Focus On The Rainbow

The subject of parents protesting the discussion or reading of particular books has been brought up many times both in the mainstream media and LGBT blogs/media.

 As is the case again some LGBT blogs have started another firestorm because parents protest the reading of  books for children in elementary school which have a “gay and/or lesbian theme”.

Now it’s because of an article/news story done by WCVB-TV in Boston about the complaint of parents over the reading of a book to second graders at a Lexington, MA school about two gay men.

There is more controversy at a Lexington elementary school, where once again a parent is upset about gay themes being inserted into the curriculum.

This time, the mother of a second-grader is upset that her son’s teacher read the class a book highlighting two gay princes.

It would be fine if the discussion on LGBT blogs such as Pam’s House Blend was left at that, but because of who the parents are making the complaint and because of who the WCVB-TV reporter is, the issue takes on a whole new spin.

That, I’m not even going to get into here. For those interested for another opportunistic bashing of  “the Conservative Right” you can click the link for Pam’s House Blend and join their biased and zealous take on it.

Instead this commentary deals with just how young is too young and when is it appropriate to start discussing in school the gay and lesbian lifestyle.

When books like the one in question and others are brought to the forefront in the media, the schools in question say it is to bring an understanding that we’re all equal regardless of sexuality, while the Right-Wing Conservatives and religious zealots call it “the indoctrination of homosexuality in our youth”.

And by the same token, the more ultra-liberal and extreme minded members of the LGBT community would I’m sure have the books read to the child shortly after the baby exits the womb.

Being the often centrist and moderate thinking person which I am, I myself often ask when is it appropriate to offer these books into school curriculum. Are first or second graders really able to grasp the concept of a child with two mommies or daddies, or gay penguins or two gay princes ?

Can’t we let our little kids be just that for as long as they can without having to have a complete understanding of the world around them ?

To put this into some perspective, in a way my being a little kid in second and third grade was taken away because of “duck and cover”. We had to practice what to do in case of a nuclear attack. Granted we may not have had a complete understanding of what it all meant, but it scared the be-jebus out of me and other children in my class, that I can remember for sure.

And if a school is going to offer these books as part of curriculum, what can possibly be wrong in giving the parents no matter the reason in their objection the opportunity to opt-out of the child’s participation.

I don’t know what the magic age would be. Perhaps fourth grade, I really don’t have an answer.

Little kids grow up fast enough, why not let them be little kids for as long as they can without having to take on the “social responsibility and acceptance” of adults. And then when needed, let the parents enlighten the children at home, or as I was often scolded by a teacher, not to pick on another child and explain why.

I wish I never had to learn about “duck and cover” and could have enjoyed being a little kid for a bit longer.

This isn’t exactly Art Linkletter’s “Kid Say The Darnedest Things”

The Associated Press, Fox News and anti-gay activists just recently caught up with an article from the Ames Tribune in Iowa that the Library Board of Trustees voted last Thursday 6 to 1 to keep “Sex, Etc.” available in the teen section of the library for those who wish to read the magazine which is an advice magazine written by teenagers for teenagers about questions and issues regarding sex.

Of course anti-gay websites and “conservative moralists” are calling the magazine a “gay sex magazine” and a way to indoctrinate youth into the homosexual lifestyle, once again “reporting” misinformation.

The article written by Jennifer Myer reads in part, A magazine about sex will stay where teens can find it at the Ames Public Library.

The Library Board of Trustees voted 6-1 Thursday to support Director Art Weeks’ recommendation to continue openly displaying and offering free copies of Sex, Etc. in the teen section.

Trustee Melody Warnick, however, said she agonized over the issue before casting the dissenting vote.

 “It is very frank and honest in a way that teens need,” Warnick said, “but I agree with the Bannantines’ complaint … that we’re privileging this magazine over everything else that we have in the library.”

Kate Dobson, a junior at Ames High, said cataloguing Sex, Etc. with other periodicals would make it more difficult for teens to access information they need. 

“More recently than most people in this room, I went through sex education,” Dobson said. “I came home from school in fifth grade with lots of questions, and I wasn’t sure where to go for that information.”

Joyce and John Bannantine presented a petition to the board last month with signatures of 118 parents with concerns about the topic and treatment of the magazine, which is written for teens by teens under the oversight of Answer, a national sexuality organization at Rutgers University.

You can read the full article here. The magazine also has a website.

Thousands of students across the country this week, October 19 – 23, are pledging to address anti-gay bullying as part of GLSEN’s fifth annual Ally Week, a week of activities designed to encourage people to be allies against anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) name-calling, bullying and harassment at school.

