Nicholas Sparks For Denying LGBT Group Organization At His School
According to Variety, the writer, Nicholas Sparks, issued an apology on Monday for comments he made regarding an LGBT group that wanted to organize a group at his Christian school. In emails published by The Daily Beast, Sparks took aim at Saul Benjamin, who was the headmaster at his school around that time.
Nicholas was critical of the fact Saul Benjamin was trying to push an agenda in which homosexuality and other traditionally non-Christian lifestyles were promoted at the Epiphany School of Global Studies. Sparks was critical of the organization for focusing on both the anti-discrimination policy as well as the topic of diversity.
Sparks said in a statement on Monday, “I regret and apologize that (my comments) have potentially hurt young people and members of the LGBTQ community,” including those who he knows personally.
The author said it wasn’t his intention to willfully discriminate, it was more of an action to keep groups in-line with the policies implemented in the school. Moreover, Sparks explained his decision for the forceful language, in which he was defending the school policies.
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The Notebook creator wasn’t fond of the way in which the LGBT group was trying to bypass the traditional institutional checks and balances, moreover, especially without the knowledge of the faculty and other students. Clubs and groups have to be formed with the consent of authoritative figures in the school.
Furthermore, Nicholas said gay students were welcome on the campus. As most know, Nicholas is the author of approximately twenty books, with one of them being The Notebook. He founded the school thirteen years ago in 2016.
The issue with Sparks’ school first hit the press with the lawsuit filed by Saul Benjamin five years ago in 2014. The suit was scheduled to begin in August of this year, although, the court chose to throw out the discrimination charges.
Coming back to Sparks’ explanation, he claims the email was written in haste, therefore, his language reflected his emotions at the time. The Notebook writer said he was also taking into consideration the headmaster’s prior conduct, which he previously had issues with.