OK, kiddo! Here are all the fantastically amazing posts tagged with Schools
High School Still Dangerous For Gay Teens
A professor researching harassment of gay teens is calling high school “the land that time forgot,” a place where aggressive anti-gay sentiment pervades student life.
Catherine Taylor, a professor of education and communications at the University of Winnipeg, regrets to have discovered that virtually all gay teens are verbally harassed, with a startling number even being physically abused. Worse, homophobia so ingrained in school culture that very few students step up to condemn the abuse.
This is the same study, incidentally, that was forbidden from being conducted inside several Catholic school boards in Canada. The study is currently in its second phase, and is seeking funding for its third and final phase to take place early next year.
- Gay teens ‘terrorized’ in Canada’s schools: prof [Ottawa Citizen]
Alberta Delays Gay Lesson Opt-Out
Alberta’s strange new law requiring teachers to notify parents before tackling any lessons dealing with sexual orientation has been delayed until next year so that the school boards can prepare formal procedures.
The Alberta Teacher Association as well as several large municipal school boards was against this bill from the start, but the provincial Conservative government has so far been adamant that the law is necessary for parents to be able to pull their children out of classes, preventing them from learning anything about gay issues.
The law was part of a revision to the Human Rights Act, which means that any teachers who violate the new law will see themselves before the Alberta Human Rights Commission.
The whole thing is a bad idea, so sparing an extra year’s worth of children from all this is welcome news. Too bad it’s not delayed indefinitely.
Alberta Puts The Chill On Gay Classroom Topics
The Alberta legislature has passed a bill that requires teachers to receive parental permission before discussing or acknowledging topics of sexual orientation in the curriculum, or else face being brought before the Human Rights Commission for violating parental rights.
This means, very soon, teachers will be at risk of being brought before a tribunal if they acknowledge gay issues without first taking care to selectively evacuate students from the classroom. Not only does this send a terrible message to gay students—that topics about their lives pose such a profound hazard that their classmates’ attendance must be filtered based on privilege—but it enables and reinforces schoolyard bullying through that same knowledge.
So how did such a controversial bill pass so effortlessly? The wordsmithing employed by its supporters offers some clues. In the comments section of a National Post article I linked to on Friday, a supporter of the bill wrote: “The core issue here is who has the right to shape the minds of children, individuals or the State.” This simplification is a real eye-opener. Are those the only two options that supporters see? What about, say, the students being able to shape their own minds?
By the time students are old enough to be introduced to sexual education in the curriculum, they are citizens of their own right. For a guardian to forcibly bar a student from hearing information and viewpoints other than their own is not only narrow-minded, but irresponsible. Astonishingly, though, it seems bill proponents don’t view students as inquisitive minds that are capable of forming their own views; rather, they are seen as a form of human property for whom it is the exclusive right of the guardian to indoctrinate as they see fit. It is no wonder, then, that these parents see open classroom discussions and the analysis of opposing viewpoints as an affront to their plan—a way to undo the views they wish to force into their child, unchallenged via the careful censorship of information.
In this light, it actually begins to make sense that, since some parents wish to coercively inbue uncontested beliefs into their child, they project that same behaviour onto the state. Anti-bullying programs and lessons that include acknowledgement of gay persons, they think, must be part of some agenda to brainwash and take control of the younger generation. Why, I bet they even think my subliminal messages and short-wave thought injection gun are being used for more than just corporate advertising.
Still, what a sad day for education and enlightenment in Alberta.
Anti-Gay Lobby Urges Parents To File Against Teachers
One of Canada’s largest anti-gay lobby groups is seizing on Alberta’s Bill 44, a proposed amendment to the Human Rights Act that would disallow teachers from mentioning or discussing gay topics in front of students that did not receive parental permission.
The bill is ominously vague—a point which has piqued the interests of Brian Rushfelt, head of Canada Family Action Coalition. “It’s up to the parent to make [the legislation] as broad or narrow as they want,” he said, adding that neither “the schools nor the government should be the ones to put parameters on it and say it’s only sexuality classes or only evolution classes or only religion classes.”
