Jackson Free Press

"Hey, FAGGOT!" Not exactly what you want to hear starting the school day, right? But I can't tell you the number of days of my Mississippi junior high school life that began with this greeting.

Then again, maybe I was one of the lucky ones. A national study done by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in 2003 indicates that 84 percent of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) youth reported regularly experiencing homophobic harassment in schools while 82.9 percent of GLBT students report that faculty or staff never intervened or intervened only some of the time when present. Just the perception that a student is GLBT could be enough in some schools to make a student feel threatened.

The national organization Parents and Friends of Gays and Lesbians (PFLAG) is offering teachers, principals, and superintendents a chance to help make schools safer for students. The PFLAG class suggests subtle things like having school counselors put a rainbow sticker on his or her bulletin board so GLBT students know the administrator is open to talking about their issues.

This help for gay students isn't welcomed by all, however. At the national PTA convention in Ohio, Mississippi delegate Mary Sloan, the PTA education vice president, stated that she didn't understand why "this" needed to be taught in schools (as reported in The Washington Times). She stated that "the Mississippi PTA had lost 14,000 members to the homosexual agenda and to 'school choice issues.'"

In an interview with the JFP, Mississippi PTA President Mary Hardy said that the declining membership in the PTA is not due to "one particular issue," rather, she said, "There has been a national loss of membership. Parents are younger now, and they don't see the PTA as important as the older generation does."

Still, Ms. Sloan publicly represented the Mississippi PTA when she avowed that the "homosexual agenda" was causing a decline in numbers. I sent an e-mail to the Mississippi PTA to let them know of my displeasure over Ms. Sloan's comments and stance. I expressed that the issue of GLBT harassment in schools is one with which I am personally familiar.

Ms. Sloan was gracious enough to personally reply to my criticism of her stance, which was forwarded to other members of the Mississippi PTA as well. "We oppose bullying of all kinds. We oppose bullying of … the gay and the straight," she started out.

But she then asserted that she didn't want to hear my "whining" and that all kids are picked on in school. She also said that the PTA "certainly will not promote a reproductive disability," and instead affirmed that the PTA will continue to promote abstinence. Ms. Sloan, being GLBT is not anti-abstinent. And what the hell does "reproductive disability" mean? It's not like my ovaries are barren or anything.

She closed her "professional" letter by stating that if "one of (my) people" was responsible for knocking down her mailbox, she would like to have it replaced.

The Mississippi PTA does not sponsor any class teaching its educators how to deal with situations involving GLBT students, but Hardy affirms that the PTA "is an advocate for all children." She told the JFP: "If there is a problem, we deal with that on an individual level. We don't hold a class for that, but we haven't been confronted with it much." Ms. Sloan did not return calls to the JFP.

If students don't feel they are in a safe "space" or environment, why would they approach a teacher or administrator? It goes back to the subtle nature of awareness as presented by the PFLAG class. Maybe the lack of education on GLBT issues makes educators and "allies" such as Ms. Hardy unaware that the problem even exists.

Though the PTA purports to be an advocate for all children, Mississippi educators could benefit from the level of awareness gained through this class—making schools safer, especially for marginalized populations, is a good thing. This is not about promoting a "lifestyle"—and I hate that term—this is about awareness.

It is necessary to overcome apathy and self-righteous indignation on the part of adults that contribute to the unsafe school setting for outsiders in the public school system. With so much money spent on diversity training in the workplace to avoid lawsuits over matters such as these, doesn't it make more sense to start with the root of the problem? Bullying based upon perceived differences when left unchallenged gives "bullying" a stamp of approval. The catchphrase of the PTA is "Every child, one voice." I guess GLBT students are a voice that the Mississippi PTA doesn't want to hear.

Trey Mangum is a new columnist for the JFP. He is a graduate of Millsaps College, Mississippi College, and The University of Texas at Austin.

Previous Comments

ID

70442

Comment

Can someone post a copy of the "Homosexual Agenda?" That thing's pretty potent - destroying marriages, families, and now the PTA. What the heck's in it? Maybe that's what Melton was looking for at the bar he "visited" on Saturday night, Knol. Or, is the Homosexual Agenda in the shape of a giant dildo or something equally dangerous?

Author

kate

Date

2005-08-03T14:36:50-06:00

ID

70443

Comment

Excellent piece Trey... Her comments went under the radar with the lamestream (or I didn't notice). I was able to read the full response and she seemed more than irked that she was having to deal with someone questioning her... Everyone gets picked on, right? ;-) Kate, iff Melton can find the "Gay Agenda", he needs to run to the nearest publishing house, press a few billion and sell them on the Internet. There's a few queer souls (and fundamentalist Xtians) that have been waiting to get their hands on that text! I hear the American "Family" Association has the last existing copy and they're not sharing!

