By Denise Dub, Boston Globe Correspondent
Originally posted March 7, 2004
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Some Bedford parents are seeing red over a rainbow flag at the John Glenn Middle School and submitted a petition Tuesday to the superintendent to have it removed. School administrators are refusing, saying the flag is a symbol of symbol of tolerance? I hardly think so. Does the flag represent tolerance of pedophilia, bigamy, bigotry, racism, slavery, polyandry, polygyny, obscenity, offensive speech, bullying, religious fanaticism, intelligent design or intolerance of zero-tolerance? Not at all. "Tolerance" is little more than a euphemism for gay-rights. |
In November the school administration sent a letter to parents about a Day of
Respect at the school on Nov. 24, saying the event was ”designed to foster a
deeper understanding of differences in our community, our country, and our
world." The letter said the school would hang flags representing the
countries that students and their ancestors came from and asked for donations to
pay for the flags.
In January the rainbow flag, which represents gay pride, was hung among 64
others. Now some parents object to the fact that the letter never mentioned any
flags other than those representing countries or ethnicities.
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”What country is that?" Pam Clare said she asked at a Feb. 25 middle
school council meeting, speaking of the rainbow flag.
She said she and others are annoyed by the process, the lack of communication,
and the flag’s connection to the controversy over same-sex marriage.
”There is no separating it from a political agenda," Clare said. ”This
is a flag that is promoting a sexual orientation or that stands for homosexual,
bisexual, transgender lifestyle."
About 200 residents have signed the petition that parents Gail Valbona and Lynne
Hickox started circulating last week, Valbona said.
Parents and educators are divided over the flag’s meaning and whether it is
appropriate for middle school children.
”All of a sudden we’ve got something up that is about sexual orientation,"
said Clare.
Superintendent Maureen LaCroix disagrees.
”It’s about the kids," she said. ”This flag is there as a symbol of
tolerance and respect for children who are or believe they might be gay.
Would
the school permit the flying of a flag as a symbol of tolerance and respect for
children who are or believe they might become pedophiles? Will people from every
category or classification of unpopular behavior or status be permitted to fly
flags to promote tolerance of their causes? I don’t think so. By permitting the
flag to be flown without permitting all similar flags to be flown, the school is
making a political statement of approval for gay-rights.
”At this age children question their identity," LaCroix said of the
ongoing diversity program. ”We have to be clear to them they are OK as they go
through this questioning process."
Oh.
And flying a flag helps them to get clear. Right.
For LaCroix and others, the flag also represents safety. According to the town’s
Youth Risk
Survey, released a few months ago, 10 percent of seventh-graders attempted
suicide over the last year. Students who think they may be gay or bisexual are
five times more likely to attempt suicide, according to the report and Bedford’s
Youth and Family Services prevention coordinator, Maureen Richichi.
Flying
the gay-pride flag reduces suicide. Right.
I note the Youth Risk Survey does not inquire about one’s sexual orientation.
Clare wonders how an 11-year-old would question his or her sexuality. ”They
claim there are a few," she said, but ”this is a minute minority."
Timothy Dugan, a child psychologist in Lexington, said the flag’s presence is
”indicative of an open, questioning environment."
Middle-school students are thinking about sex, said Dugan, a senior consultant
in education at Cambridge Hospital’s adolescent psychiatry division and a
Harvard professor. ”At that age they might not be expressing it, but they are
certainly contemplating and thinking about whether they would have a family or
not."
I’m
glad this issue has been raised. Many times schools say they have to teach kids
the right behavior. Think character
education. But, apparently when it comes to sex, it’s more important to be
open and questioning rather than prescriptive.
Who made that rule? Is it right? Why is it right?
In my opinion, a proper education requires the objective examination and
evaluation of multiple viewpoints. However, gay-pride is as much about censoring
some viewpoints as it is an examination of an alternative viewpoint.
Want to say gayness is more about choice than genetics? That as a choice, it is
abnormal if not unnatural? That it’s an illness that should be treated, not a
lifestyle that should be promoted? That gay feelings should be resisted, not
validated. That only heterosexuals should be married? Good luck! These thoughts
are inappropriate and their expression will result in punishment. Neither
gay-pride nor gay-pride flags symbolize an "open, questioning
environment." It’s hooey. What they do symbolize is intolerance for those
who disagree with them.
* * *
”There is this notion that flag doesn’t belong in the school. They keep saying
this is around sexuality," Waldron said. ”This is about children who are
already struggling within themselves. If there is one small thing that can
validate what they are feeling, even if they don’t understand it completely,
then I think we absolutely have to have the symbol there."
Where’s
the flag for fat kids. And kids who feel they have a right to super-sized fries?
Shouldn’t their feelings be validated?
How about ugly kids? There’s a lot more ugly kids than there are gay kids.
Where’s the flag for ugliness?
And while I’m thinking about it, being beautiful isn’t always a cakewalk either.
Where’s the flag for the beautiful? After all, people can’t help the way they
look.
And one more thing. How about a flag for the heterosexuals? Surely they must
feel their sexual orientation is somehow less worthy of validation.
How many flags is this school going to fly for all the feelings that need
validating?
Valbona said she is not judging anyone’s preferences.
”They claim there are 20 students in that school who say they are gay,"
she said. ”Twenty out of 600 [enrolled]. Is that truly the number one issue? Is
this an effective way to teach tolerance by hanging a flag?"
Clare and Valbona say they wish the school had thought to notify them before
hanging the flag and say parents had a right to know.
”They assume if you are complaining, you are not open," she said. ”I
don’t care if people are gay. I believe everyone’s sexuality is a private
issue."
Absolutely
right! As if government schools are doing such a great job with reading,
writing,
math,
science
and social
studies that they have the time to delve into issues of sexual orientation
in middle school.
She also believes it is an issue best discussed at home, where each family
maintains its own belief system.
”Do I want the school promoting something that I don’t even know they are ready
for? If it’s not the way I teach it, then it’s in direct conflict," Valbona
said.
Valbona approached Assistant Superintendent Vicki Simms with her concerns and
was told the flag represented the oppressed.
”Who’s oppressed in Sweden?" Valbona said. ”Who is representing the kids
who are fat, the learning disabled? Where are the other repressed groups?"
She and others suggested compromises, including using the Bedford Diversity sign
that also sports a small rainbow and hangs at places around town.
Middle school principal Thomas Campbell has already made three compromises after
hearing complaints. The flag, donated by one of the teachers, was much larger
than the others and was reduced to match their size. It has been moved from the
entrance to another location, and the plaque, which originally read ”Gay
Pride" now says simply ”Freedom."
”We really did try to listen," Campbell said of the changes. ”My position
is we are not teaching sexuality. We are not supporting homosexuality. We are
saying our school needs to be safe place for everybody."
That’s
not what you’re saying and you know it. You’re saying that schools can’t be
unsafe for gays and other groups, classifications or categories of students of
which you approve. For those of which you don’t approve–religion, for
example–statements or behavior are either censored, labeled as disruptive to
the learning environment, or removed from the school environment. See, e.g., A
dissenting student hounded for his views.