Candidate’s Letter Repeats Old, Unsubstantiated Story

A story about an alleged openly gay teacher at Moscow Junior High School is three years old and was never intended to become a campaign issue, a Moscow woman says.

School officials say they can’t confirm that the story is true.

Kelly Walton, chairman of the Idaho Citizens Alliance and a state Senate candidate, circulated a fund-raising letter stating that a Moscow teacher recently revealed to her class that she was a lesbian.

Walton, a Heyburn contractor, used that information as an example of why his anti-gay rights initiative should have passed in 1994 and why he should be elected. He’s running against Senate Judiciary Chairman Denton Darrington of Declo for the Republican nomination in next week’s primary election.

Walton said he heard the story from John Law, a Moscow resident whose granddaughter reportedly was in the class in question. But Tuesday, John Law’s wife, Wilma, said the whole issue has been blown out of proportion.

“That was something that happened three years ago,” Wilma Law said. “We naively repeated it, but we never thought this would happen.”

Moscow school Superintendent Jack Hill said Wednesday that the fact the story is three years old indicates to him the incident never happened. The district had been investigating Walton’s claims and has been unable to find any evidence it occurred, Hill said.

Walton also has not returned calls and letters asking for further details, Hill said. He criticized Walton for misleading people. “It’s such a poor reflection on him as a candidate,” Hill said.

Walton said he learned Wednesday, after speaking to the Laws, that the information was old. “I did not know that at the time (the letter was written), it was portrayed to me as a recent event,” he said.

Nonetheless, Walton said the incident still is a cause for concern.

“It may have happened three years ago, but it did happen,” he said. “And we as parents and school board members need to be careful to protect the welfare of our students.”