Anti-gay lobby groups have been actively opposing measures to prevent the bullying of gay students for years, but now may have a new tool beyond the mere lobbying of school boards to get what they want. Parents, according to Rushfeldt, should file human rights complaints against teachers who promote tolerance of gay students so that the boundaries of the new law can be broadened. Broadened, of course, in a means befitting only to those crazy enough to devote time to this nonsense.
This proposed abuse should be enough evidence for even supporters to reconsider the bill, but the real flaw lies within its intended uses. The effect of this legislation is to always postpone discussion of gay rights, student reports on gay historical figures and role models, anti-bullying campaigns, and sexual education information until all parents can be consulted. But parents who want their children to be able to actively examine different sides of issues as they arise, who wish for spontaneous discussion to be encouraged, whose lives—if they are gay—will now be treated as a topic so dangerous that all discussion of it must be halted until every student’s family gives their blessing to proceed, and who would have to see their child’s fellow classmates ushered out into the hallway when their family is up for discussion, would have no say in any of these matters if Bill 44 passes.
Although, come of think of it, this bill may have its uses, too. Why, I actually heard of a teacher once explaining that her name was changed to “Mrs. so-and-so” because she had just married her husband. Can you imagine? Flaunting her heterosexuality and the myriad bedroom implications it entails to the whole class! And don’t even get me started on lessons that contradict the teachings of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
- Parents must get say in all teaching, group says [Calgary Herald]
School Censors Little Girl’s History Report
Natalie Jones, a sixth grade student in San Diego, has been disallowed from reading her history report on Harvey Milk, the United State’s first openly gay and tragically slain politician, until her fellow classmates receive permission from their parents to hear it.
Theresa Grace, the principal of the girl’s elementary school, said that a school board policy forbids the teaching of any topics that include discussions of sexual orientation without first receiving parental permission.
Sound both absurd and familiar? It should! Ted Morton, a Conservative MLA in Alberta, has thrice tried to introduce a bill that would implement the same policy province-wide. And now Lindsay Blackett, a Conservative cabinet minister, has introduced a similar bill that would require teachers to pull students out of class unless they have permission to hear reports like Natalie’s.
I guess I can see where they’re coming from, though. I was involuntarily and irreversibly transformed into a homosexual after hearing too much of a classmate’s report on the Enola Gay.
- Sixth Grader Denied Right to Freely Present Report on Harvey Milk [Digital Journal]
- ACLU says school censored student’s Milk report [Yahoo News]
School Board Partially Caves, Offers Social Justice Course Upon Parental Permission
The Abbotsford school board has reversed its decision to yank a social justice course from its schools. The course, a grade 12 elective featuring a unit on gay rights, was nixed after anti-gay groups and vocal parents lobbied to have it pulled.
The sudden reversal is great news for all the students that had the course ripped out from under them last Autum. Their substantial outcry no doubt helped to get the course re-instated, but something is still a wee bit off.
Curiously, the course now requires written parental consent before any student is allowed to register. That means that students who wish to take the course will be barred if one of their parents objects.
Julie MacRae, superintendent of the Abbotsford school board, said that the parental permission decision was made due to “the sensitive nature of some of the course content.” An interesting stance; almost nearly partly understandable. Parents should always be in the know when it comes to what their children are learning; however, at grade 12, there’s no reason the student shouldn’t have the final say in their own education.
Still, how’s this for a solution: Any parent who objects to the social justice course must take it themselves first before they mandate their decision onto their children. Fair, no?
- Abby Board of Education allows Social Justice 12 [BC Local News]
- Abbotsford approves controversial course for Grade 12 [Vancouver SUN]
Lesbian Couple Violently Assaulted In Front Of Children
A court date has been set for a violent attacker who assaulted a lesbian couple as they were picking up their children from elementary school in Oshawa. The attack, which bloodied one of the mothers, was witnessed by numerous children, including the assailant’s own son.
Jane Currie and Anji Dimitriou, the victims, described the attack to Capital Xtra and the Durham Region:
[The attacker] said to Anji, “Which of you two men spoke to my kid? Fucking dyke lesbians.” I jumped out and just as I came around he spit right in her face. She wiped the spit off and he punched her in the face and hit her again in the back of the head.