Author

kaust

Date

2005-08-03T14:56:11-06:00

ID

70444

Comment

Mangum, I find it INFINITELY amusing that you and "your people" have been out knocking down nice, respectable family's mail boxes. Get your agenda and GET BACK IN THAT FREAKIN' CLOSET! By the way, Can you add "drinks this weekend with your favorite girl friend" to that AGENDA?? ;)

Author

Lori G

Date

2005-08-03T16:03:46-06:00

ID

70445

Comment

Paraphrase: But she then asserted that she didnít want to hear my "whining" and that all kids are picked on in school. Little Rock, Ark. 1957: But she then asserted that she didnít want to hear my "whining" and that all the blacks are picked on in school. Berlin, 1930 (before you know who came to power): But she then asserted that she didnít want to hear my "whining" and that all Jews are picked on in school. Boston, 1883: But she then asserted that she didnít want to hear my "whining" and that Irish Catholics are picked on in school. Anybody see a pattern here???????

Author

Philip

Date

2005-08-03T19:04:19-06:00

ID

70446

Comment

BTW, my point is to defend ALL kids - not just those who have been oppressed (though I certainly won't deny that gay and lesbian youth are a particularly popular target)

Author

Philip

Date

2005-08-03T19:16:01-06:00

ID

70447

Comment

Excellent column, Trey. The state of education in Mississippi is ignorance and denial. It is the well-informed person who is more tolerant and more aware, and certainly more educated. The PTA is a serious organization. And sometime after I graduated from high school, the PTA started to include Students, but they obviously don't care about students if they want to educate them only about "abstinence" and growing up str8.

Author

phantmbear

Date

2005-08-04T22:04:12-06:00

ID

70448

Comment

I know I'm about to start a fire but I'm to the point in dealing with these Freaks of Faith that I am finding it difficult to bite my tongue or care how it makes them feel... C'mon it's OK if the bullied bully back every now and then. Seriously. It balances the table a bit. Only so many times little, passive Johnny can come home with a black eye before a different path has to be taken. I'm reaching the level where I think they should be called out for what they are and all the sugar-coating shaken off. By "they", I mean the bullies and I'm not just talking about in schools and PTAs... I'm talking about in pulpits; I'm talking about in courts; I'm talking about in Congress and the White House. At some point, someone's going to have to get in, take the gloves off, and fight them on their own grounds just to unsettle the ranks. Building a whole new coliseum doesn't get rid of the bullies. Bullies don't go away. They grow up and often attain power and continue through the cycle unless some geek or queer or girl kicks him in public and knocks him and his ego to the ground. What did pussyfooting get the gay community during the last election? Nothing. HRC tried to paint the entire gay community as white-picket, Polo-wearing, clean-cut queers that want 2.5 adopted Chinese children and a Pomeranian. And they want to be married just like you and divorce just like you and sue and litigate and.... They lost their fight. They lost members. They lost respect from both communities. They lost their president. They lost because they were afraid to stir things up and call a spade a spade and publically criticized other queer organizations for going to the opposite extremes of the Religious Reich and the Rovians and declaring "WE WANT EQUALITY regardless if I'm a leather daddy or a drag queen or a dyke on a byke." That was just too scandalous for the watered-down, freedom-stripped America we've all come to know and question. Hell, pussyfooting got Kerry nowhere as well and landed us with four more years of this Bushit. Sometimes it's essential to stop being nice and understanding of bullies. Ignore them and shut up when you get bullied or kick 'em where it counts. They seriously aren't interested in coversation if 30 years of being bullied has taught me anything. I think a good kickin' is long overdue. The bullies are fueling and spreading this intolerance and xenophobia and they aren't listening to those that feel intelligent conversation is a solution -- because they aren't capable of having an intelligent conversation.

Author

kaust

Date

2005-08-05T09:09:42-06:00

ID

70449

Comment

Knol, I completely agree with what you are saying...and most of the time I write based upon those SAME beliefs...that for too long people have been too nice, when the radically conservative have been tireless and "bullies". Its specifically why I'm not really that afraid of offending someone. When you offend people it usually means you've pointed out something to them they need to learn about. BUT, I make a distinct difference between people who CHOOSE to be ass holes and people that don't know any better. (Some days are harder than others...today, I'm having a good day.) ;) It is only RECENTLY that I have begun to understand that everyone doesn't believe like *I* do...What the hell is that all about? 'Course I'm fairly egocentric and just think people should UNDERSTAND that I know everything and not really challenge me on it. ;) Ms. Sloan could feel the same way. God help her.

Author

Lori G

Date

2005-08-05T09:19:31-06:00

ID

70450

Comment

I take that back. I just had a run in with an idiot. Let's kill them all.

Author

Lori G

Date

2005-08-05T11:31:19-06:00

ID

70451

Comment

"A Run-In With An Idiot." Sounds like the title of the first "Best of Ali Greggs" book. Stay tuned.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-08-05T11:32:51-06:00

ID

70452

Comment

Idiots, be warned, Ali is not afraid to use her Prada as a weapon.

