Recently, legislators in California have made strides towards including more gay historical figures and role models in public education curriculum, in response to the fact that gay kids tend to grow up happier, healthier, and less likely to kill themselves if they can see themselves reflected in a positive light. This week Tennessee makes a move in the exact opposite direction, with a proposed bill that would prohibit teachers from discussing the concept of homosexuality in the classroom.
senator stacey campfield
Charmingly nicknamed the “don’t say gay” bill, the legislation claims that discussion of gayness or gay people — “any sexual behavior other than heterosexuality” — shouldn’t be allowed in kindergarten through the eighth grade. (I imagine that the theoretical reveal in ninth grade is very dramatic, there may be guidance counselors on hand.) It cleared a Senate committee this week, and while it seems to have been held up temporarily, it’s not because anyone called BS – it’s because someone noticed that discussion of homosexuality is already discouraged under the state-mandated “family life” curriculum.
This presented no obstacle for Senator Stacey Campfield, the sponsor of the bill. Staying true to the GOP’s bizarre obsession with making gay things DOUBLE ILLEGAL (i.e. in states where gay marriage is illegal, there’s also a push to create a state constitutional amendment to that effect), he maintain’s that it’s necessary because “homosexuality is being discussed in the classrooms.” The bill now contains an amendment that requires the Board of Education to “study the issue” and determine what should be done about it. The fact that this amendment makes the bill MORE reasonable, when school systems all over the country are struggling to pay teachers and only 57% of K-8 classrooms in Tennessee are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, is insane.
The criticism of this bill has been sound: it’s based on the premise that trying to keep kids from finding out about things has never made them go away, and that the instinct of many parents in America to force schools to teach about a fantasy world that they wished we lived in, rather than the one we do, is not well founded. On a fundamental level, teaching children about something does not doom them to become it; after all, generations of children have learned about World War II without growing up to commit genocide. But for gay kids, the stakes are higher than just educational standards. As the California legislature has recognized that giving gay kids gay role models helps them grow up healthy and safe, we need to recognize that trying to deny to gay kids that they even exist is a way of ensuring that they grow up confused and unhappy – or don’t grow up at all.
The implications for teachers here are not entirely clear, either. Would this legally prohibit gay teachers from being honest with their kids about their families and home life? It’s already risky for teachers to be out at their jobs, but in public schools many of them do have tenuous legal protections. Would this bill, if passed, require teachers to lie to their kids? Honestly, the answer is yes – even if not about their home life, about the world we live in and the people who exist in it.
Education is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children, and to see someone who is willing to sacrifice it to satisfy their own agenda is deeply disheartening. Passing the “don’t say gay” bill won’t protect kids, gay or straight or anything else. It will just ensure that “gay” continues being said on the playground, on the school bus, and in the home – except it will be said with disgust, and queer kids will have no way of knowing that they’re not the only ones to ever have to live through it. The future of this bill and the Board of Education’s “study” is unclear – we can only hope that it ends in a real education and a safe future for all of Tennessee’s kids.
Oh my god what the fricking frack. Why.
I would just like to make sure that everyone in the world sees this tweet:
http://twitter.com/#!/GeorgeTakei/status/62205419434688514
Not that it actually makes this horrifying TN bill any better, but I am so very glad that man exists.
#iamaTakeiWoman :)
If you’re in TN, there’s a protest going on in Nashville this Sunday: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=210085212344747
I wonder how this will affect the children of gay parents. Will they not be able to mention their families at all? Are they going to have some euphemism for kids with two moms or dads?
Like, “Billy, I’m going to need for you to give this note to ‘those people you live with.’ We need to have a ‘those people you live with’-teacher meeting.” Or, “Franny doesn’t have a parents. She sprang fully formed from the gymnasium floor.”
What about gay people who, you know, existed and may therefore come up in history.
“We will begin our study of Ancient Civilizations with Greece, where nothing happened at all. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, JENNY, DON’T LOOK AT THE MAP. THE ISLANDS HAVE NAMES THAT MIGHT GIVE YOU IDEAS.
“Greece’s fall began with the Macedonian conquest at the Battle of Chaeronea where – wait, Jesus, the whole army? Were any straight people involved in this? GOT IT! Philip of Macedon was there. He had a son, but we’re not talking about him.
“Moving on, Rome was founded by Romulus. After the Republic was set in place, Gaius Julius Ceaser took power. The Julio-Claudian emperors did nothing. Absolutely nothing.
“Skipping forward to recent history, the 20’s never happened. Seriously. We just went from 1919 to 1930.