I said to him, “you asshole what are you doing? You just beat a woman” then bang I got it.
Mark Scott’s violent assault left both parents with black eyes, and one with four stitches. Eyewitnesses confirmed that the attack was unprovoked, and likely a hate crime. Currie now says her three children are terrified:
We went to Zellers and they didn’t want to get out of the truck. “What if he’s in Zellers?” they asked. “What if he comes back to the school and comes after us?”
What a disgusting assault. The brazenness of it—in front of multiple children—is very hard for me to understand, but I take it as strong evidence for how deep homophobia continues to run.
These assaults aren’t common, but the behaviour the attacker learned comes from multiple, definite sources. There are lobby groups, legislators, editorialists, churches, and individuals that continue to portray gay people, through unfounded misinformation, phony research, and scaremongering, as some sort of threat to the very foundations of society. It’s in this extreme atmosphere that homophobia, including violent homophobia, can thrive.
This has to be stopped. Challenge verbal homophobia wherever it is encountered. Challenge it. Only when it is unchallenged can it escalate to this madness.
- Lesbian couple attacked outside Oshawa school [Durham Region]
- Brazen attack alleged in Oshawa [Capital Xtra]
School District Yanks Gay Motivational Speaker
Alex Sanchez, a celebrated gay author was uninvited from speaking at several New Brunswick schools after a handful of parents complained. Sanchez was supposed to speak about tolerance, as many gay youth find themselves isolated and struggling to find acceptance.
Keith Pierce, the District 10 superintendent who made the decision to uninvite Sanchez, said that “a few parents” had complained. Because, as you know, preventing kids from learning about tolerance is the surefire way to ensure everyone turns or stays heterosexual.
Social Justice Course Yanked By Religious Groups
Religious groups in Abbotsford, B.C. have successfully lobbied to gut a high school social justice course of all gay rights content, and even cancelled the course altogether in most of the district’s schools.
In a letter to the B.C. Ministry of Education, the Abbotsford School District ostensibly suggested that the optional course was “too challenging” for senior high school students, saying it would be “more suited for second- or third-year sociology students.” More revealing, the board said they were concerned that teachers might inject a “personal bias” in their lessons, causing students to be “more biased and less tolerant of opposing beliefs because of misinformation.”
Anti-gay lobbyists had protested the course since it’s inception, first falsely informing parents that it was a mandatory subject (it’s an elective) and later encouraging parents to sign a petition to get the course pulled. The controversy was due to content on the topics of homophobia, heterosexism, and other gay issues.
While most of Abbotsford’s schools cancelled the course before any students were able to sign up, W.J. Mouat Secondary didn’t get the memo in time and had to gut the course of gay content instead, leaving the 90 students that had signed up to take the course confused and angry.
A spokesperson for the ministry of education said that schools aren’t required to offer the course, but disagreed with Abbotsford’s assessment, saying that no other schools had a problem with the subject matter and that last year’s trials of the course were successful.
Abbotsford will reportedly replace the ministry’s course with a new, environmentally-friendly one that teaches kids how to recycle diversity books into bibles.
- Gay rights cut from studies [Edmonton Journal]
- New social justice high school course ousted from Abbotsford, B.C. [National Post]
Schools Demand Signed Declaration For Gay Students
Four schools in Auckland, New Zealand, have barred students from taking same-sex partners to the prom unless they sign a contract declaring they are homosexual, according to the New Zealand Human Rights Commission.
Sarafin Dillon, an education officer for Rainbow Youth, was disappointed by the reports, saying that forcing students to sign contracts would only increase “the ridicule and the whispers” that gay students face.
A spokesperson for the schools responded by nervously wielding a torch and backing into a corner, stuttering “Reveal yourselves! Where are you? Show yourselves! GAAAAH!”
