Orlando Cruz, Lee Daniels, Storme DeLaveria, Rudy Galindo, Darlene Garner, Glenn Greenwald, Angelina Weld Grimke, Billie Holiday, Marc Jacobs, June Jordan, Kathy Kozachenko, Armistead Maupin, Freddie Mercury, John Cameron Mitchell, Ffrank Ocean, Megan Rapinoe, Lou Sullivan and "Sylvester."
The site features one personality each day.
The biography of Adams, featured Oct. 1, describes how he and a male partner obtained a "marriage license" in Boulder, Colorado, in 1975, when the state didn't recognize same-sex marriage.
Despite the attorney general declaring the license invalid, Adams applied to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service for a residency card as the spouse of an American citizen.
His request and subsequent court case failed.
McDonald in 2012 was given 41 months in prison for second-degree manslaughter after stabbing to death a man who attacked her in Minneapolis. She accepted a plea bargain because she was facing a potential sentence of 20 years. She was released in January after serving just 19 months.
Pacific Justice said works of other individuals on this year's list "would not otherwise be allowed in schools, or most homes."
"For example, a music video of 'icon' John Cameron Mitchell has been too explicit to be shown on MTV Europe."
And, the organization said comedienne 'icon' Margaret Cho's routines "are replete with vulgarity not permitted in school."
"Any kids who want to learn more about 'icon' Natalie Barney will read that she decried fidelity and instead advocated for adultery."
"Last year, Pacific Justice said, the number of school districts officially celebrating LGBT History Month grew to include Los Angeles, Fresno, Philadelphia, Charlotte and two counties in Florida.
In most districts around the country, Pacific Justice said, LGBT History Month is promoted with posters and other materials by the Gay Straight Alliance student clubs and individual teachers without advance notice to parents.
Pacific Justice noted that in 2011, New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie suggested a teacher should be fired for criticizing LGBT History Month on her personal Facebook page.
WND reported the LGBT History Month tradition was started in 1994 by a Missouri high school teacher.