“Some years after the 1920’s didn’t happen, Adolf Hitler did some bad things, but we can’t tell you about them because then you might ask *who* he did them to, and we can’t go into too much detail about all of those people.”
This is freaking brilliant. Amazing. I think teachers SHOULD teach this version out of protest. Tell me at least one kid hearing this won’t go home to google what the ‘inappropriately’ named island is and tell all her/his friends. There’d be more gay history learnt out of that than any kind of government sanctioned curriculum.
the legislation claims that discussion of gayness or gay people — “any sexual behavior other than heterosexuality” — shouldn’t be allowed in kindergarten through the eighth grade.
I didn’t realize heterosexuality was a behavior? Maybe teachers should just start saying: “Hey kids, have all the anal sex you want! Have lots of oral sex too! Do it with women! Do it with men! Just make sure you behave ‘heterosexually’ while you do it!”
Or are they defining heterosexuality as penis-in-vagina sex? ‘Cause that’s just lame. and oh so boring.
But really, this sucks. Dumb Tennessee with their squished-square shape and cowboy hat(e)s.
so much bullshit. since when does putting your fingers in your ears and screaming “lalalala” make anything go away? oh wait, it doesn’t.
I’m already trying to figure out what I’m supposed to do in a few years when I begin teaching elementary school. I’d rather not climb back in the closet, but North Carolina doesn’t even include sexual orientation in their hate crime legislation. Who’s dealt with this? Suggestions or advice?
I was lucky enough to teach in a state that even allows gay marriage, but someone gave me this:
http://www.amazon.com/One-Teacher-Second-Kevin-Jennings/dp/1555838693/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303837191&sr=1-2
I’m not sure there’s a ton of practical advice, but most of the essays are well-written and certainly inspiring.
If you’re going to teach, do it somewhere where they can’t fire you for being you. My advice: move.
Seriously I’m not out to my students because….I don’t talk about my personal life. But they are totally on to me. And they don’t seem to care.
Also things happen in my school like suspending kids for saying faggot, and when I spend a solid chunk of a class period explaining why we don’t say, “that’s so gay,” #1: the kids listen and #2: everyone in the building supports it.
If I didn’t have that/couldn’t do those things my life/job would be miserable and I’d probably be fired quickly.
So move.
Or hope/pray/work for ENDA to be passed. But still. Find a supportive/awesome school.
The “that’s soo gay” phrase dosent annoy me any more, my friends and I have reclaimed it, instead we use “that’s soo ghey”!
Of course, all straight sexual behavior is perfectly acceptable to discuss with six-year-olds. Naturally it’s fine to bring talk of double penetration into first grade classrooms. Because it’s not gay.
DP is approved by Tennessee for six-year-olds, but only if their ballsacks don’t touch. ‘Cause, y’know, if they touch, it’s totally gay.
“It’s okay to be Takei.”
For people who think we don’t exist they sure are trying their best to silence us!!
So Tennessee, this is what you have been working on? No wonder compared to California you look like a 3rd world state.
NEVER TALK ABOUT GAY PEOPLE EVER AND THEN THEY WILL CEASE TO EXIST.
Methinks there’s a GIGANTIC hole in your logic.
:( I know I kid a lot, but I truly want out of here. I’m sick of being treated like I don’t exist. I don’t care if I have to move to Canada, I need out of here.
You see… thats the thing about homophobes. They’re everywhere. I think we should all move away together and create a more high functioning government.
If we can keep autostraddle running i bet we can a country too! i hope it’s modeled as a democratic socialist kingdom. with free cable. like monaco?
Well, there’s always the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands near Australia. A nation by homogays for homogays!
In all seriousness, I would totally move there if I could.
THIS.
I also feel this feeling. *hugs*
What scares me about this – other than the obvious – is that I’m concerned about a child going to their school counselor to discuss their confusion about their queerness and being told that said counselor cannot discuss it with them.
For some of these kids this may be the ONLY place, and ONLY adult that they can discuss this with. I’m so fearful that if they get turned away that it might lead to more suicides or something and that would be horrible! :(
this happens at some of the schools where i live (NC), but in my experience, i’ve noticed that it depends on the counselor/school atmosphere. that seems like a hell of a crap shoot for a teen.
at least NC has finally passed a law saying that there has to be medically appropriate sex ed in the schools (they bring in speakers from the dept. of public health, i work with them, too – and they do speak honestly and positively about sexual orientation). http://bit.ly/hjlQGN
Hey, someone else from NC. Sweet.
It definitely depends on the school. I know high schoolers who are going through hell right now. The school administration knows all about it, and basically, doesn’t give a damn – law or no law. Every new incident I hear about makes me more and more infuriated…
I didn’t play Cluedo (Clue if you’re American) until I was 16, I knew the game existed – and how it was played. I also knew I was gay. These things may or may not be related.
