Dear Tennessee teachers: You’re gonna be in big trouble if you say the word “gay”
I really try and stay away from coverages like this, but sometimes they’re just so odious I have to shed a little light on them:
NASHVILLE – After some convoluted maneuvers, a Senate committee Wednesday approved a bill that will prohibit teachers from discussing homosexuality in kindergarten through eighth-grade classrooms.
The measure (SB49) is sponsored by Sen. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, who unsuccessfully pushed the same idea – nicknamed the “don’t say gay” bill – for six years as a member of the state House before he was elected to the Senate.
As introduced, the bill would have put into law a declaration that it is illegal to discuss any sexual behavior other than heterosexuality prior to the ninth grade.
But when it came before the Senate Education Committee, Sen. Jim Tracy, R-Shelbyville, contended current law already prohibits such instruction by deeming it a misdemeanor to teach any sex education that is not part of the “family life curriculum” adopted by the state Board of Education.
Tracy proposed an amendment to rewrite Campfield’s bill to require the Board of Education to study the issue and determine whether any teaching about homosexuality is occurring and, if so, recommend what should be done about it.
Campfield contends homosexuality is being discussed in classrooms. Spokesmen for the Board of Education and the state Department of Education told the committee they are unaware of any such activity.
The bill, for all intents and purposes is going to make sure that any kid up until the 8th grade is going to be denied any knowledge of the LGBT community. I’m particularly sensitive to this because right around the 8th grade is where I started to question my own sexuality. My father and mother were racist, bigots and incredible homophobes and I sure as hell wasn’t going to have the conversation with my father that started with “Dad, I really like guys. How’s about that one? Hmmm?” If I survived his beating I probably would have been locked in the house until I was 18. I’m not kidding.
This bill looks after no child’s well being whatsoever. It does nothing more than cater to Sen. Campfield’s own hatred and bigotry at the expense of any kid in the state.
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