Florida’s “Don’t say gay” law

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Exactly....we have to encourage openness, yet account for the age of the person.

We have to present objectively-derived scientific information in age-appropriate ways. We must not teach the "stork theory."

I was fortunate in being taught scientifically-derived information in an age-appropriate way by my mother. There really was very little "sex education" until the later 70s. Kids I knew believe all sorts of things-----one example being a man and a woman combining their urine into a toilet to produce a child. You hear all sorts of things!

When I was in pre-school, one of the other boys had two dads and a mum. I don’t know the ins and outs, but it wasn’t a case of “Dad one day, then Mum & Step-Dad the next”. The Dads were together, one way or the other.

Now, if we’d been a few years older then it is possible we could all have been asked to write about what we did at the weekend, and Benjamin might have said that his dads did this or that. If someone said “why do you have two dads?”, the teacher shouldn’t be afraid to say “some people have two dads, and that’s OK”.

It’s intellectually dishonest to pretend that teachers are “forcing” such things upon children any more than they are “forcing” Latin script or Arabic numerals. It is a teacher’s job to educate. It would of course be inappropriate for a teacher to insert their own views unduly, but that shouldn’t extend to refusing to tolerate a pupil’s family.

Similarly, if a pupil mentions being born abroad and another says “how come you are allowed to live here?”, the teacher can talk a little bit about how immigration is normal. Or if a pupil is mixed race, or a different religion, the teacher can talk about how that’s completely normal too.

Now, if a teacher said “God hates gays/immigrants/miscegenation/Muslims”, then they would be inappropriately inserting their own views. But merely saying that sometimes two men love each other, or sometimes two women do, that’s not forcing opinions, it is just giving facts.

Are kids being taught sexual protection education at around age five or why is this a discussion?

Even from a secular point of view, schools shouldn't be teaching on homosexuality. What schools teach is a common knowledge. Common knowledge is something that everyone agrees on. If there is an issue where 50 percent of people take one side and the other 50 percent the other side, then neither side is a common knowlede. Thus, neither side should be taught at schools.

This goes hand in hand with creation vs evolution debate. Look at this parallel:

Atheist: It doesn't matter that half of the population opposes homosexuality. If half of a population jumps off the bridge that won't make them right. So since people with the right mind support homosexuality, schools should teach the support of homosexuality.

Christian: It doesn't matter that half of the population doesn't believe in creation. If half of a population is evil (as they were in Soviet Union or Nazi Germany) that won't make evil right. So since people that aren't evil believe in creation, schools should teach creation.

So whom are you going to listen to?

Thats why schools should keep their hands out of controversial issues.

The other thing to point out is that it is hypocritical. School teachers have their own kids. And I am sure they would rather have a say on what their own kids are taught. So why don't they give similar respect to the parents of other kids?

Why does the concept of gay people existing have to be "political"? Is it also "political" if teachers talk about straight relationships?

If someone is scared of their kids learning that gay people exist and that it's not inherently immoral to be gay, just like it's not immoral to be straight, then that is a little pathetic.

Anything that involves conflict of interest is political. Since one group of people has vested interest in saying that homosexuality is okay and the other group of people that it isn't, that makes it political.

And that is the very reason why it shouldn't be part of the school curriculum. Its like teaching kids as a "common knowledge" which party is "better" than the other, or what candidate their parents should have voted for.