{"id":20266,"date":"2019-11-23T14:33:41","date_gmt":"2019-11-23T21:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/?p=61710"},"modified":"2019-11-23T14:33:41","modified_gmt":"2019-11-23T21:33:41","slug":"steamboat-family-recruits-help-of-religious-rights-attorney-over-howl-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/local-news\/steamboat-family-recruits-help-of-religious-rights-attorney-over-howl-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"Steamboat family recruits help of religious rights attorney over \u2018Howl\u2019 controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
A religious rights attorney has demanded a written apology and expanded staff trainings after a Steamboat Springs High School student taught Allen Ginsberg’s controversial poem, “Howl,” last month.<\/strong>
File photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

A month after a review committee ruled to keep a controversial poem in the Steamboat Springs High School curriculum, a student\u2019s family has recruited the help of a religious rights lawyer in an attempt to strong-arm changes in school policy.  <\/p>\n

In the wake of this most recent development, several television news outlets, including CBS<\/a>, Fox News<\/a> and ABC<\/a>, have covered the local controversy.  <\/p>\n

The issue began in October, when students in high school English teacher Ryan Ayala\u2019s music literature class read and discussed parts of Allen Ginsberg\u2019s 3,000-word poem, \u201cHowl.\u201d<\/p>\n

Published in 1956, the poem elicited praise as a \u201cprophetic work\u201d and is considered a literary canon of the Beat Generation. Its lewd language and graphic sexual reference also sparked criticism, culminating in an obscenity trial to determine if it should be banned and its publishers criminally punished.  <\/p>\n

One student\u2019s father, Steamboat resident Brett Cason, lodged an official complaint over the poem, which prompted the district\u2019s review committee to evaluate the material.<\/p>\n

In an 8-1 decision, the committee determined \u201cHowl\u201d is \u201can influential part of our history\u201d and, when taught in the context of the time period in which it was written, is an \u201cimportant\u201d piece of literature with widespread influence on poetry, art, jazz and hip-hop, Steamboat Pilot & Today reported<\/a> following the ruling.<\/p>\n

Jay Hamric, director of teaching and learning for the Steamboat Springs School District, oversaw the review process. He said Cason had an opportunity to appeal the committee\u2019s decision, but he did not do so. <\/p>\n

Instead, Cason hired Jeremy Dys, an attorney at First Liberty Institute, which on its website claims to be the largest legal organization in the country specializing in religious rights cases. Cason declined to be interviewed by Steamboat Pilot & Today and deferred questions to Dys. <\/p>\n

In a statement to Brad Meeks<\/a>, superintendent of the school district, Dys claimed that Cason\u2019s daughter, Skylar, was exposed to \u201coffensive, lewd and lascivious material\u201d in Ayala\u2019s class, referring to parts of the poem that made her feel \u201cguilty\u201d and \u201cviolated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dys cites one line of the poem in particular, in which Ginsberg speaks of the best minds of his generation, \u201cwho let themselves be f*** in the a** by saintly motorcyclists and scream with joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Dys, this language is inappropriate, particularly in the wake of the #MeToo movement involving sexual assault. He said such language describes \u201csexual violence against women and vivid literary depictions of heterosexually and homosexually erotic acts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ginsberg identified as a homosexual and pacifist, spearheading anti-war demonstrations in the 1950s and \u201960s. \u201cHowl\u201d is seen by many literary experts as an expression of freedom and a rejection of conformism.<\/p>\n

In a Slate article<\/a>, journalist Fred Kaplan described it as a \u201chymn to the holiness of everything about the human body and mind, splashed in verse that breaks free from standard meter but speaks instead in the long lines and jangling rhythm of natural breath and conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the conclusion of the obscenity trial in 1957, Judge Clayton W. Horn ruled that \u201cHowl and Other Poems\u201d was not obscene but contained \u201credeeming social importance.\u201d He supported its protection and distribution under the First Amendment. Horn also cleared the poem\u2019s publisher, Lawrence Ferlinghetti of City Lights Bookstore, of any criminal charges.<\/p>\n

Dys also cites the First Amendment in his statement to argue that Skylar Cason\u2019s religious rights had been violated, referencing the 1992 Supreme Court Case, Lee v. Weisman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe knowing presentation of material that violates the religious beliefs of Skylar and her parents to view, without adequate forewarning and the option to opt-out and provide an alternative assignment, rises to the level of the unacceptable coercive pressure contemplated in Leeand deprives students of their First Amendment rights of conscience and religious liberty,\u201d Dys said in the statement. <\/p>\n

In the same statement, he demands a written apology from teacher Ryan Ayala be sent to all parents in the class. Dys also requests all district staff be required to receive two hours of training on the use of controversial materials, two hours of sensitivity training on parental rights in public education and two hours of sensitivity training on the protection of student religious liberty and the rights of conscience.<\/p>\n

Dys wants these conditions to be met by the end of the year and threatens stricter legal action otherwise. <\/p>\n

It is unclear if the district will adopt these measures. <\/p>\n

In a statement posted on the district\u2019s website<\/a> Monday, Meeks apologized for not alerting parents prior to the start of the school year to give students a choice to opt out of this part of the curriculum. Meeks called the issue \u201csimply an oversight\u201d of not understanding school policy. <\/p>\n

He is referring to Administrative Policy I-9-E<\/a>, which makes it possible for parents to learn of controversial material ahead of time and for students to receive alternative assignments \u201cwhen feasible\u201d upon request. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are working to ensure that all of our teachers are aware of proper procedures around incorporating controversial materials and follow them,\u201d Meeks said in the statement. \u201cStudents who choose not to engage in the material will be given an alternative assignment.\u201d<\/p>\n

An additional statement<\/a> was sent to families and staff Wednesday reinforcing the commitment to the policy, emphasizing more work would be done to ensure it is followed in the future. <\/p>\n

In a letter to Brett Cason, Ayala apologized for introducing a text in class that made students, namely Skylar, uncomfortable. He said Ginsberg\u2019s poem is the \u201cmost controversial\u201d piece of literature the class covers, but he includes it to encourage students to take a critical look at what determines artistic merit and what justifies censorship.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is my goal, through this poem, that students will consider their self-expression and embrace authenticity, while being open to others\u2019 demonstrations of their own,\u201d Ayala said in the letter. <\/p>\n

Ayala said he does not personally endorse Ginsberg\u2019s claims in the poem. He acknowledged he should have alerted parents about the controversial material before the semester started and said he has taken action to avoid further problems, such as making it an option for students to watch the movie version of the poem, also included in the curriculum.<\/p>\n

Hamric stands by the review committee\u2019s decision to keep the poem in the school curriculum. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is an important piece of American culture, of American society,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is something I would want our students, in a safe and supportive environment, to discuss and learn about.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Sky-Hi News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A religious rights attorney has demanded a written apology and expanded staff trainings after a Steamboat Springs High School student taught Allen Ginsberg’s controversial poem, “Howl,” last month.File photo A month after a review committee ruled to keep a controversial poem in the Steamboat Springs High School curriculum, a student\u2019s family has recruited the help […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-20266","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-16 03:29:22","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20266\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}