Not only will Harvey Milk Day make California school children learn about homosexuals, but lesson plans about homosexuals will make them learn about homosexuals, too! America’s school children will be irrevocably harmed.
The Alameda Unified School District, outside Oakland, will “forcibly” teach six 45-minute lessons about LGBTs each year to students in grades K-5 under something called Safe School Community Lesson 9. Ahhh! It’s gonna turn ’em gay! And make ’em do gay things! It might even make them start cross-dressing … at school!
Which led Kevin Snider, chief counsel of conservative legal organization Pacific Justice Institute, to file a lawsuit on behalf of 20 parents.
Supposedly, the suit it’s about parental rights. Without giving parents the ability to “opt out” of having their children participate, it’s tantamount to … oh, what did Pastor Dion Evans say it was? Oh, right: “If in defiance of sound reasoning and fairness to all students and parents this curriculum is adopted tonight it will cause a strong reaction. Instead of bringing us together and healing divisions, it will cause even greater division, alienation and suspicion.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Suspicion! Like the type generated by the Christian Broadcast Network’s above report.
Moving forward, let’s also give parents the right to opt their children out from learning about other “alternative” lifestyles, like Kenyan tribes, Native American mystics, and religious people.
alan brickman
Black hate gays….In toronto they are allowed to have their own school to protect “black culture”..is black culture one of intolerance and hatred??? Look at Toronto ….
AlwaysGay
Haterosexuals doing want they always do; spreading hate.
Namaste85
@alan brickman: thats a pretty strong generalization. Im black and i love gays. im even writing a book thats half way finished to support them and help end the divide between straight and gay. No black culture isnt one of hatred and discrimination, in every group there are some who are ignorant and intolerant. I dont judge all white people by the actions of the KKK, nor do i hold Germans to the actions of Hitler, and the list can go on. if youre going to make a comment about the video and single out the one ignorant pastor who opposed the school’s teaching about gay lifestyle, then maybe you shouldnt post anything at all because im sure hes not the sole individual standing in the way. i believe there was a shot of various white parents holding up protest signs??
John
The truth is that there are a few blacks involved in the anti-gay campaign in Alameda, but most of the participants are white and Asian. Dion Evans, although leading the recall effort now, wasn’t real prominent initially.
The local Mormons have been heavily involved in this from the beginning. Since Evans has stepped forward, they have let him garner more of the spotlight. There is a pattern among anti-gay right wing hate groups to try to put forward black faces to the public. They seem to think that black folks can’t be called bigots as easily.
So, race is an issue in this case, but it is mostly the cynical manipulation of race by white folks to try and immunize themselves against accusations of bigotry. Unfortuantely for them, people in Alameda aren’t the least bit reluctant to call someone a bigot, regardless of the color of their skin.
RainaWeather
@John: I wish I had written that
Gabriel
As someone who grew up in Alameda (AHS class of ’88, go hornets!) I’m proud of the stand taken by the three School Board members who voted for this curriculum. John is correct: Dion Evans is a useful idiot for the various anti-gay groups behind the recall effort and law suit. It saddens me (and pisses me off) to know that two of the plaintiffs suing the district were friends of mine in high school. The good news is that recall petitions have a high failure rate in Alameda. Hopefuly the lawsuit will be seen for what it is, frivolous, and thrown out.
Greg Theron
I wish I had this lesson in school!
Glenn
Off topic, but that anchorman at the beginning was looking pretty ripe for a fucking. You know he takes it up the bottom, not even being snarky…
Jarrett T.
I agree with Namaste85 – Most blacks are not nearly as intolerant as white right-wing sites like CBN try to make them out to be… They also blamed Proposition 8 on “black voters” but I wrote a column about how Obama voters actually voted 65% AGAINST Proposition 8 and that means that the majority of Democrats who wanted to see Obama become President were in favor of Gay Rights. One has to keep in mind that when you connect “God” to an issue, people feel like they need to vote a certain way – but when you just present the issue flatly as it is, they will generally fall on the side of civil rights.
Bunny Snuggles
@ JARRETT T.
CNN Exit polls:·
A staggering 75% of black women voted YES on Prop 8.
54% of Latino men voted YES, and 52% of Latino women voted YES on Prop 8.
Collectively, 70% of Blacks (Male and Female) voted YES on Prop 8 – the largest anti-gay minority voting block. MORE than any other racial minority.
A slim majority of Whites, 51% voted NO to discrimination by voting NO on Prop 8.
61% of young people (18-24) voted NO Prop 8.
59% of 25-29 year olds voted NO Prop 8.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#CAI01p1
naghanenu
You guys seem to forget many people(u would be surprised how many) do not think homosexuality is immutable.
