A former New Jersey high school teacher
who once compared being gay to cancer has agreed to a three-year
suspension of her teaching certificates.
Jenye 'Viki' Knox in 2011 created a
firestorm of controversy when she posted on Facebook a photo of a
school display recognizing October as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender (LGBT) History month which included portraits of Virginia
Wolf, Harvey Milk and Neil Patrick Harris, and wrote “homosexuality
is a perverted spirit that has existed from the beginning of
creation” and a “sin” that “breeds like cancer.”
She defended her position in subsequent
messages to Facebook users, saying that she believed being gay was
“against the nature and character of God” and that the high
school was “not the setting to promote, encourage, support and
foster homosexuality.”
Knox, a tenured special education
teacher, retired to avoid facing tenure charges based on “unbecoming
conduct.” She later sued school officials in federal court,
claiming that they had violated her free speech and religious rights.
The case was settled in September, but details have not been made
public.
According to NJ.com,
Knox, 56, appealed a decision to revoke her three teaching
certificates. State education officials agreed to a compromise
involving the three-year suspension on December 8.