- Schools demand contract for gay students [New Zealand Herald]
- Gay contracts for school dance partners [Sydney Morning Herald]
Parents Can’t Censor Curriculum: School Board
The Vancouver Board of Education has outlined rules in which parents may pull their students out of class due to familial religious beliefs. In a formal policy, the board said that while parents may request that students be pulled out of lessons dealing with gay issues in Health class, this does not apply to other classes—and any missed material still must be learned through either home instruction or self-directed studying.
Some parents have expressed concern that these regulations are too strict and infringe upon parental rights to pass personal values onto their children. I don’t believe that’s the case here; parents are absolutely free to teach what they believe to their children. The issue, instead, is whether parents have the right to censor the curriculum taught at school and prevent students from hearing parts of controversial topics that parents disagree with.
Having gone through a Catholic school system where gay issues were never addressed, I know what it’s like to be in the dark on gay health issues and have personally felt the effects of a blind-eye to homophobic bullying. Independent of what parents choose to teach their children at home, it’s extremely important that these are dealt issues with in schools. Gay students exist and often do not feel they can ask questions that concern them directly for fear of outing themselves.
The Vancouver Board of Education is right. These programs do not infringe upon or contradict parental rights, and should not be censored. Violence and harassment are never acceptable, regardless of one’s beliefs on homosexuality, and preventing the distribution of health information to those that require it would be irresponsible.
- No skipping gay-friendly classes, schools tell parents [Vancouver Sun]
Alberta School Bans Anti-Homophobia Shirt
Ten grade eight students at Chestermere Lake Middle School in rural Alberta were forced to remove their anti-homophobia T-Shirts after Kim MacKenzie, the school principal, deemed them to be offensive. The T-Shirts featured the slogan “homophobia is gay,” and were worn in unison to promote tolerance and counter anti-gay bullying within the school.
MacKenzie explained the decision to ban the shirts by saying the word “gay” was potentially offensive to homosexuals.
Hmm… Do you think the concept of context is taught in the school’s curriculum?
Study: Gay Students Feel Threatened
More than two thirds of gay students in Canada feel their safety is threatened at school according to a survey conducted by Egale Canada. The 1,200-student questionnaire was distributed in schools across the country, except for several Catholic school boards which declined participation.
Further to the banner statistic, the survey also revealed that fourty-one per cent of gay students reported having been sexually harassed at school (as opposed to only nineteen per cent of straight students), that fifty per cent reported having been verbally harassed, and nearly half reported having mean rumors spread about them at school.
Dr. Catherine Taylor, a researcher at the University of Winnipeg, was particularly bothered by the results:
This [sexual harassment] figure is shocking. Homophobia and transphobia is linked to poor performance in school, drop-out rates, and teen suicides.
Helen Kennedy, Egale’s executive director, was also worried by the results, saying that the high numbers could have been prevented:
There’s no issue around sensitivity training so the teachers, we are finding, don’t have the resources that they need to address this issue.
I agree completely, although it will be tough to make educators aware of the problem. Religious lobby groups have already successfully pulled optional diversity training guidebooks from teacher’s lounges.
- Two-thirds of LGBTQ students feel unsafe: report [CBC News]
- GAY TEENS SURVEYED FEEL UNSAFE IN SCHOOL [Egale Canada]
On Being A Gay Teacher
I’m extremely pleased to present today’s Guest Slap. The author, who prefers to remain anonymous, is a gay high school science teacher here in Canada. Today, he shares his thoughts and experiences on what it means to be gay in a complex learning environment.
To be out or not to be out: That is the question; whether it is better to suffer the slurs and taunts of outrageous cowards, or take care with every word you say, and keep your true self guarded. This choice is faced by many in my school and every other school. The purpose of high school is all about learning who you are, more than about learning Archimedes’ Principle, conic sections, or how to play the flute. But because of the highly judgmental nature that exists in a milieu of teenagers, the decision of whether or not to come out of the closet is difficult for anyone in a high school, especially someone like me, a teacher.
