Dad arrested after protesting 'gay' book

A father who protested a pro-homosexual book his 6-year-old son had been given in school spent a night in jail after being arrested by police.

David Parker, 42, confronted officials at Joseph Estabrook School in Lexington, Mass., Wednesday after his son brought home a copy of "Who's in a Family,'' a storybook that includes characters who are homosexual parents, the Boston Herald reported.

According to the report, Parker refused to leave a meeting after Lexington Superintendent Bill Hurley rejected his request that he be notified when his son is exposed to any discussion about same-sex households as part of classroom instruction.

Police arrested Parker for trespassing and he spent a night in jail before posting a $1,000 personal surety, Boston's WCVB-TV reported.

"Our parental requests for our own child were flat-out denied,'' Parker said in a statement.

Parker said school officials have continued to tell him he has no right to control whether or not his child is taught about same-sex marriage.

"What I am saying is, because of the same-sex marriage law, people are treating it as a mandate to teach the youngest of children. It is not a mandate to teach the youngest of children, particularly if parents say, 'Hold on, I want to be the gatekeeper of the information. It is not that I don't want my child to ever learn it, it is I want to control the timing and manner,'" Parker told the TV station.

Brian Camenker, director of the traditional-values organization Article 8 Alliance, told the Herald Parker also asked that his son be pulled from discussions involving homosexuality that arise spontaneously.

According to the Lexington Minuteman, Parker spoke at a school committee meeting Tuesday and complained that schools have "unfettered ... access to children's psyches."