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Schools and politics

Compiled by Howard Israel

S/he Said

"I encourage every school district to make sure that its administrators, faculty members, staff, students, and parents are familiar with these principles in order to protect the rights of all students – regardless of religion, political or philosophical views, sexual orientation, or gender identity. I also urge school districts to use the guidelines to develop or improve district policies. In doing so, school officials may find it helpful to explain to the school community that the Equal Access Act requires public schools to afford equal treatment to all non-curricular student organizations, including GSAs and other groups that focus on issues related to LGBT students, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Federal law requires that they afford all student groups the same opportunities to form, to convene on school grounds, and to have access to the same resources available to other student groups."
-Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in a "Dear Colleagues" letter to elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education. Duncan stressed that LGBT students are often the target of bullying and verbal harassment, and that after-school clubs can help students cope with the bullying, U.S. News & World Report, http://www.usnews.com, June 17.

"We have to remind everyone that Tracy Morgan has the right to say any sort of dickhead thing he wants, but I also have the right to call him a dick. Tracy Morgan, go fuck yourself. Fuck your apology. Fuck your career, and fuck your high-minded ideas about freedom of speech. I'm tired of reading about dead (gay) kids. I'd rather be reading about unemployed comedians."
-Jason D., in his blog titled "A Free Speech Reminder: Tracy Morgan, Go Fuck Yourself," http://www.homorantus.blogspot.com, June 12. Morgan received national attention for viciously anti-gay remarks during a stand-up act. He has since apologized.

"You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn't black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing. You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, fuck it, I don't care what you think. I'm trying to do the right thing. I'm tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I'm trying to do the right thing, and that's where I'm going with this."
-New York State Sen. Roy McDonald, R-Saratoga, snapping at reporters, in a reversal from his earlier opposition to voting for same-sex marriage in New York, http://www.nydailynews.com, June 15.

"The ethical argument against outing closeted public figures is that, basically, it's 'none of our business.' Their private lives are not relevant or newsworthy. But in the case of anti-gay politicians, their private lives seem very relevant. Keeping 'open secrets' that 'everyone knows' from the public is already a questionable journalistic practice, and now there's a great deal of evidence that the private lives of politicians have very real effects on public policy."
-Alex Pareene, in his column titled "The case for outing closeted politicians – A formerly anti-marriage equality New York legislator switches his vote after his secret life is exposed," about NY state Senator Carl Kruger, D-Brooklyn, who was recently outed by the FBI which investigated Kruger for bribery, learning he lived with his longtime male partner while pretending his partner's mother was his girlfriend, http://www.salon.com, June 14.

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Topics: Opinions
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