RE: Gay California teachers 'come out' in classroom

["Brad Neuman" <brad@brad.org>]

> But maybe there were many parents who had children in that class who 
> wouldn't want this to have happened in front of their children? Why 
> can't we respect them?


Maybe there were parents that would not like this to happen in front of
their children.  But they have no right to force anyone to hide who or
how they love.  It is basically none of their business.  Nor do they
have to right to force anyone to hide or live theirs lives in a closet
because of their religious beliefs.

They can live their lives how they want to.  They can try to convince
their children that homosexuality is wrong, but have no right to try to
suppress others because of their beliefs.  There have been many
instances in the past where people that have disagreed upon education
and tried to suppress ideas because of religious beliefs.  The fact is
that the world is round and does revolve around the sun despite
religious views to the contrary.

And you say that some children may have not been familiar with the
murder of Mathew Sheppard.  Because of their ignorance would you deny
comfort and understanding to those who were aware of the murder?  Are
you saying that ignorance and the lowest common denominator should
govern what a teacher does in the classroom?   I believe schools are for
education and not for the continuance of ignorance.

Brad Neuman





-----Original Message-----
From: John Harrell [mailto:johnbharrell@yahoo.com] 
Sent: Sunday, June 09, 2002 08:18 PM
To: vision2020@moscow.com
Subject: Re: Gay California teachers 'come out' in classroom 


Hi Sue,

> It seems to me that I remember a teacher who, days after
> the Sheppard murder in Wyoming, came out to his students in an effort
> to let them know that people they respected, even loved, might well 
> be gay.  I would be hard-pressed to say what he did was wrong.

But maybe there were many parents who had children in that class who
wouldn't want this to have happened in front of their children? Why 
can't we respect them? And show compassion and tolerance to those
families by not "coming out" in front their children? Why can't we let
families have "choice"? And let them decide how they want to handle this
issue? Some of those children may not even be familiar with what 
happened and now those families who were enjoying themselves, loving
life and having fun are now placed into a difficult position of having 
to explain what "sodomy" is to their children.

So I say - not with my children do you "come out" in front of them.

Thank you for the discussion,
John Harrell



--- Sue Hovey <suehovey@moscow.com> wrote:
> This is not an easy issue, but I can think of numerous times when 
> discussions in my government, history,  and sociology  classes turned 
> sexual either because of student questions or the nature of the 
> material.  And sometimes at issue was homosexuality.  Other times it 
> was rape, (To Kill a Mockingbird, comes to mind) other sexual abuse, 
> or maybe even plural marriage in certain societies.  I have also had 
> students "come out" to me concerning very sensitive issues such as 
> homosexuality, rape, and pregnancy. They came to me because they
trusted me and I worked diligenty not to betray
> that trust.   I tried to give assistance to them that  was
non-judgmental as
> well as helpful.  It seems to me that I remember a teacher who, days 
> after the Sheppard murder in Wyoming, came out to his students in an 
> effort to let them know that people they respected, even loved, might 
> well be gay.  I would be hard-pressed to say what he did was wrong.
> 
> Sue
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Archie" <archie@moscow.com>
> To: <vision2020@moscow.com>
> Sent: Sunday, June 09, 2002 11:44 AM
> Subject: Re: Gay California teachers 'come out' in classroom
> 
> 
> > There it is again, the "homosexual agenda".  I believe the 
> > homosexual
> agenda is an attempt to
> > affirm the worth and dignity of every human being.  Not such a bad 
> > idea.
> >
> > > But you miss the whole purpose of announcing one's homosexuality 
> > > in the classroom. It's to further the homosexual agenda.
> >
> >
> 


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