Eugene school display creates controversy

[Natasha]

Eugene school display creates controversy

http://kdrv.com/page/120025
5/21/09

The display at Meadowlark and Buena Vista elementaries portrays people of all races, including a transgender person.

Concerned parents and teachers say the issue isn't that the person is transgender, it's a matter of age-appropriateness.

[Lori]

Thu, 05/21/2009 - 10:56 — Hope_WA


A bigot using different terms is still a bigot

I am appalled that parents and teachers would try to hide their discrimination behind the veil of "age-appropriateness". One of the proudest days of my life as parent was trying to explain why it was a historic moment when Barack Obama was elected president. They didn't understand the concept of racism, and I had to explain it to them. The best part about it was when they told me how ridiculous it was to not like someone for the color of their skin and I got to agree wholeheartedly. Talking to my children about someone who is trans would be an easy conversation, especially when talking about diversity and discrimination:
"Do you see that lady over there?"
"Yes."
"Do you know why people are sometimes mean to people like her?"
"No, why?"
"Because when she was born, they thought she was a boy. Some people don't like it that she isn't pretending to be a boy anymore. They want her to keep trying to be one."
"That's silly."
"I know. It's mean too. We don't act that way though, do we?"
"No, we're nice people Mommy."

Now that was as nice of a comment as I have ever read. What more needs to be said?

[Lisbeth]

it's a matter of age-appropriateness.

You've Got To Be Carefully Taught from South Pacific

You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!

[Natasha]

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/45806532.html

[sd]

So if they have a child who is transgendered, are they prohibited from attending school, since it's not "age appropriate"?

Would they say the same about a picture of a person missing their legs?

Let's just bury our heads in the sand.
It's not going to harm them.

[lisagurl]

Perhaps the whole educational system is not age appropriate.

The parents need to repeat kindergarten.

[Alyssa M.]

I agree with the parents. Clearly, the existence of transgendered people is not age-appropriate for people over the age of thirty. Measures should be taken to shield their delicate sensibilities from this terrible affront. 

[RebeccaFog]

People over the age of thirty stink.

whatever happened to Carousel?

[sd]

I agree with the parents. Clearly, the existence of transgendered people is not age-appropriate for people over the age of thirty. Measures should be taken to shield their delicate sensibilities from this terrible affront. 

Perfect!

[Cindy]

I'd forgotten the SP song. Very nice.

I'm always interested in comments, letters, or conversation that start. "I'm not a bigot but..."

However are we as a "group" less bigoted than the so called non-TGs? We certainly accept ourselves but I have seen some very nasty bigoted posts on this board. So much that one friend left as she was a Muslim and felt she was a target of bigotry.
I think we need to be careful of not being holier than thou.
With that said, I'm not a bigot but... I can't stand neo-nazis

Cindy

[Britney_413]

Everything these days is a double standard. Somehow a mere depiction of say a transgender person on TV for instance would be inappropriate enough that the parent would quickly change the channel to prevent the child from seeing this. The TV would then remain on a different channel displaying endless scenes of violence including murder, bathroom humor, foul language, and endless promotions of greed, jealousy, fear, mindless consumption, ignorance, and other vices. This, however, is completely "age appropriate" for the child.

[LadyArwen]

I'd forgotten the SP song. Very nice.

I'm always interested in comments, letters, or conversation that start. "I'm not a bigot but..."

However are we as a "group" less bigoted than the so called non-TGs? We certainly accept ourselves but I have seen some very nasty bigoted posts on this board. So much that one friend left as she was a Muslim and felt she was a target of bigotry.
I think we need to be careful of not being holier than thou.
With that said, I'm not a bigot but... I can't stand neo-nazis

Cindy

Wow! Thank you for this reinder of something I need to be on guard about.  Hating the hater never accomplishes nothing, yet is too often very satisfying, and was my mother's family's standard way of relating to the world.

Years ago I took a required Business Comm class.  The one thing I retained from this class applies here.  When a person writes (or says) "I (fill in the blank) but . . ." the linking "but" negates everything asserted in the first part of the sentence.  Thus, when someone says "I'm not a bigot, but . . ." they most likely are.  From the way you express your feelings about a specific group (neo-Nazis), I do not see you as a  bigot. (Appropos to this group, I might not be the best person to weigh in on this because, in my experience, they are  a challenging group to be within earshot of.)