I bet that many students who read this had never even considered the prospect that the person standing in front of you on Monday morning droning on and on about some dead poet could possibly be gay. After all, everyone knows that teachers live in the school, never take off their work clothes, and disappear in a puff of chalk dust on the weekends, only to re-materialize the following Monday in the teacher’s lounge. They certainly don’t have emotions, parents, friends, social lives, or sex. My students couldn’t believe that I went out for karaoke with my co-workers, and when I told them that—even though I don’t have kids—I bought a Nintendo Wii, they asked “What do you use it for?” So I’m pretty sure that if I were to tell them that I am gay, their brains would implode; it would be that difficult for them to comprehend.
When I was student teaching just a few years ago, I realized that it wouldn’t be long before I would have to make that decision about how out I would be at school. Every school has a different atmosphere when it comes to how well minorities are accepted, and thankfully, at mine both the administration and general student body are relatively open-minded and accepting. For example, on one of the first days of the year, I saw a group of kids surrounding two boys who were scuffling around. Immediately I thought “Oh God, I’m going to have to break up a fight.” But it turned out that they were having a dance-off to a Pokémon song they had invented. Still, no group of teenagers is free of bigotry. Everyone who has gone through high school knows that picking on the minority is an effective way to increase one’s social standing among the majority. So because of that, some gay teachers try to live a completely closeted professional life, and don’t open up their true selves to anyone at school. Others are completely fine with being out and proud to everyone, and even wear their leather outfits to school on Halloween (yeah, I’m not kidding there).
So I made the decision to make no decision; just to be myself. To any colleagues who I consider my friends, I am completely out. I’ve gone out for drinks with them, played Scrabble with them, taken them to see drag shows, and invited them over for dinner to meet my same-sex fiancé. With anyone who I know strictly on a professional level, like the principal of my school, or my students, I haven’t shared that side of my life. But if they find out, or if it comes up in conversation, I’m not going to hide anything; I’ll just be honest about who I am. After all, my students aren’t my friends; we can be friendly, but we can’t be friends. The rare teachers that do treat their students like actual friends, telling them about their night out at the bar… well, they’re just creepy to the exponent creep.
Sometimes I wonder if I would be a better role model for those students who are questioning their sexuality if I were more open about my homosexuality, even though it would mean opening myself up to personal attacks from homophobes. When I was in grade 12, would it have helped me to know that my Canadian History teacher was gay? Would it have helped me to come to terms with my sexuality easier? Would it have hindered my understanding of Wolfe & Montcalme?
Eventually, I just realized that being out doesn’t have to involve being out to everyone—just everyone you care about. So I choose simply to be who I am. After all, isn’t that what coming out of the closet is all about?
Thanks again to today’s special guest author!
Catholic Group Protests Teacher’s Diversity Guide
The Catholic Civil Rights League has launched a protest against a draft teacher’s guide in British Columbia. The guide, entitled Making Space, Giving Voice, was introduced by the Education Ministry to encourage discussion about diversity and is part of a larger review to ensure discrimination isn’t promoted by schools.
So what’s the Catholic League’s beef with the guide? Well, according to a press release entitled Resist, Counter and Protest, the guide is all about the B.C. Education Ministry’s “drive to introduce non-heterosexual realities in all classrooms.”
“Non-heterosexual realities?” Hey, I think that’s a new entry for my still-growing Dictionary of Obtuse Lobbying Terms! (Though, it is a little unusual for a lobby group to flat-out admit they’re protesting reality.)
At any rate, Glen Hansman, the president of the Vancouver Elementary School Teachers’ Association, was confused by the protest, saying that these guides are nothing new, and are only an optional resource:
The new guide will assist teachers in addressing social justice issues, just as a similar guide some years ago helped them incorporate aboriginal content across the curriculum.
The ministry is putting out this document as a suggestion; it’s not mandatory, but I think it’s pretty solid.
Lobby groups often oppose the discussion of diversity in schools. In November, the anti-gay lobby group Defend Traditional Marriage and Family successfully banned a teacher’s resource on diversity from the Waterloo Catholic School Board, saying that the booklet could have “[encouraged] students and teachers to view the gay lifestyle as being morally neutral.”
