$8 Million Gift by AOL's Case Draws
Protest
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS(NYT today)
ASHINGTON, Oct. 20 — Gay rights advocates expressed
concern today over an $8.35 million donation by Stephen M.
Case, the chairman of America Online, and his wife, Jean, to a Florida
school that is affiliated with a church that seeks to "cure" homosexuals.
The school, which is Mrs. Case's alma mater, is the Westminster
Academy in Fort Lauderdale. It is a private Christian elementary and high
school that was established by the Rev. D. James Kennedy, a
Presbyterian television evangelist whose Coral Ridge Ministries
advocates converting gay people to the heterosexual lifestyle.
Mr. Kennedy's organization took out full-page newspaper
advertisements two years ago that challenged the idea that homosexuality
is immutable and that gays merit protection under anti-discrimination
laws.
Elizabeth Birch, the executive director of the Human Rights Campaign,
the nation's largest gay and lesbian advocacy organization, on Thursday
wrote to Mr. Case expressing concern about the donation, a spokesman
for the group said.
"The school is owned and operated by Coral Ridge Ministries, which is a
notorious anti-gay institution," said David Smith, a spokesman for the
Human Rights Campaign.
Repeated efforts to contact Mr. Kennedy or Westminster Academy
officials were unsuccessful tonight.
In a statement, Mrs. Case said the gift, which aides say was made more
than a year ago, was intended for campus improvements and financial aid
"for underserved youth in the Fort Lauderdale area."
The donation was not made to benefit the Coral Ridge Presbyterian
Church or its programs, she said. It was virtually identical to a gift Mr.
Case sent to his alma mater, Punahou school, a nonreligious school in
Hawaii.
Aides to the Cases said the donation came from private funds, and not
from the $125 million Case foundation, which supports programs for
poor youth.
"In no way was the gift intended to send a message of intolerance," Mrs.
Case said. "Steve and I strongly oppose discrimination in any form."
Mr. Smith said the gift was surprising because America Online has long
been supportive of gay rights. "They have excellent corporate policies
and we want to give them the benefit of the doubt," he said. |