It was the femme in the library with a low-cut top?
She played a good game of cluedo…a very good game of cluedo.
To follow that logic, can I make Tennessee go away if I pretend that it doesn’t exist?
…but Jack Daniels comes from Tennessee and that’s how I get 98% of the ladies. Tennessee has been helping this lesbian get some since 2005.
Jack Daniels comes from a dry county in Tennessee–they make whiskey but nobody’s allowed to buy or drink a drop of it on site. I think we’ve established that logic in legislation is not their strong suit.
Wait so if we all stop saying “homophobia” will it just go away too?
“Passing the “don’t say gay” bill won’t protect kids, gay or straight or anything else. It will just ensure that “gay” continues being said on the playground, on the school bus, and in the home – except it will be said with disgust, and queer kids will have no way of knowing that they’re not the only ones to ever have to live through it.”
^THIS. Yes.
Fuck, the next time a queer kid in Tennesee commits suicide (because unfortunately there will be a next time, and this law makes that even more certain), can somebody charge these legislators with manslaughter or conspiracy to murder or something? Because they will be responsible for it, indirectly or no. And these fuckers think they’re *protecting* kids?
This makes me angry and sad. How dare they try to invalidate us and our lives like this?
We should all go to Tennessee and chant “I do believe in gay people, I do! I do!”
“….in response to the fact that gay kids tend to grow up happier, healthier, and less likely to kill themselves if they can see themselves reflected in a positive light.”
Shocking! Water is wet! The Pope is Catholic!
Oh and p.s. I can’t wait to be a teacher now~
Margaret Thatcher tried this one. The infamous Section 28 of the 1988 Local Government Act stated that “A local authority shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality or promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship.” It didn’t work.
“While no one was ever prosecuted under the section, it had a wide effect, with libraries refusing to stock gay papers, gay websites blocked on school and college computers, and Glyndebourne Touring Opera being forced to abandon a staging of Death in Venice.
Section 28 did not directly legislate for schools, but it prompted staff self-censorship. Teachers were confused about what they could say and do, and were unsure whether they could act when pupils faced homophobic bullying ” While no one was ever prosecuted under the section, it had a wide effect, with libraries refusing to stock gay papers, gay websites blocked on school and college computers, and Glyndebourne Touring Opera being forced to abandon a staging of Death in Venice.
Section 28 did not directly legislate for schools, but it prompted staff self-censorship. Teachers were confused about what they could say and do, and were unsure whether they could act when pupils faced homophobic bullying.” (The Guardian UK)
Seriously, Tennessee, this isn’t going to work. We exist whether your children know it or not. Kyrgyzstan also exists which I bet loads of your kids don’t know about either.
if anyone else is planning on showing up at the state capitol building in nashville on sunday, i’ll be the one with the cooler full of dos equis. let’s be friends.
You and your cooler of Dos Equis should take a national tour, you would make lots of friends. ;P
I will be the one holding the sign that says “Looking for the chick with the beer…. Also Gay is Okay”
You just made yourself a friend.
I have nothing else to add to this except for two points:
1) It’s disheartening that the best idea for LGBT teachers is to move away to LGBT-friendly areas. I mean, obviously it makes sense for the individual, but the loss of healthy LGBT adults in really conservative areas almost helps the homophobic agenda. I wish there could be an ideal solution but it seems like this legally-homophobic states are going to stay that way for a llllllllong time. Sigh.
2) Does anyone else think it incredibly silly that a man named STACEY is in charge of banning homosexuality from being taught? Really, Papi, Really??
Actually Stacey is a pretty common name for older guys in the south. My Grandpa’s name was Stacey, and I’m pretty sure that I have an uncle named Tracey.
There’s also a boy named Sue.
Can I get a “fuck that noise”?!
I teach outdoor ed (not in a classroom) and I will specifically derail any of that “omg he’s so gay” bullshit. But if I had a student that wanted to talk about homosexuality, I’d be all ON that! Gay kids have the WORST track record because NO ONE talks to them! Talk to the kids, people! You wanna start up the whole gay suicide thing before they even make it to middle school?
REALLY?!
Fuckwads.
This makes me smile.
and yes, fuck that.
i am so glad that i did not move when i was supposed to move to tennessee back in seventh grade. i am moving this summer though to tennessee but hopefully high school will be a little better than what they are proposing for K-8th. i am so glad i am only going to be in tennessee for two years then off to college in hopefully a more accepting state.
I’m sorry. :(
Tennessee: HICK state!