And just when you thought it couldn't happen in Oregon...
In the city of Beaverton in Oregon, a student teacher was reassigned from his school because of his sexual orientation. Student teachers are kind of like proto-teachers. When you go though student teaching, it's a trial by fire where, depending on your cooperating teacher, adviser, and other support people, you may or may not have a lot of instruction in how to deal with every situation that comes up. Such was probably the case with this student teacher in his 4th grade classroom when a student asked him whether he was married. It's only natural that students, once they get to know you, are naturally interested in some things about you. It happened with me and made for some interesting discussions that I had to be very deliberate about how I answered in an age and situation-appropriate way. But when the student teacher replied that he was not married, the student asked him why he wasn't. That's where the problems started, because he told the student that it was illegal for him to be married. A parent overheard and complained to the administration. The long and the short of it was that this student teacher ended up being reassigned to a school in the Portland Public Schools while Beaverton School District had a bit of a black eye, feeling pressure from gay and lesbian teachers as well as other sources.
Now, luckily, that was one problem that didn't come up for me, but very well could have for members of my Concordia University cohort (GO ORANGE). But it speaks to a wider problem. The first gut reaction was to bow to the bigots, rather than to do the right thing. I find that this is often the case. It takes a whole lot of guts to stand up to those who would spread hatred. There is nothing wrong with orientation, it is only a function of who you are. Gay, straight, transgender, bisexual and other; it's becoming apparent to a whole generation of Americans, the youth who are not so much leading the charge against bigotry that is at the heart of this kind of behavior, but rather, they fail to understand what the big deal is. I find this interesting, and in many movements, their can either be an outright resistance to a wrong, or a kind of acceptance to of those who are marginalized, and resentment piled on those who are causing the problem. I believe that young people fit more into the second category. The battle is already won when a school district has to trip all over itself apologizing to the community for strange actions such as this. I hope that the same kind of scene will play out in other parts of the country that aren't as liberal as Oregon. Nobody should be discriminated upon based on race, gender, age, religion or orientation. School should be a safe zone not only for kids, but also for the teachers.