They do not think it is something you are born with like race or eye color or whatever. That is the crux of the problem. Is it attached to religion?…yes totally! The bible teaches against its practice thus it is understood that it is against nature by Christianity
Religion runs the world. Whether it be Islam,Christianity or Buddhaism, 99% of the world pop believes and is guided by something in that area. Out of that 99%, majority of the religious groups teach homosexuality is against nature. In that point who do you blame? The people for adhering to their beliefs(which i do not think they are wrong to do) or the belief system itself.
The best situation is a compromise between gays and religion. I dont see a way around it. I do not think homosexuality is wrong but that does not mean that i think people, who as a basis of their faith, think it is, are wrong either.
That said, teaching kids that the realities of homosexuality is not a bad thing. It is good we are making the young understand that people are different and different is not bad. It is not something to laugh about, or make fun about or even kill about. I really support this.
However, parents have their rights too. It is being violated. here. Whether we support their views or not, we cannot force them to do what they do not want to do. That causes resentment and gives the anti gay side weapons to attack. I mean, for real, we all said the Maine anti gay marriage campaign was lying about kids being forced to learn gay marriage in schools right? Look at this scenario. Fine, it aint about gay marriage but it is the same principle. Forcing them is dangerous to the cause…very dangerous.
Contrary to popular belief, Americans do not appear to fully support gay marriage. I mean look at Maine and New York. This is just one way to truly lose people that might have sympathy and empathy to the cause.
Rainfish
@ No. 11 • naghanenu,
Substitute the word “Gay” for any other group, and let’s see how that “compromise” of yours flies.
Just to help you out, here are a few examples:
“…The best situation is a compromise between BLACK SLAVES and religion. I don’t see a way around it. I do not think FREEING SLAVES is wrong but that does not mean that i think people, who as a basis of their faith, think it is, are wrong either.”
or, let’s try this one:
“…The best situation is a compromise between WOMEN and religion. I don’t see a way around it. I do not think EQUAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN is wrong but that does not mean that i think people, who as a basis of their faith, think it is, are wrong either.”
or:
“…The best situation is a compromise between VICTIMS OF RELIGION-BASED PERSECUTION and religion. I don’t see a way around it. I do not think BEING PROTECTED FROM RELIGIOUS FANATICS is wrong but that does not mean that i think people, who as a basis of their faith, think it is, are wrong either.”
Don’t you see, “naghanenu”, how obscene that would sound if you asked any other group (other than the GAYS, in your mind) to compromise on their equality, human dignity, and civil rights? No, there is no compromising on equal rights. Either you have them or you don’t.
And NO, people who think GAYS are sinful based on a some Bronze Age, chauvinistic, heterosexual egocentric, tribal mentality and who, by extension, rationalize that members of the GLBT community are not deserving of the same rights that they take for granted, are just plain WRONG.
…Got that? THEY ARE WRONG! And they are evil.
No matter what “religious” belief/myth/neurosis they used (or hide behind) to justify their shameful and immoral behavior towards their fellow man or woman, they are not entitled to any kind of “compromise” that places them in a position of dominance or authority over any other citizen in the community. That is an insult to human decency.
Do you so easily forget the tens of millions of GLBT kids who are growing up and matriculating through our school system at this very moment too? Don’t they deserve positive roles models and proper education regarding their kind as well?
When these children eventually flower into their sexual person-hood (whether they are Gay, Straight, Bi or Trans), shouldn’t they be first made aware that all of them are just as much an intrinsic part of humanity as any other human being on Earth? Shouldn’t they be “exposed” to the reality that they, as well as many other types of human beings, can be a productive and healthy part of a diverse community, and not a cancer on it?
Shouldn’t they be taught about diversity as a norm from early on — along side the children who will eventually become heterosexual? And shouldn’t all children be taught to be civil and accepting of all others who are just trying to live their own lives and, perhaps, even raise a family of their own?
Yes, all children should be made aware that not all people will become carbon copies of one another, and neither should human beings be expected to do so.
The universe doesn’t always revolve around narrow-minded heterosexuals and their petty prejudices. That is not anymore acceptable than racism…it never was.
Perhaps, you think that Rosa Parks should have “compromised” and (to avoid conflict, and stepping on the “rights” of bigots) she just should have asked to sit in the “second to the last seat” at the back of the bus — just a little closer to the front, but not too close to the White Folks; lest she upset the status quo.
Sorry, that just doesn’t cut it anymore.
Sincerely,
Rainfish
——-in Response to No. 11 · naghanenu who wrote:
“…The best situation is a compromise between gays and religion. I don’t see a way around it. I do not think homosexuality is wrong but that does not mean that i think people, who as a basis of their faith, think it is, are wrong either.”
Acem
@Bunny Snuggles: You don’t know what you’re talking about. That “70%” claim was preliminary and has been long refuted. When the dust settled and smoke cleared, the real figure of Blacks voting YES on 8 was 59%. In the future, I suggest you do your research *before* you get on here spouting sanctimonious ignorance.