Ally Week, which was created by students as a way to encourage and support allies, is often organized by the more than 4,000 Gay-Straight Alliance student clubs registered with GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education network.

“Students will bring a message of respect into schools across America this week,” said Lazaro Cardenas, a 17-year-old senior from Riverside, Calif. “We will ask our friends and classmates to be allies against anti-LGBT behavior by signing a pledge to not engage in that kind of activity and intervene when others do so. This is a first step toward making schools safer places to learn.”

The Ally Week pledge, which students and adults sign either through pledge cards in school or online at www.allyweek.org, reads:

I believe all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression deserve to feel safe and supported.

That means I pledge to:

- Not use anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) language or slurs.
- Intervene, if I safely can, in situations where students are being harassed.
- Support efforts to end bullying and harassment.

- source – PRWeb/GLSEN

LOGO Online.com

On The New York Times website is an excellent, albeit long, article in the Magazine section titled, “Coming Out In Middle School“.

Now I don’t know about you, but when I was in Jr. High, yes the hormones were raging, and at both the sight of Batgirl and Robin, but the last thing I was giving any thought to was where I stood in the great grand scheme of things called sexuality.

However, such is not the case today, whether that is a good thing or bad, well, I’d love to go back to the days when the most controversial thing on TV was Laugh-In, The Smothers Brothers and All In The Family.

When we thought Paul Lynde or Rip Taylor, not to forget Liberace might be, um, a fruit. But we have progressed and developed as a society and community over these 40 odd years since I was in Jr. High, it is understandable that kids today are questioning who they are and if able want to “come out”. But not without consequence as the article shows.

What is clear is that for many gay youth, middle school is more survival than learning — one parent of a gay teenager I spent time with likened her child’s middle school to a “war zone.” In a 2007 survey of 626 gay, bisexual and transgender middle-schoolers from across the country by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (Glsen), 81 percent reported being regularly harassed on campus because of their sexual orientation. Another 39 percent reported physical assaults. Of the students who told teachers or administrators about the bullying, only 29 percent said it resulted in effective intervention.

To say it is not worrisome what young teenagers are going through would be a lie, even though these kids have no direct tie to me. But then how can someone who is part of “community” not worry about “the others” regardless of age or orientation.

Yes progress is a great and wonderful thing, but when you’re a kid, you should enjoy being a kid and not have to worry about such weighty matters that can make adults feel like they are carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.

Sometimes, I think, on one hand the LGBT world is providing inspiration to younger generations, on the other hand, I wonder if that world is being introduced too early and “to openly”, thus causing great angst about sexuality at an ever increasing younger age.

According to an article at the Star-Tribune, The Anoka-Hennepin School District has agreed to pay a $25,000 settlement to the family of a high school junior after two teachers harassed the boy and subjected him to classroom jokes, comments and innuendos concerning his perceived sexual orientation.

The boy’s “fence swings both ways,” teacher Diane Cleveland commented during a class in the 2007-2008 school year, according to an investigation by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.

When the boy wrote a report on Ben Franklin, Cleveland allegedly said before the entire class that the boy had a “thing for older men.” Another teacher, Walter Filson, said in front of other students that the boy “enjoys wearing women’s clothes.” When the boy decided to report on Abraham Lincoln, Filson allegedly said, “Since you like your men older …” the Human Rights report said.

“This should not have happened to this student or to any student,” said Ginny Karbowski, director of the school district’s Secondary Technical Education Program (STEP), where the boy was enrolled until he transferred to a school 25 miles away to escape harassment. “I was shocked and saddened when I heard these allegations,” she said.

Brooklyn Suchy was in sixth grade when she wore her Gay Straight Alliance shirt for all to see: “GSA, like it or not, I am what I am.”

It was at a restaurant in Newport where her shirt drew the ire of a group of girls. They called her names. They shoved her. And then they locked her in the restaurant’s bathroom.

“Others don’t accept people who want to be who they want to be,” said Brooklyn, now a ninth-grader at Crosswinds East Metro Arts & Science School. The 15-year-old Landfall girl considers herself bisexual.

Those were the kinds of stories that prompted one local educator to begin an online high school catering to students like Brooklyn. Named the GLBTQ Online High School, it is based in Maplewood and believed to be the first of its kind. (GLBTQ represents gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or questioning.)

Other online schools exist, as do bricks-and-mortar schools that serve gay students. But the Minnesota program is the first to combine the two features, according to the International Association for K-12 Online Learning.

It is the brainchild of David Glick, the first online learning coordinator at the Minnesota Department of Education.

He has received applications from students across the country and from faculty around the world.

“We may not bring people closer physically — but we will in every other way,” Glick said. “We want to make them feel more confident about who they are.”

Source: TwinCities.com