02Logo WFAN 1010WINS WCBS tiny WLNYLogo

News

NJ Teacher’s Husband Defends Wife As Rally Is Held Condemning Alleged Anti-Gay Comments

View Comments
Gene Knox and Viki Knox sit down with CBS 2's Derricke Dennis. (credit: CBS 2)

Gene Knox and Viki Knox sit down with CBS 2′s Derricke Dennis. (credit: CBS 2)

UNION TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Gay rights supporters called for the dismissal Tuesday night of a Union High School teacher who allegedly posted comments on her Facebook page disparaging homosexuality.

Teacher Viki Knox and her husband, Gene, sat down for a CBS 2 exclusive interview over the firestorm that started it all.

“Homosexuality is a perverted spirit……..I know sin and it breeds like cancer!” Knox posted on Facebook. “Why parade your unnatural immoral behaviors before the rest of us? YOU ARE WRONG.”

“Everybody’s entitled to an opinion,” Gene Knox told CBS 2′s Derricke Dennis, citing his wife’s freedom of speech. “They can persecute her, but they can’t prosecute her.”

The school district, though, advised Viki Knox not to comment during the interview.

The school district is investigating Knox because along with the comment, she reportedly posted a picture of a display at the school celebrating gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender history month.

Knox apparently also wrote, “Union is not South Orange/Maplewood where one out of four families consist of two Mommies or daddies…  Why parade your unnatural immoral behaviors before the rest of us?  I/we do not have to accept anything, anyone, any behavior or any choices!  I do not have to tolerate anything others wish to do.”

Meanwhile, a rally was held Tuesday night declaring that “students have rights,” as those at the event held signs reading “No Hate In Our State.”

“Bigotry and prejudice can’t be taught to the kids. We’re looking at children committing suicide over this,” one man told 1010 WINS’ Eileen Lehpamer.

1010 WINS’ Eileen Lehpamer reports from Tuesday night’s rally


“It’s disgusting that she’s saying all this and posting it online.  She should just keep it to herself,” said student Stephanie Rivero.

Activists from Garden State Equality, a gay rights organization, were at Tuesday night’s Union Township School Board meeting to call for Knox’s dismissal.

Steven Goldstein, the Chair of Garden State Equality, said Knox has no business being in front of a classroom.

“You can’t separate what goes on the internet from what goes on in the classroom,” said Goldstein. “The same students you teach in the classroom are going to see her as a teacher spewing such hate. The second you post on Facebook for all the world to see, it makes you a public person.”

Goldstein said the key issue is that Knox identified herself as a Union High School teacher before posting the anti-gay rant.

“Shouldn’t a school teacher be held to a higher standard?” Goldstein asked.

After the controversy, Gene Knox said that while his stance would be the same, his wife might not have posted the comments on Facebook if she had to do it again.

Dozens of counter-protesters showed up Tuesday night and said Knox has a right to freedom of speech and some agreed with the viewpoint she allegedly expressed.

“It’s just a sin, just like a lie, just like anything you do. It’s a sin,” one woman said.

“She spoke what she honestly felt in her heart, what the Bible teaches,” said Paul Simon of the Calvary Chapel of Monmouth County.

viki knox rally NJ Teachers Husband Defends Wife As Rally Is Held Condemning Alleged Anti Gay Comments

(credit: CBS 2)

Former Union Township councilman John Paragano said he brought the alleged anti-gay comments, which have since been removed, to the attention of school officials and called for Knox’s dismissal.

Last week, the superintendent said Knox is under investigation and appropriate action has and will be taken but would not say if Knox was suspended.

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey has come to Knox’s defense, releasing a statement defending her First Amendment right to express herself.

There has been no decision yet from the school board at its meeting. Knox, meanwhile, is out of classroom on paid administrative leave.

