Just prior to the last Day of Silence, two teachers at Port Washington High School (Wisconsin) distributed a questionnaire meant to give students an inkling of what a gay person might go through in life. The questionnaire, developed by the late Martin Rochlin was distributed to some 400 students (out of 930) and was used in a class discussion period.  The 10 questions were some common things a gay person might be asked, but with the roles reversed, such as “What do you think caused your heterosexuality” and “Could it be that your heterosexuality is just a phase”.  They weren’t meant to be literally answered as in a survey, but to spur discussion within the assembled classes.

Predictably, some of the parents were not amused and are pushing for disciplinary action against the two teachers involved.  The principal of the school claimed he had no knowledge of the questionnaire and therefore had not given his approval (though the assistant principal was reportedly aware of the content).  One teacher has been put on paid administrative leave while the other is still teaching classes.

When I first heard about this on the news this morning, it was presented much differently (print example).  The most often quoted question was “If you have never slept with someone of you own gender, then how do you know you wouldn’t prefer it?”  Nothing was said about the pretense of the exercise and so of course one was left thinking this was some twisted version of “don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it”.  While if anything I am conservative about presenting sexual content to young children via curricula, when put in context this seemed to me a reasonable, clever way to open up the discussion to high school age youth.  The Day of Silence and Day of Truth are already bringing the subject to the forefront, why not use the opportunity wisely?

No matter what one’s opinion of the wisdom of all this may be, the distorted way it is being represented is not a good lesson to be teaching.

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Filed under: Education/Youth

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins will be on The O’Reilly Factor this evening (May 17) to discuss “Presidential leadership on protecting marriage” i.e. the Marriage Amendment.  He is slated after the first segment at 8:15 PM ET.  Here is a little preview of what we might hear from Tony this evening.  There is growing apprehension from some on the political right over a perceived lack of zealousness on the part of President Bush concerning this issue.  This might prompt some interesting discussion tonight.  If you watch, feel free to come back here and discuss any issues they bring up.

 

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Filed under: Focus on the Family/FRC

At the suggestion of Scott of Reality Cubed, I watched the seven-minute movie trailer for X-Men: The Last Stand. The movie’s story line appears to be a sensational, but somewhat oversimplified, mirror of the exgay debate:

If there were a medical cure for something that isn’t an illness, then is it ethical or humane to administer social rejection, discriminatory laws and involuntary medical treatment to accomplish that “cure”?
Read more…

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Filed under: Movies

Despite the overwhelming defeat of the recent shareholder introduced, AFA backed anti-gay family resolution (95-5% against), the AFA continues to send out alerts claiming that their boycott has virtually bankrupted Ford in the few short weeks of it’s existence.

After reading some of their latest stuff, I took a look at GM’s performance over the past year and compared it to Ford’s. They are the only two fully American owned auto manufacturers around today, and they are both having a tough time of it. This graph from BigCharts.com clearly illustrates that both manufacturers track closely.

Of course, depending on gas guzzling SUV’s for sales during a time when gas prices have been steadily rising might have just a wee bit to do with this downward sales trend. But the AFA, still stinging from it’s largely ineffective 9 year boycott of Disney, is trying it’s best to turn Ford’s every effort at diversity into a full-bore campaign for gay marriage. Presumably this is because they know that fully equal gay marriage is a hot button issue at the moment, while most people are in favor of rights for gay people in general. So, their rhetoric for the past couple of months has been that whenever Ford advertises in a gay magazine, they are promoting gay marriage. Or if the Ford Foundation donates to the HRC, Ford is promoting gay marriage. You get the idea.

Rhetoric aside, why not drop by your local Ford dealership and commend them for their company’s stand? You can write Ford as well (just use the contact info from boycottford.com), but I think the local people need to hear it even more.  Of course if you are going to buy a Ford anyway, it can’t hurt to let them know then either!

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Filed under: AFA

In his Good Friday sermon, Bishop Alfred A. Owens Jr., pastor of Greater Mount Calvary Church in Northeast D.C., screamed that “it takes a real man to confess Jesus as Lord and Savior”. To punctuate the point, he clarified that he meant only straight men, “I’m not talking about no faggot or no sissy”. He then invited all the straight men to come down to the altar to thank God that they are straight, saying “You ain’t funny and you ain’t cranky, but you’re straight,” – a comment I am still pondering in confusion.

Bishop Owens has spent several years on DC Mayor Anthony Williams’ Interfaith Council. The council was formed to foster understanding and inclusion among people of different faiths and identities. By implying that gay people can not receive salvation from God, Owens is spreading the worst kind of bigotry and ignorance, certainly counter to the aims of the Interfaith Council. As such, many groups are calling for his removal. Mayor Williams is supposed to consider the matter upon his return from a trip to Africa on May 16.

We can agree that there are many people of faith that recognize that one can be both Christian and gay. The more important question here I think is, what is the proper response to such hateful comments in our society of open, free speech? This has always been a tricky subject but it’s increasingly important as well. What can be done to influence “hearts and minds” while preserving the rights of all involved?

Check out this Washington Blade article for more detail and a link to a recording of this part of the sermon.

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Filed under: Discrimination