What Mix It Up’s website says and what AFA says is simply the former’s word against the latter’s, thus we can never know for sure who is telling the truth. Personally, I don’t think it’s fair to call either AFA or SPLC dishonest because each organization sincerely BELIEVE what they say. This is not to say that their respective beliefs may be grossly distorted.

As for SPLC, they have been using misinformation a lot, by accusing people and organizations they don’t like of hate, so how can they be trustworthy?

November 2, 2012 at 11:03 am

“Teachers are often just as ignorant as anyone else and just as prone to present what they personally believe as truth.”

You mean like you just did with this statement? I never claimed teachers were infallible, nor that they were always right. However, that doesn’t mean every teacher is part of some big conspiracy to push a political agenda.

October 25, 2012 at 1:19 pm

“That homosexual behavior should be celebrated and considered desirable is something people can disagree about for a range of reasons.”

Except homosexuality is not simply a “behavior” and teaching children that is an important lesson in promoting tolerance. And since far to many parents lack knowledge about sexual orientation, I think public school ARE an appropriate place for children to learn about these issues.

‘There is a moral dimension to it (sex ed) that schools cannot possibly address, and to address the issue with no mention of morality at all is worse yet.”

Teaching “morals” is not what the school should be doing. That is something the parents should do. The schools should teach the facts about sex and sexuality. Any moral views on it should come from the parents. Most of the conflicts I’ve seen are more that the facts don’t match the parents beliefs (ex: “being gay is just a sinful choice they make” etc). Very few have involved any legitimate concerns about the accuracy or age-appropriateness of the information.

October 27, 2012 at 9:08 pm

“What knowledge do the public schools have, that is seemingly elusive to others,”

the information that many parents lack is that sexuality is not just a “behaviour”. That homosexuality is not a disease that needs to be cured. that homosexuality is not the result of abuse or bad parenting. And this information comes from the medical and scientific communities. I never said teachers had more knowledge that those who study sexual orientation, just that they had more knowledge than many parents and were better able to teach children the facts about sexuality than parents were.

Educators like myself are often able to deal with issues more ‘objectively’ than parents. Of course, we should not attempt to tell our students how they should live their lives; rather we should present the ‘facts’ as best as we able with a view to ’empowering’ our students to make properly informed choices of their own.

October 28, 2012 at 10:03 pm

“Are you really saying that teachers are better able to teach children about sexuality than most of their parents?”

Yes, however, to be clear I said that teacher are better able to teach the FACTS about sexuality than most parents. And I’ve said that several times.

“where do these teachers get their knowledge or credentials about sexuality from to teach about it effectively and truthfully to students?”

From a variety of sources I would imagine, college courses, continuing ed classes, seminars for teachers, etc. You know, the same sources they get knowledge to teach about any subject they teach about.

“It was my understanding, unless something has changed, that no one knows definitively or conclusively the genisus of homosexuality”

Nor did I ever say anything about teaching the “genesis of homosexuality”. Please stop trying to claim I said things I never did.

However, there is a great deal of consensus about homosexuality (and just as much misinformation propagated by religious conservatives). Do you disagree that:

homosexuality is not just a behaviour.

homosexuality is not a disease.

homosexuality is not caused by abuse.

homosexuality is not caused by bad parents.

homosexuality does not need to be “cured.”

“why should a teacher be teaching it at all?”

Because it is a part of human sexuality and should NOT be left out of sex ed. because of homophobia. Because there ARE gay students who NEED to hear that they ARE normal, that there is NOTHING WRONG with them because they are gay.

Are you really saying that teachers are better able to teach children about sexuality than most of their parents? If so, where do these teachers get their knowledge or credentials about sexuality from to teach about it effectively and truthfully to students? It was my understanding, unless something has changed, that no one knows definitively or conclusively the genisus of homosexuality and there seems to be no concensus or agreement as to the personal nature of it either. Until something is substantially conclusive regarding this subject, why should a teacher be teaching it at all? Insead why not teach respect and the golden rule and encourage friendships between and among students?