What do you think? Sound off below in our comments section…

View Comments
  • SUSAN

    MRS. KNOX IS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT IN HER BELIEFS…AND…
    IN HER PUBLIC STATEMENTS. THE LORD GOD WHO CREATED OUR BODIES, HAD SPECIFIC PURPOSES FOR EACH OF OUR BODY PARTS, AND HE, HIMSELF, SAID THAT HOMOSEXUAL AND ALL OTHER PERVERTED SEXUAL CONDUCT IS AN ABOMINATION TO HIM, AND SUCH WILL NEVER ENTER INTO ETERNAL LIFE.
    AND HE SHOULD KNOW, FOR HE ESTABLISHED HIS LAWS, AND SET THE RULES AND STANDARDS FOR THIS MORTAL LIFE.
    THE ONES WHO SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED ARE THOSE WARPED MINDS WHO CELEBRATE HOMOSEXUALITY, AND CONTAMINATE THE MINDS OF STUDENTS,WHOSE INNOCENCE IS BEING STOLEN.
    INSTEAD OF TRUE ACADEMIC EDUCATION,THESE POOR YOUTH ARE BEING BRAINWASHED BY AN AGGRESSIVE, PRO-HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA. JUST ONE GENERATION AGO, SUCH “TEACHING” WOULD HAVE BEEN SO REPREHENSIBLE THAT THOSE DOING IT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONES FIRED, YET PEOPLE ARE STUPID ENOUGH TO WONDER WHY AMERICA IS LAGGING BEHIND OTHER NATIONS EDUCATIONALLY?????????????????????
    THIS IS ONE MAJOR REASON WHY.
    I WOULDN’T ALLOW MY CHILD IN PUBLIC SCHOOL THESE DAYS.
    AS FAR AS “HOMOPHOBIA”, THE TERM ITSELF IS IGNORANT,
    DESIGNED TO INTIMIDATE “NON-CONVERTS” TO THIS RADICAL AGENDA WITH PUBLIC RIDICULE.
    FOR ANYONE WHO TRULY UNDERSTANDS THAT “PHOBIAS” ARE IRRATIONAL FEARS, AND THAT HOMOSEXUALITY IS A SIN BEFORE GOD, AND AGAINST SELF AND SOCIETY, AND DOES IN FACT, HELP DESTROY THE MORAL FIBER OF ANY SOCIETY, THEN THAT THINKING, RATIONAL PERSON CAN READILY DISCERN THE DIFFERENCE….BETWEEN FEAR AND SIN.
    HOMOSEXUALITY IS NOT CAUGHT, IT’S TAUGHT..AND ENCOURAGED,
    EVEN EMBRACED, BY THOSE LACKING UNDERSTANDING IN PREDETERMINED GENDER ROLES AND FUNCTIONS.
    AS FAR AS SO-CALLED “HATE SPEECH”, SINCE WHEN IS TELLING THE TRUTH “HATEFUL” OR “HATE-FILLED”? IF YOU TRULY CARE FOR PEOPLE, THE TRUTH IS WHAT YOU DO SHARE; ANYTHING LESS IS DISHONEST, AND HURTS ALL CONCERNED.
    TEACHERS OF YEARS GONE BY USED TO IMPART MORAL INSTRUCTION AS OVERALL INTEGRATION IN THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS, AND FAILURE TO DO SO WAS REMISS.
    NOW…..TEACHERS ARE INVESTIGATED, PERSECUTED, AND EVEN TERMINATED FOR SPEAKING THE TRUTH. PEOPLE, LET ME TELL YOU, THE ONES PROMOTING THIS DEVIANT LIFESTYLE ARE THE ONES WHO NEED TO BE INVESTIGATED AND TERMINATED.
    YOU MIGHT CHANGE MAN’S LAW, BUT YOU WILL NEVER CHANGE GOD’S LAW. IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS, HE WILL HAVE HIS SAY.
    NOW, GO AHEAD AND INVESTIGATE ME FOR SHARING MY STRAIGHTFORWARD BELIEFS.

  • just sayin

    i hope you all realize it’s completely idiotic to hold this woman to a higher standard because she’s black. you claim that because of her race, she should know better because of the civil rights movement. you apparently forgot what happened during that time and how dissimilar it is to this very situation. she did not single out gay students in her class, force them to use separate and worse facilities in the school, or any other thing that even mildly compares to the examples many have brought up.

    her opinion is fine on facebook. correct, her fault is that she shouldn’t have brought up her position as a teacher. regardless, she is entitled to her opinion. while that may be troubling to you, and i understand the adverse effects that hateful opinions can eventually have, you also have to realize how extremely different this case is from those where people use their opinions of bigotry and enact them in hate crimes against others. this woman did nothing of the sort. in fact, your rejection of her makes you just as much of a hypocrite as you believe her to be. if you claim to be “tolerant” but only tolerate those who agree with you, you’re actually not tolerant at all.

