Article is here:  http: //www.townhall.com/Columnists/JonathanGarthwaite/2006/09/22/back_to_school_%e2%80%93_back_to_the_trenches

Typical bigotry, read if you have the stomach.  We are a threat to the innocence of children now.   

For parents, they must accept that the children are growing up and needing them less and less each year. They must also realize that with each passing year, the threats to their children's innocence are growing:

· Children are engaging in sexual activity at earlier ages, as our sexuality-dominated media and culture encroaches on traditional values.


· Alternative lifestyles promoted by the gay, lesbian and transgender communities are confusing children about relationships and families.
[...]
Who knows what acceptable behavior is in the house next door to you? Who knows what the other children in your neighborhood are up to? Who knows what's on TV next door that your child is being exposed to? Who knows who's lurking in the neighborhood park or on the internet site your child accidentally stumbles on while doing their homework? Who knows what your child's teacher is filling your child's mind with?


So they appear to just want to know what is going on in our private lives and seek to stop it.  A right wing lawyer for every bedroom! 

Of course it ends with:
Whether it's violent video games, sexual innuendo in the media or drag queens in science class, it's imperative that all of us – parents, non-parents, grandparents, and concerned citizens -- get involved, stay in-touch and save the next generation from a world out to snatch away their innocence.


Yes, I broke the link on purpose.  You can adjust in a cut and paste and go read it if you like.

No thank you.  I hear enough of that malarkey without trying; I don't need to seek it out.  I guess we do need to stay aware of the enemie's so called thought process, but I'm really not in the mood tonight.

just another example of ignorance, gotta love how the author referes to Paula as "..a man in a dress." and "..the cross-dressing teacher.."   

LIT, I can understand why some parents are very upset about the GLBT. I'm a grandparent and I was a male in body at one time but through surgery have received some of my female parts. I know that some parents judge a book by its cover and that some believe in the media. There are some who don't know what the GLBT is and that they really don't understand why we are who we are. They only see the sensationalism of who we are. There have been more programs on TV and in the newspapers to make us more "nomal". Then you go to a Pride event which is trying to put the spot light on us and you see booths that the Adult bookstore people provide or there are other booths that put out pornographic pitures or toys. What do you think a parent is going to think when we all say that what goes on in our bedrooms is our business and none of theres when we advertise it all the time. We need to keep our sex lives in the bedroom and not in the public eye. I'm not talking about kissing, hugging or holding hands or showing some form of loving gesture. Just not sexual behaviour. I'm around kids all the time and the parents trust me.
Sheila

It is a fear of promiscuous sexuality that promotes the bigotry.  They are afraid that we will at least share that knowledge with the children.  There's not much we can do about those feelings they have.  All we can do is participate politically and plod on living our lives in the way we see best.  As people come to know us, their fears will be assuaged.  More exposure to us is what they need.

Cindi

Quote from: Sheila on September 24, 2006, 12:18:17 PM
LIT, I can understand why some parents are very upset about the GLBT. I'm a grandparent and I was a male in body at one time but through surgery have received some of my female parts. I know that some parents judge a book by its cover and that some believe in the media. There are some who don't know what the GLBT is and that they really don't understand why we are who we are. They only see the sensationalism of who we are. There have been more programs on TV and in the newspapers to make us more "nomal". Then you go to a Pride event which is trying to put the spot light on us and you see booths that the Adult bookstore people provide or there are other booths that put out pornographic pitures or toys. What do you think a parent is going to think when we all say that what goes on in our bedrooms is our business and none of theres when we advertise it all the time. We need to keep our sex lives in the bedroom and not in the public eye. I'm not talking about kissing, hugging or holding hands or showing some form of loving gesture. Just not sexual behaviour. I'm around kids all the time and the parents trust me.
Sheila

Oh my god, finally someone else saying this.  I've been thrashed many times for not wanting to be lumped into the "porno" side of things.  I also don't want to be lumped into the outrageously dressed and outrageous action side of things that are so prevalent at pride events.  I'm a product of the early 70's and considered myself a latter day hippie back then and to some extent I still do.  Always the activist.  But it seems that the LGBT community wants outrageousness and extreme flamboyance to the be the face of our community.  I may be wrong, but I believe it only serves to alienate us more and give ammunition to those who seek to hurt us.

There's an important distinction to be drawn between the "pride" and the "porn" forms of TG.  The latter is essentially genre/fetish/propoganda that is prone to horrifically demonize TGs through distortions suitable for the person(s) creating them.

The former is a bit more complicated.  Many/most GLBTs are subjected to considerable abuse and shaming, and a way of responding to this oppression is to take the emotion that is roughly the reverse of shame: pride.  The manifestation can be fairly mundane, where the expression of pride centers more about the focus of one's goals (such as supporting rights organizations), but the expression sometimes takes on the form of theater: exaggerated dress, mannerisms, and behaviors.

These expressions can be very powerful, but they are somewhat prone to alienate people who are more delicate/reverent/plain in their ways of approaching problems.  These consequences are not particularly disasterous, at least while the issue of the discriminated group is unrecognized.  If all GLBTIs were well-behaved, then the media coverage would be a lot weaker, and the news would center almost exclusively around cases of violence (terrorism), rather than acknowledge the people who are GLBTIs.  While some more delicate/reverent/plain people will be slow to come around, these generally aren't the people who wage serious threats against GLBTIs -- no matter how nice and professional an individual (GLBTI) person is, it won't do much to discourage those who would violently threaten them, so getting a little dirty isn't the worst thing one could do; if the theatrical exaggerations take the place of the pornographic stereotypes, it's still an improvement.

Still, for nearly all GLBTIs, living one's life is far more boring than all that theater.  To some extent, the media has come around for GLBs, but there are still lots of others (TIs) left out in the cold.  In terms of TSs, things are especially difficult, because success means blending in rather than merely fitting in.  "Pride" is less practical, since you're not looking for being accepted as TS, but as the gender you identify as.  And of course, there are lots of other TG branches that have their own tricky issues that lazy/uninformed outsiders will generally just blend together with TSs and GLBs into one big ball of hate or fear.

I do agree that the "Pride" and "Porn" areas are quite mutually exclusive.  It is the "Pride" side that really gives me the most angst.  Porn is simply that - porn - not to be taken as anything other than that - so I really don't think it hurts us anymore so than it hurts other segments of society.

"Pride" however is the so called "face" of the LGBT communities/life.  Granted that the entertainment industry has done a wonderful job of integration into virtually every aspect of main-stream entertainment and for the most part in favorable ways.  The advent of cable, and it's being out of reach of the FCC rules, has provided the venue for all of this to come about.  Transgender issues and existence, for that matter, has become a front and center reality show on several cable channels.  Logo has also done a wonderful job.  But when all is watched and discussed - it all goes out the window as simply entertainment when the News comes on and shows the supposed "truth" by televising Pride events that look more like halloween meets the porn industry.  All that's been achieved can be thrown out the window because the "News" is the real reality.

I know it seems extreme - But - I'm a true believer that, in general,  Humans are intelligent but people are stupid.