A Catholic school teacher openly called being gay a lifestyle choice on Facebook. What some celebrities said in response might surprise you.
Patricia Jannuzzi’s anti-gay rant has since been removed, but her former student took a screen capture and posted it on Instagram with his own thoughts. That student, Greg Bennett (a guest on The Real Housewives of New Jersey ), stands among a group of celebrities who took to educating Jannuzzi on the discretion she should probably be using on the social media website.
The Catholic school teacher had posted the following rant.
“See this is the agenda. [One] minute they argue that they are born this way and it is not a choice to get 14th amendment rights equal protection. [Bologna, it] was carved for permanent characteristics, unchangeable characteristics such as race and disability. [However], once they [are] in the 14th amendment, they will argue everyone should be able to choose [the] gay and lesbian lifestyle. [In] other words, they want to [re-engineer] western [civilization] into a slow extinction. We need healthy families with a mother and a father for the sake of the children and humanity!”
Greg Bennett’s response on Instagram claims that she was his high school religion teacher, and that things like this don’t shock him any more. He goes on to state that it’s teachers like Jannuzzi “shaping the hearts and minds of students today” that make him fear for the future, and urged the public to contact the school and tell them about it.
This nightmare dumpster human taught me in high school, and still teaches there. Keep it classy, Immaculata pic.twitter.com/CD9m6WlwOP
— Greg Bennett (@GreggyBennett) March 9, 2015
Since then, the New York Daily News says that Immaculata High School has distanced themselve s from the Catholic school teacher and her rant, and had Jannuzzi take it down. There is a petition at the school to have her face further discipline.
Susan Sarandon was one of the most prominent celebrities to respond, and probably had the biggest following. Having starred in The Rocky Horror Picture Show early on, her position on the LGBT movement has been likewise supportive, even bragging about her nephew ( openly gay Scott Lyons) standing up to his own teacher on the issue.
Sarandon sent Patricia Jannuzzi the following letter.
“While I respect the fact that people have different opinions on the matter what I can tell you from my heart is that I urge you to be careful with your words and the messaging you are putting out there. You have a responsibility as a teacher to lead by example and the words that you have been throwing out there are detrimental to the well being and health of the youth that you inspire.”
This Catholic school teacher is getting quite a few responses on her anti-gay rant. Do you think the celebrity backlash is enough, or should Immaculata High School take further steps?
[Image via Cornell Abroad ]