Posted on 07/03/2004 12:17:28 PM PDT by ejdrapes
Washington --- The sixth-grade boy with a crush on silver-haired Mona Mendoza came up to her after the physical education class at a Seattle middle school and told her, ''Miss Mendoza, I have a problem. I hear you are a lesbian.'' ''Well, I am,'' she recalled telling him. ''But, Miss Mendoza, my dad told me that if you were a lesbian, you'd be fired.'' ''If I lived in some places, that would be true. But not in Seattle, because it's in our contract,'' she replied. ''Yes, I am a teacher, and yes, I am a lesbian.'' That drew smiles from the teachers at a workshop here on how to improve the education and safety of lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual staff, students and their supporters, especially those who are also racial or ethnic minorities, or poor. Then Mendoza sobered her listeners: ''They actually pulled him from my class, and then his dad finally transferred him to another school.'' The workshop was one of three on sexual orientation and gender identity sponsored by the 2.7 million-member National Education Association (NEA), the country's largest union for teachers and other school staff, in connection with its annual meeting, which will end Wednesday. The legal protections in public schools for those who are not exclusively heterosexual in practice or appearance are stronger than ever. But the teachers said everyday life in many public schools hasn't been changed much by the partial protection offered by federal bans on sex discrimination in employment and education, or by court rulings in cases under the ''equal protection'' clause of the U.S. Constitution. Only eight states have school safety laws that forbid discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, according to a study released this week by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. Bias laws in few states The states are Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and three others --- California, Minnesota and New Jersey --- that also offer protections based on gender identity or expression. ''At the other extreme, seven states still have prohibitions on the positive portrayal of homosexuality in the schools,'' said J. Carlos Velazquez, director of programs for Llego: the National Latina/o Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Organization. The states are Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah. One teacher said that during a school dispute over a gay-themed book at her school, ''I was afraid that if I stood up for the librarian, people might think I was a lesbian.'' Another teacher asked: "Is coming out really all that important?'' ''Yes, it is very important to the kids who have two moms or two dads,'' Mendoza assured him. ''And it's good for our own mental health. How would you feel if you couldn't bring your wife to a faculty party, or put a photo of your kids on your desk?'' Snubs, losses recalled An older gay teacher reviewed his lifelong history of snubs, beatings, school rumors, missed promotion opportunities and loss of friends to AIDS. He said the workshops' lack of emphasis upon the problems of white men stimulated ''anger inside my heart.'' The workshops sound like ''a great idea,'' said 18-year-old Bryant Courtney of Flowery Branch, Ga., who graduated from high school in May and plans to enter Georgia State University in the fall. ''A lot of educators just aren't well-educated on these issues,'' Courtney said. ''It's too late for me, but I'm glad to see it's happening.'' His mother, Jeanette Courtney-Cross, said he mentioned his orientation to her four years ago, and he confirmed that he was gay after he was outed by a teacher in whom he had confided. The teacher was reprimanded and left at the end of the year for other reasons, she said. ''Teenagers are going to make fun of each other, but the n-word has passed out of common use when others refer to African-Americans,'' Courtney said. Yet some teachers who would crack down on racist or sexist insults remained silent, he said, when ''I was called a faggot in the middle of class, or someone would refer to a faggot or say 'That's so gay' in my presence.'' Gays in Schools Still Feel Isolated, Teachers Eye Ways to Help Staff, Youths
Lesbians teaching PE? Never happened before...
"Gays in Schools Still Feel Isolated"
And non-gays don't?
When I was growing up, I had a grade school teacher that was probably homosexual. However, he and his significant other went on about their business, and didn't bother anyone. No one cared, and his sexuality was never discussed. Nor did it ever become and agenda to be pursued. Kind of like heterosexuality was not ever a topic of discussion. I might add, I grew up in a pretty conservative seacoast fishing town in the sixties.
Didn't the NYC public school system open a special school just for fairies?
That's a great anecdote, but it's nothing more.
In related news pedofiles and other perverts also feel isolated.
| What We Can Do To Help Defeat the "Gay" Agenda |
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| Homosexual Agenda: Categorical Index of Links (Version 1.1) |
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| Myth and Reality about Homosexuality--Sexual Orientation Section, Guide to Family Issues" |
Yet another GLSEN/P-FLAG/NAMBLA public relations handout.
I cannot see how this will help them....EVERY Kid feels isolated in school at times...and every parent KNOWS IT! Sheesh. What a load. Actually, OVERload.
Too bad no teachers or staff went out of their way to protect me from a marauding band of Puerto Rican "students" when I was in jr high in the early '80s.
If I'd been gay AND white, instead of just white, maybe I'd not have been terrorized.
The AJC is full of this very overt propaganda today. One cover story explains that the economy is in dire straits (job growth way below expectations, wages falling, etc.) and promises tales of the unemployed in Sunday's edition. Below that is a piece on how the evil and corrupt Republicans are trying to end the very promising career of the distinguished African-American lady--a mainstream moderate and a faithful Christian--who stands to be Chief Justice of our state Supreme Court. And they wonder why circulation is falling!
That's why she should hide it and not try to make others accept deviant behavior. But that's not what homosexuality is about. It's not an analog to normal behavior--it's a flat-out perversion that requires constant explicit sexual references and activities that normal people don't engage in.
More troublesome, though, is the fact that people who are known to engage in shameful behavior like that should be kept away from kids. LIke you say, if they make it known, then out!
I would feel strange too being a freak against the natural order of things.
The gays have always been teaching, just staying in closet as singles, pretending not to want marriage. I knew my HS had a lesbian PE teacher, but no proof. WE just kept our distance from her, and that was in late 60's.
The 12 year old in the throws of puberty has a crush on a lesbian (likely to be butch) who is old enough to have a head of silver hair (not just some specs)?
Does this pass the smell test?
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