There is currently a debate going on in a high school in Troy, Michigan about a poster that hangs in a teachers’ classroom reading, “Gay People Are Everyday People” created by the local LBGT center Affirmations (www.goaffirmations.org).
I wrote an article in favor of it that can be read here
https://www.detnews.com/2005/editorial/0506/12/A15-212564.htm and opposition to this is next to the story that can be read here https://www.detnews.com/2005/editorial/0506/12/A15-212563.htm
I long for the day to come where it will be politically incorrect to have a counter argument like this about gay and lesbian articles. If this were a debate about Judaism or African-American issues newspapers and the media would not allow the KKK to have their opinion voiced next to it opposing it.
I am still shocked that in 2005 it is tolerated. This man who makes a counter argument is clearly using scare tactics (ie: AIDS)and threats (lawsuits to the school) rather than sticking to the issue at hand.
Joe Kort
Joe,IMO, the media behaves that way because a large slab of people WANT to see harsh and negative things said about gay men and women.As for the opposition author; jeepers, what an ignoramous regardless of where his spring from. Views (and behaviour) such as his are the very reason the posters need to be explicit about who they are advocating for. I’m not sure why he thinks a gay advocacy group should be preparing posters on behalf of others, but I can bet my last dollar that Affirmation would be happy to see their posters alongside others advocating racial or religious tolerance.And then we get the current Dobson approach pumped out again:”This issue is not about being against homosexuals. My religious convictions don’t allow me to be anti-gay. Those same convictions, however, require that I protect my children from any attempts to indoctrinate, normalize or otherwise endorse this practice.”I’m not fooled — I realise the last half of that statement actually proves that he is both against and anti gay. Whatever next? I’m not racist, I just don’t think anyone with your skin colour is capable of voting? I’m not anti-semetic, I just know that I have to protect my children from greedy Jews?
Bravo to you sir for such a well articulated point.
So basically, he’s complaining that the school isn’t defending his right to be a bigot?
First, I think it is funny that he states his religion does not allow him to be anti-gay. So, if he did not have his religion, would he therefore be anti-gay?
Second, he equates being gay with sexual activity. THe funny thing is that he does not compare homosexuality and heterosexuality on that point. Instead, he goes straight to marriage, which is not a sexual thing in his mind. O’Reilly does this also–just alking about being gay is sexual. Being straight implies so much more. I seriously wish I was as sexed as people think I should be as a gay man. I need to tell my spouse that he needs to get more sexed up since we are not being gay enough.
Finally, he essentially equates disease and homosexuality. He even “knows” that this could lead to lawsuits since it is encouraging dangerous activity. Give me a break. Expressing tolerance for someone does not encourage someone to have unsafe sex. If anything, the lack of proper sex education in the school might lead to disease, but being gay does not mean being diseased.
I think these posters are hilarious because I was always pretty cynical about high school posters anyhow, and I never took them seriously. I don’t think many kids do.
I seriously question whose safety the poster ensures. In fact, it effectively promotes disrespect toward at least four mainstream religions.
This is particularly ironic in a school whose motto is “Respect Everyone, Everything, Every Day.”
It’s well established that those who observe the tenets of the Torah or the Bible, including both the Old and New Testaments, steer clear of the homosexual lifestyle. Ditto for observant Muslims and Hindus as well.
How does making the factual statement “Gays are everyday people” equate “disrespect” for any religion? When I say that Jews are everyday people, I am not attacking the doctrine that Christ was the Messiah, I am stating a simple fact of existence. The same is true for the statement about gays. Is he saying his religious beliefs require him to think all gays are freaks?
If your religious beliefs are at odds with reality, perhaps there is a problem with your religious beliefs.