Okay, so I realise that "gaydate" may not be the best abbreviation for "gay update". Particularly as this is a "late gaydate". But hey, I got your attention!
So the story is, schools in the great American state of Tennessee have been legally barred from discussing the topic of homosexuality with children 14 of under. Obviously, this is a very silly idea. But WHY?
Well, firstly, if American sex ed is anything like British sex ed, (which we're assuming it is for argument's sake) then a fourteen-year-old will have already been taught all all the gory details about heterosexual sex and relationships, long ago. It's not going to have a great impact on their supposedly innocent minds to say "Oh BTW, some dudes do this stuff with dudes, and the same with chicks, LOL."
Secondly, a fourteen-year-old is already going to have heard what gay means. My nine-year-old sister knows what gay means, for heaven's sake. If a student really asks a question about what they've heard regarding gayness, what's a teacher supposed to do? Run from the room with her hands over her head screaming "INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT!!!"? I mean, seriously.
Thirdly, the only thing this is going to achieve is to ensure that when a child does encounter homosexuality, however that may be, they are going to respond with misunderstanding, intolerance, and fear. It will not make children "become" gay, it will not make them want to annihilate the nuclear family, it's pretty unlikely to "confuse" them too. Well, no more than every teenager on the planet is confused about their sexuality, anyway. And think of the gays; they're going to be a lot less confused if it is revealed to them that homosexuality is an actual thing rather than an urban myth/imaginary thing to insult people with.
And yes, I know I'm not terribly likely to change the minds of the Tennessee school board. But Who Dares Wins! Or something.
Gay people exist. There really is no point denying otherwise.
So the story is, schools in the great American state of Tennessee have been legally barred from discussing the topic of homosexuality with children 14 of under. Obviously, this is a very silly idea. But WHY?
Well, firstly, if American sex ed is anything like British sex ed, (which we're assuming it is for argument's sake) then a fourteen-year-old will have already been taught all all the gory details about heterosexual sex and relationships, long ago. It's not going to have a great impact on their supposedly innocent minds to say "Oh BTW, some dudes do this stuff with dudes, and the same with chicks, LOL."
Secondly, a fourteen-year-old is already going to have heard what gay means. My nine-year-old sister knows what gay means, for heaven's sake. If a student really asks a question about what they've heard regarding gayness, what's a teacher supposed to do? Run from the room with her hands over her head screaming "INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT!!!"? I mean, seriously.
Thirdly, the only thing this is going to achieve is to ensure that when a child does encounter homosexuality, however that may be, they are going to respond with misunderstanding, intolerance, and fear. It will not make children "become" gay, it will not make them want to annihilate the nuclear family, it's pretty unlikely to "confuse" them too. Well, no more than every teenager on the planet is confused about their sexuality, anyway. And think of the gays; they're going to be a lot less confused if it is revealed to them that homosexuality is an actual thing rather than an urban myth/imaginary thing to insult people with.
And yes, I know I'm not terribly likely to change the minds of the Tennessee school board. But Who Dares Wins! Or something.
Gay people exist. There really is no point denying otherwise.
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