Invisible
Thinking on certain issues evolves over time. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” was ushered in at the very beginning of the Bill Clinton presidency. It was seen as a huge step forward in military circles. It was acknowledgment that gay and lesbian people exist and were likely in the military. Instead of a witch hunt to ferret them out, we would just allow them to exist as long as they weren’t in everyone’s face about it.
It served its usefulness and ceased to be policy in 2011. After awhile, it just becomes painful for people to shut off a portion of themselves for their own self-preservation. In order to prove that the world is regressing, some prominent right wing politicians are aiming to bring that back again.
Of course, no one calls it that. We use fancy names for it like “Parental Rights in Education”. Unfortunately, the scourge is spreading. Now, nearly half of the states in the country are considering the same bill. I’m sure no one is surprised that Texas is one of those states. I’m sure no one is surprised about who is behind that effort.
In order to get the full picture of this we should return to the original name that the bill was given. What exactly do parents want? Well, it’s hard to tell based on the results of the most recent elections. Generally speaking, the numbers aren’t much better in most school board elections. So, it is fair to ask what parents actually want in education.
While LGTBQ+ issues run the gamut, the issue of same sex marriage probably sits near the core of everything. If we were to use that as a barometer of attitudes towards gay and lesbian people in general, it would seem that most parents would actually be okay with it. According to the poll linked above, 61 percent of those polled in 2019 were in favor of same sex marriage while 30 percent were against it.
It certainly is true that being in favor of same sex marriage is not necessarily the same as supporting acknowledging LGTBQ+ issues in the classroom. However, there usually is a huge difference between what has been taught in the classroom and what people seem to think was being taught in the classroom. Most of the time it is a simple acknowledgment of who teachers are. I certainly don’t know anyone that has pushed a gay or lesbian lifestyle on students. They may or may not have acknowledged who they were by simply acknowledging the presence of a same sex partner.
Kids aren’t idiots. In fact, they are probably more in tuned to this than most adults are. By allowing teachers to acknowledge who they are, it encourages kids to be proud of who they are. As you might suspect, teenagers that are members of the LGTBQ+ community are more susceptible to suicide or thinking about suicide than their heterosexual peers.
As we watched a clip on the new laws (particularly the one likely coming in Texas) my wife piped up and asked a perfectly reasonable question. “I’m a parent. What about what I want?” That has been the problem with school boards for time and memorial. A majority of parents aren’t crazy. A majority of parents aren’t bigoted. A majority of parents just want their kids to be happy and healthy. A majority of parents don’t vote in school board elections. That’s usually reserved for zealots and busy bodies. So, now we force Mr. Smith and Ms. Jones back in the closet and with them all of the teens that were hoping to come out.
Well said. Thank you. Unfortunately we need to find a way to motivate the majority
1At the end of the article:
A majority of parents don’t vote in school board elections.
That right there is the problem. If your child is the most important thing in your life, you should damn well care enough to keep wingnuts off your school board.
2The Qcumber conservatives are experienced with using “states rights” as a smoke screen for their screeds. Their latest battle cry of bullshit: “education gag orders.” Truth and facts in the classrooms silenced by their preference for ignorance and white ‘supremacy.’
3I agree with James. It’s sad more voters don’t participate in school board elections, especially since in many districts they are being kidnapped by far right wingers. Anyone want to guess what effect that will have on what kids learn or don’t learn about?
4Since my wife and I always do vote in school board elections, does that make us busy bodies or zealots?
I remember when School Board elections were occasionally very exciting. I think it was in 1968 when there was a school board election in Nacogdoches, three members to be chosen, and ten candidates. In those days we were all Democrats, and there were three right-wing Democrats running [think far right wing presently Republicans], three middle-of-the road [similar to today’s moderate Republicans], three left-wing Democrats [similar to today’s moderate Democrats], and a loner uncommitted Democrat. The lines to vote were long. I was nominally a poll-watcher, but they were so short-handed that I got pressed into service to help the voting process. At one point an ambulance drove up outside, and three of us were dispatched outside to help the patient in the ambulance vote. At the end they had me help to count the votes, even though I had never been formally sworn in. These were paper scratch-off ballots. Ten names on the ballot and you scratched off those you did not want to vote for. I think we had something like a 70% voter turnout.
5Screw the pansy school boards as I supplement school with at home teaching. And question my kids on school crap. The whole LGBT marriage is a demonstration of the basic Xtian fear. They are terrified of fuzzyness!!!! LGBT is too fuzzy and they are terrified because the issue requires thinking, their other great fear. Evilution requires deep thought and all they want is simple orders on how to do this or that.Scientist scare them as they can see that other ordinary people can think and are not scared to do so.
6My dad tried to give me that BS about how parents should be the ones who talk to their kids about this stuff, and I told him that only works when the kids can trust their parents. I don’t even know how many of my teen daughter’s friends come to our house to get away from their bigoted parents because they know we won’t judge them for their sexual orientation or gender identity.
7The tragedy on this whole thing is that we know full well that these are cultural wedge issues designed to keep the plebeians restless and worried about meaningless crap while the real robber barons do their thing. The tragedy is that we are making some teachers fear for their jobs and some students destined to face their coming of age with no support at school. We do all this for what exactly? It’s not like we spend 24/7 teaching this and CRT to our feeble young minds.
I was reminded of one of my wife’s family members that flew off the handle about all of the child abductions going on (clearly having gone the way of the Q) and after he finished his rant I asked him how many people he knew that had either been abducted or knew someone that had been abducted. He couldn’t produce anyone but went into a story about how he had been abused as a child.
I didn’t grow up with him, so I can’t attest to the veracity of his claims but it seems to me that we are stuck in this loop of failing to differentiate between things that happen and things that happen frequently. Is childhood abduction a thing? Of course it is. Is childhood abduction common? Of course not. In terms of this topic, are there teachers that inappropriately discuss their private lives with students? Of course there are. It happens more frequently with heterosexuals than homosexuals. Does this happen often? Of course not.
A situation that probably should be handled by a principal or a central office administrator behind closed doors could be codified into law in 19 states. The big bad bogeyman of voter fraud, child abduction, CRT, and gay education is coming for us folks. One or two of us could be effected. We better pass laws to protect the rest.
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