- Parents urged to protest teacher guide on diversity [Vancouver Sun]
Sea of Pink Sweeps The Nation
There was a story back in September about a grade 9 kid who was bullied and called homophobic names for wearing a pink shirt on the first day of school.
The next day, two of his classmates campaigned online and arrived with dozens of pink shirts, turning the school into a “sea of pink.”
Heartwarmingly enough, the campaign seems to have spread! Hundreds of students at Balfour Collegiate in Regina Saskatchewan donned their pinkest garments this week in protest of homophobia and bullying. Micheil Rothwell, a grade 10 student, said the event was sorely needed:
This is really important today because everywhere people think it is OK to make homophobic remarks. They think it is OK to say, “That’s gay.” But we are here today saying that it is not OK. We are not going to tolerate it anymore.
It’s only been 10 years since I graduated from high school, and I’m impressed by how much attitudes have changed. Mind you, I went through the Catholic system, which is a tad behind the times; there, books are still considered dangerous.
- Regina school goes pretty in pink [The StarPhoenix]
Anti-Gay Group Bans Diversity Book From Schools
A teacher’s resource book has been removed from staff rooms in the Waterloo Catholic District School Board after an anti-gay group, Defend Traditional Marriage and Family, lobbied to have it pulled.
The book, entitled Open Minds to Equality, advises on how to deal with ageism, sexism, and homophobia in schools. While the resource was available for teachers to consult, it was not required reading, nor accessible by students directly.
Jack Fonseca, a spokesperson for Defend Traditional Marriage and Family, was thrilled by his lobbying victory:
[The removal] will make it more difficult for the book to get into the hands of teachers who might’ve been misled by the flawed lessons within.
So, what “flawed lessions” might these be?
Prior to the censorship decision, Fonseca was unable to present anything demonstrative of his rhetoric, only saying that the book “could have the effect of encouraging students and teachers to view the gay lifestyle as being morally neutral,” and adding “they will have been led to reject Jesus.” In an open letter, however, the group said that “the effect of this book is to indoctrinate teachers and children to accept and celebrate homosexuality under the guise of ‘diversity’ and ‘equality.’”
It’s clear from the language used by Defend Traditional Marriage and Family that they are incapable of distinguishing a “morally neutral” presentation of homosexuality from one that “indoctrinates” and “celebrates” the “rejection of Jesus.” When convinced, however, that there is no such thing as gay people—only straight people who are sinning—that’s enough for them to expend great effort ensuring teachers do not even have the option of consulting resources to help them deal with issues that gay students face.
What a sad state of affairs. It’s no wonder Catholic teachers feel they must hide their student compassion from these groups.
Incidentally, of the lobby group’s executive members, only 6 indicated that they support the Catholic School Board on the voter list, and none of the 11 members have their children enrolled in the system. Could all this hoopla over a rarely-consulted resource book be ostensible rhetoric for a larger anti-gay agenda? I think I’ll let Catholic board spokesperson John Shewchuk’s jugement stand on this one: “It seems fairly obvious this group isn’t as concerned about Catholic schools and Catholic education as they would have local Catholics believe.”
The board has kept the book available in a central teacher’s resource library.
- Book yanked from school shelves [The Record]
- Catholic school cautious in approach [The Record]
Group Lobbies to Censor Unavailable Book
Defend Traditional Marriage and Family, an anti-gay lobby group, is trying to ban a book entitled Open Minds to Equality because it presents a “morally neutral” view of homosexuality. The book, an optional teacher’s resource for the Waterloo Catholic District School Board, is unavailable to students.
Jack Fonseca, the lobby group’s spokesperson, said that Catholic teachers should not have the option to read the resource because “[it] could have the effect of encouraging students and teachers to view the gay lifestyle as being morally neutral,” adding “they will have been led to reject Jesus.” In an open letter, the group stated that “the effect of this book is to indoctrinate teachers and children to accept and celebrate homosexuality under the guise of ‘diversity’ and ‘equality.’”
So, which is it? Is the book “morally neutral,” or something that “indoctrinates” readers to “celebrate” homosexuality? Frankly, I don’t think that Defend Traditional Marriage and Family distinguishes the two. Anything that acknowledges the existence of homosexuality without condemning it is akin to “celebrating the gay lifestyle” in their eyes. And that’s enough for them to lobby to ensure teachers are ill-equipped to dealing with issues that gay students face.
