
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 18, 1990                   TAG: 9005180850
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                                LENGTH: Short

ACLU CLAIMS VICTORY IN DISPUTE OVER SEX-EDUCATION BROCHURE

The American Civil Liberties Union has claimed victory in a dispute over a school brochure that calls virginity a gift from God and premarital sex a sin.

But the executive director of another organization, the Christian Coalition founded by Pat Robertson, said the ACLU's boast is "pure poppycock."

School officials, caught in the middle of the debate over teaching religion and sexual morality in public schools, said they have not decided the fate of the sex-education brochure.

The ACLU is taking credit because "based on our own investigations, it is obvious they are dropping that brochure," said Stephen B. Pershing, legal director of the Richmond-based Virginia ACLU.

The ACLU said the ninth-grade sex-education brochure "Dating and Your Right to Choose" violates the principle of separation of church and state.

School Board Chairman William A. Spradlin said no concessions to the ACLU have been made.

by CNB