  • Marcella Rocha

    After long thought and extensive due diligence on this subject brought up by Ms. Knox, I support her 1st amendment right. Now as to content. Name me one Bank, one Wall Street Firm, one Entertainment Company Power Broker or one head of a Public Company besides Fred Smith at FedEx that isn’t of Jewish descent? I’m waiting. Interesting viewpoint Ms. Knox. I’m not saying to persecute anyone but Ms. Knox speaks the truth as to who controls the vast amount of INC 500 Companies. This isn’t a negotiation people it’s fact.

    Ms. Knox, put up some type of website please….

  • Jim in Orlando

    I support freedom of speech. It is a tremendous freedom, just look at those in other countries such as China and Iran, who speak against the party line.
    HOWEVER… this is not freedom of speech. Mrs. Knox is in a public position of influence. She does NOT have the right to say anything she wants to those she influences – her SECULAR PUBLIC SCHOOL students.

    I have seen it written that she is exercising her “religious freedom”. Let me tell you all about “religious freedom” – for christians in the USA that has been the ultimate hall pass to interfere with laws, lobby legislators, and push their christian agenda. It has been happening for close to 2 centuries in this country and it continues today with homosexuals and abortion as the primary targets.

    Dear christians – it is NONE of your business – now leave us the heck alone. Freedom of speech my donkey…

  • Carlos

    ok… As a Gay man I must admit that to hear someone say the things Mrs Knox said is appaling. However, in this world there will always be people who have opposing views on any issue. What that being said, she was not acting or saying these things in the classroom. It was her free time on her facebook page with people who choose to be her friend.

    The best way to combat views like this is to live our lives the way that God intended us to live, inspite of what others believe or may say… and let the light of our lives shine. I am a Gay Christian and honestly don’t give a rip that someone believes that I’m an abomination; as long as it doesn’t interfere with my freedom to be who I am. I don’t believe that Mrs Knox was teaching her hatred of Gays in the classroom as that would violate the separation of Church and State.

    I hold true to the Freedom of Speech and it’s something I fought for as a US Marine as well.

  • Tabitha

    Wow this is what’s teaching nowadays? Fire her! We don’t need morons like this teaching our kids

  • Jessica S Naples FL

    I’m glad I didn’t renew my ACLU membership and I won’t until they learn how to establish boundaries. Freedom of speech is fine until one’s speech imposes on someone else’s rights,

    How soon we forget …It wasn’t too long ago that gays were fighting for civil rights for Blacks as well as for themselves. I cannot help but notice the majority of Blacks no longer feel gays deserve civil rights as long as they now have their own rights.

    This woman is a teacher and she is teaching students her twisted view-point. Since when do we allow ignorant teachers to remain in the system? How can she not be fired? Gay students would feel intimidated by her. If she were a White woman who said the same words about Blacks she would have been fired immediately.

    A little equality would be nice. We won’t see this until equal rights pertain to ALL PEOPLE, whatever their color or orientation. A Black person doesn’t deserve extra consideration because of her color. Blacks can be just a prejudiced as Whites and this is a perfect example. Now do the right thing about it and kick her BEHIND out of the school system. She doesn’t belong teaching in a school where she can be teaching children her warped views.

    Her posts in FACEBOOK are a form of bullying. Her words are calculated to make gay students feel bad and inferior. How can schools have zero tolerance for bullying and allow teachers to bully gay students?

  • DaEmph

    No hate in our state? Don’t make me laugh!!!

  • Straight and Narrow

    Why can’t everyone be Straight and Narrow?

  • M.A.D

    GONE ARE THE DAYS WE WERE ABLE TO EXPRESS OURSELVES OPENLY. TODAY WE HAVE TO THINK OF WHOM WILL BE OFFENDED. SAD THAT THE LAND OF THE FREE IS NO MORE.

    • StevyD

      OK “mad”, without considering the niceties of being polite by not saying anything if you can’t say something nice, offending the gay citizens or parents of gay kids (and gay kid themselves) who help pay her salary is a perfect reason for keeping her mouth shut. You may harken back the days of yore when southerners and others could say atrocious things about black people, but I wonder if Mrs. Knox would then defend your rights to free speech.

  • NYGirl

    nbrichard – i love how you pro-gay people bring up the animal kingdom. what animals are homosexuals? And if some animals due commit this heinousness it’s because their showing their domination – it’s certainly not for pleasure. To compare the animal kingdom to humanity shows just how lost a troubled soul you are. We should act like the animals? Yes, I believe when GOD opened the gates of hell all sexual preversion, pedophilia and every sick other disgusting thing that humans are capable of were allowed to incarnate into this world, take a good look at the world today, but the party is going to be over very soon. So you keep thinking that everything is allright and as it should be fool!