- Defend Marriage calls for board to pull book [The Record]
- Catholic school board urged to ban book [Globe and Mail]
Man Pulls Son From School Over Gay Travel Agency
An Ontario man has pulled his son out of an Oshawa high school after learning the school’s student trip to Europe was booked by a gay and lesbian travel agency.
Dwight Budgell said he became worried when he was asked to make a cheque out to Rainbow High Vacations: “I clicked on [the website]; it’s the world’s largest gay and lesbian travel company.” Panicked, Budgell pulled his son from school entirely, fearing “the propaganda” of the trip and being “blackballed” by the school administration.
The school’s superintendant, Lou Vavougios, was rightfully confused by the action:
The board used an educational tours division that books everything and travels with the students.
Other than the ticket, there’s no other transaction with Rainbow High [Vacations]. It really doesn’t make a difference where you get your ticket from. It’s just a seat on a plane.
Despite Budgell’s drastic and confusing behaviour, he insists that he harbours no ill will toward gay people:
What they want to do with their own personal lifestyle, I don’t have a problem with it.
Oh, we believe you, Dwight… We believe you. (*cough* *bullcrap* *cough*)
- Travel agency prompts man to pull his son from school [Durham Region]
School Forbids “Gay Eskimo” Song
An Inuvialuit high school student in the Northwest Territories has been barred from singing a sexually suggestive song about a “gay Eskimo” at her school’s fundraiser. The staff’s rationale for the ban: The word “Eskimo” is culturally insensitive. Uh, yeah.
Vice-principal Lorne Guy, the only staff member to comment to the press, eventually admitted the following: “I would say that the combination of both the cultural sensitivity and the sexual preference [led to the decision].”
So, first, let me get this out: Anyone who finds the word “Eskimo” insensitive had better not be using the term “sexual preference.” I mean, gee whiz.
Second, the song, though funny, is sexually suggestive. Gay-related or otherwise, it’s OK to bar a secondary student from singing provocative material at a fundraiser. The anti-gay lobby loves to scare people into believing that people like me would be screaming homophobia over any sort of “gay censorship,” but in reality the song isn’t appropriate for school and there’s no need to pretend there’s something else offensive about the song just because the sexual content is gay.
Why I Support Making Commissioners Wed Gays
Well, folks, a gang of microscopic germs have decided it would be convenient to set up shop inside my throat. I’m feeling lousy. So, I’m posting a response from the Slap Upside The Head Mailbag!
A visitor (from back in November) writes:
Why do you object to parents being notified if their kids are going to take a class on gay issues? And why does it bother you that some people do not wish to administer marriage vows to gay/lesbian couples?
Mark responds (again, back in November):
Thanks for writing; I appreciate your questions!
First, I’d like to clarify that I don’t have a problem with clergy refusing to officiate over same-sex weddings. Clergymen are performing a religious ceremony on behalf of the church, and are absolutely free to abide by the rules of the church. Many churches, for example, do not permit inter-faith marriage and will refuse to officiate over such ceremonies. This is within their constitutional right.
My objection is rather to the notion that a Justice of the Peace or civil marriage commissioner could refuse to perform their services to a same-sex couple. Unlike a clergyman, JOPs and commissioners are not religious ambassadors, and the services they are providing are on behalf of the state, not the church. For a state-sanctioned commissioner to refuse a marriage license to a gay couple would be kind of like a state-sanctioned private registrar refusing to issue a drivers license to someone of a profoundly different faith.
On a personal note, I absolutely agree with a person’s right to religious expression. However, I do think it’s a bit of a stretch for someone to claim their religious beliefs forbid them from interacting with same-sex couples in a job capacity.
As for the school notifications, I assume this is a reference to Ted Morton’s Bill 208, which stated that parents would have to be notified before a teacher acknowledges the existence of same-sex marriage in Canada.
Given that same-sex marriage does exist in Canada, I feel this is an awfully heavy-handed restriction to be written into law. The most outspoken opponent of this bill was the Alberta Teacher’s Association. My objections are the same as theirs. To require parental notification before acknowledging any potentially contentious topic effectively muzzles spontaneous discussion. A teacher would have to refuse to answer student questions on the topic and halt student reports. This gags discussions on the constitutional, social, political, and economic aspects, and I firmly believe that it’s important for students to develop sound discussion skills.
Beyond that objection, I also think that since other contentious topics (war, abortion, divorce) are not given the same treatment, this law would single out discussions about same-sex marriage as posing a unique hazard. This is not a fair message to gay and lesbian students, and their peers.
Incidentally, there are no courses in Alberta that discuss same-sex marriage as part of the curriculum. There is a new “Social Issues” course being offered in B.C. for 2008, and that includes a unit on gay issues. However, this course is offered to senior students in high school only, and is purely an elective. Parents should always discuss which electives their children take.
So there you have it: My lazy “Sick Day” post! Do you agree? Disagree? If you’d like to send a letter for a future mailbag post, don’t forget to visit the stupendous About Page!
Well, I’m off to get some rest and drink plenty of fluids. Until Wednesday, folks!
Update: Thanks to everyone who sent me “get well” notes, and to the very many more of you who wrote to point out the hilarious ambiguity in this post’s title. At my own discretion, I respectfully refuse to clarify which interpretation is accurate. ;-)
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Principal Caves; Students Get Gay Club!
Richmond Hill High School will be getting a Gay Straight Alliance after all! That, according to a great little email I received from Maya, one of the students who was fighting for the support group’s formation:
Well, we had a PTA meeting, some more news coverage, and then the administration gave in. We have a club!
Congratulations, guys!
The principal, Dr. Ivy Chan, had previously forbid the group from operating or distributing posters on school property, citing “entrenched views” for the ban. According to Maya, Dr. Chan attributed her change of heart to a combination of media attention and her desire to keep a good relationship with her students. Aw, what a sweet gal, that one!
Incidentally, my old high school never had a GSA. But, then again, it was a Catholic school. If they had allowed such a group, meetings would have been scheduled in the nitre-encrusted basement, where drops of holy water fall from a latin-enscribed ceiling to purify the souls of the gay. You know, or something…
OK, fine: I wish I had been brave enough to start one. Congratulations again, Richmond Hill!
Toronto to Students: You Gay?
The Toronto District School Board sent out a new student census last week, and it includes that age-old question of academic relevance: You gay or what?
The survey results will be compared with the student’s grades and achievements at the end of the year. The whole thing is supposed to help the board better understand diversity and student needs.
As for my thoughts… Back in high school, I was so deep in the closet that I’m still finding socks stuck to me with static now and then. Let’s just say my grades and achievements wouldn’t have been counted in the right pile. Well, OK; perhaps if the school board found it as obvious as everyone else…
- Student census: a question of orientation [CBC News]
Lobby Group Endorses Homophobic School Trustees
Remember the obsessively anti-gay lobby group Defend Traditional Marriage and Family? (They’re the ones who publicly demanded that a non-religious counseling centre stop providing meeting space to a gay rights group.) Well, now they’re pestering candidates for their local public school board with homophobic questionnaires!
Kitchener candidate, Rob McNeil, said he was baffled by the “irrelevant and offensive” survey:
There was no question of value on it. It just blew my mind because there are so many other important issues going on. There’s school safety, there’s the balanced school day. This is a questionnaire based only on how I stand on the gay rights issue—which, to me, has nothing to do with “can you balance a set of books at the school board?”
Well, that’s the thing with the “pro-family” lobby, isn’t it? They’re one-issue folks. You could be a pointy, baby-eating vampire robot and still win their endorsement, so long as you’re anti-gay. Heck, they’re so one-issue that they’ve got more gay-related material on their website than I do!
Incidentally, only 1 of the 6 candidates ended up receiving an endorsement. According to the group’s newsletter, that candidate didn’t agree with many of their views on gays—but he was the only to actually return the survey.