    • James

      From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant#Social_behavior

      African as well as Asiatic males will engage in same-sex bonding and mounting. The encounters are analogous to heterosexual bouts, one male often extending his trunk along the other’s back and pushing forward with his tusks to signify his intention to mount. Unlike heterosexual relations, which are always of a fleeting nature, those between males result in a “companionship”, consisting of an older individual and one or two younger, attendant males. Same-sex relations are common and frequent in both sexes, with Asiatic elephants in captivity devoting roughly 46% of sexual encounters to same-sex activity.

      Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animals_displaying_homosexual_behavior

  • Raj

    I hope this disease does not spread back to my home country.

    • Marcella Rocha

      No Raj, I’m with you. Folks could lose thier heads with stuff like this.

  • karen

    Given the current climate with the teen bullying that seems to be running rampant through the US due from kids being gay/homosexuals, having someone who is around school age children who is stating views like hers on Facebook is nothing short of dangerous. Think of the kids here, what they don’t need is an anti gay adult who is with the kids for most of the day. I am sorry this not freedom of speech this is an attack on homosexuality which we all know is a factor in bullying. She and her views need to go.

    • true2nj

      Wow Kaen, she looks like she is real dangerous to me.
      People like you act like she is bullying gay kids and harassing them all day long.
      She has been teaching for over twenty years.
      Who says that every parent feels the same way you do, what if they like Ms. Knox and want her to stay. What do you think that all of the kids in her class are gay or they can’t think for themselves? This is high school not 1st Grade

    • jeff

      this is not freedom of speech? Really?

  • true2nj

    I am sick and tiired of the Homosexuals and the liberal media jamming their life style down our throats. What a person does in their bedroom is their business.
    But stop trying to get me to accept your lifestyle as normal and calling me a bigot if I do not accept it. Before this incident ,I did not think of myself as a Homophobe but now I am definitely a Homophobe and I am proud of it.

    • Barry Mattison

      Sorry we offended you….BIGOT! If you’re so “sick and tired of homosexuals and the liberal medija jamming their lifestyles down [your] throat”…THEN CLOSE YOUR MOUTH! Then again, maybe you’re not a bigot, but you are certainly a hypocrite. Do you come home at night from the bar, beat your wife, yell at the kids and kick the dog for annoying your space? Over 50% of the hetero’s in this country do. The rate of divorce, domestic violence and child abuse has never been higher, and you vow to support more hate? No, you are a BIGOT, definitely a bully, and possibly could contribute to the beating or suicide of some teenager that doesn’t yet understand who they are and has to listen to people like you stand behind the 1st Amendment, spewing hate, ignorance and downright, uneducated stupidity. Jeez I hate ignorance…maybe I’m a bigot just like you? I’m just not feeling so proud about it though for some reason.

      • true2nj

        I think you are the only bigot here because you are accusing me of thing I have never done or would ever dream of doing.
        Where did you get your statistics from the 50% of the heteros beat there wives?
        You probably got it from one of radical Gay right’s organizations.
        It sounds like (gay) people like you are the only ones that are filled with hate and bigotry!
        Be honest, if you had your way right now you would like to bully me to the point where I would commit suicide.

        • true2nj

          Corrrection
          I think you are the only bigot here because you are accusing me of things I have never done or would ever dream of doing.
          Where did you get your statistics from about the 50% of the heteros beating their wives? You probably got it from a radical Gay right’s organizations.
          It sounds like (gay) people like you are the only ones that are filled with hate and bigotry!
          Be honest, if you had your way right now you would like to bully me to the point where I would commit suicide.

    • StevyD

      I am sorry that you are so easily jammed. It sounds like a simple case of not being able to think for yourself. We gay people do not give a iota of our time or care a rat’s tail about your acceptance. What we demand is that we are not publicly insulted, condemned en mass or mistreated by the public servants that we equally support and pay with our taxes as fellow American citizens. If you had a thimble’s worth of politeness, you’d understand that.

      • true2nj

        I am able to think for myself. You just think I am not able to do so because I do not agree with your lifestyle.
        All that people like me demand is that people like you quit trying to get us to accept your sexual orientation as normal and to stop bullying us.

1 2
blog comments powered by Disqus
Listen Live!

Latest News Video