Author

kaust

Date

2005-08-05T11:35:49-06:00

ID

70453

Comment

Knol: Philip: Not singling out Knol, nor am I implying he or anyone other frequent blogger needs to learn this lesson. BUT ..since this is a PUBLIC site... this does offer a good opportunity for a lesson for everyone viewing this post (risking sounding pretentious with that statement, but so be it). Plus, itís analogy time (however imperfect they may tend to be, they are damn good at visual illustration) Knol does call for using a sledgehammer, of force which definitely has its place..especially against the hardest rocks. But using the chisel of logic and reason, (or even the small pick-and-hammer thereof) will make for cleaner, smoother, cuts - perhaps cuts and poundings straight enough that allow us to polish that surface.. so that the surface clearly reflects light, perhaps even well enough to even let us see our own reflections. While pounding a big boulder with a sledge hammer may break the rock down, it wonít leave a potential rock mirror but nothing more aesthetically pleasing than a hill of gravel. So while sledgehammers are good at breaking down big rocks, you need to combine it with strategically placed chisel cuts, carefully planned, to get the end result that is liable to ìwowî the public. Michaelangelo used fine-cutting chisels as well as hammers -- and the end result is much prettier than a gravel pile

Author

Philip

Date

2005-08-05T12:36:41-06:00

ID

70454

Comment

Philip, it's interesting that you say that. On my way to get breakfast this morning I thought I should probably post that I don't condone the "sledgehammer" as the be all end all and only one of the methods used to counter the extremism of bullies. Once you knock the ego down a bit, it's much easier to get inside and actually communicate. Still, I have seen many beautiful sculptures made with nothing more than a chainsaw rather than a chisel... ;-)

Author

kaust

Date

2005-08-05T12:41:04-06:00

ID

70455

Comment

Bushit... Rovian... love the new words... new references. I'm inclined to follow Ms. Greggs philosophy... kill all the idiots. But let's do it with what we're armed with... Economic advantage. Certainly the trailer trash who live welfare paycheck to welfare paycheck hate us because we may "choose" to have or adopt (or try to adopt) kids. They hate us because we're better educated, have better jobs, make better money, live in better homes, drive better cars. And they hate us because we're heathens and don't worship. So, we carve out our own niches, our own communities, our own cities, our own nations, and we trample over the idiots on the way to the bank. And our policies will be such as to make idiocy a crime. Survival of the fittest will dictate the elimination of idiots... or we make them subservient. Beware idiots, for tomorrow we take over the world... starting with the PTA!

Author

phantmbear

Date

2005-08-05T13:08:09-06:00

ID

70456

Comment

Sledgehammer? Ok several points for everyone: 1) I think that different situations and people need different tactics. Sledgehammer is sometimes appropriate (and the one I prefer), but not always the best...the "tickle feather" (AKA SUBTLE) approach is also sometimes best. (I was going to say PIN PRICK- but then that would come back to haunt me). A lot of the times with issues like this, it is about exposure and awareness ("What, there are gay kids in school?" "No one has approached me and come out.... therefore GLBT students do not exist...") Kind of like that "we havenít been confronted with it much" comment the PTA made. AND THOUGH I SAY THAT I PREFER SLEDGEHAMMER TECNHIQUES, I am in no way claiming responsibility for knocking down anyone's mailbox. :) 2) I assumed from phantmbear's post using the word "girl" that he was referring to school age absentees :) (abstainers and not older women 3) There are lots of idiots in economically advantaged situations (like the government) Money = Power, but it sure as hell doesn't = Brains. 4) Professionals and people in positions of power within organizations should be held responsible for statements made in those positions...i.e. when someone is a representative of the PTA, for instance, and they make statements in their role and reply to criticisms in their roles, they need to remain PROFFESIONAL and know that they will be held accountable. Ms. Sloan was quoted in the media about this issue, and then sent out a VERY condescending (and I feel inappropriate) letter replying to my criticism of her stance. It's like the ROCK SAID, "KNOW YOUR ROLE." 5) Some of the smartest people I know have benefited from social programs...and public schools are actually a form of social welfare as they are supported by tax $$. I WANT ìSLEDGEHAMMER AND TICKLE FEATHERî to be the title of my best of book (or pamphlet) J LOL

Author

MANGUM

Date

2005-08-05T16:06:32-06:00

ID

70457

Comment

Ali's comments about killing idiots, I can take because she didn't rant IN DEPTH about it, and therefore can be plausibly as just hyperbole. Phant's, on the other hand, goes more in-depth and therefore deserves a response. I don't think he's actually being serious, but the length of his rant still deserves extensive comment because I've seen a bit of it from other sites. Phant: Ökill all the idiots. But let's do it with what we're armed with... Economic advantage. Philip: Idiot relative to whom? Where do you draw the line? Legally retarded? People who dropped out of high school? Sounds a bit Naziesque for my taste. How about kill everyone incapable of earning a Doctorate? Seems to me that unless you happen to absolutely THE smartest creature to have breathed oxygen on this planet at any time in between the years 1900 and 2100, then the same comment you make against idiots in some way be used against you, me, and (with extraordinarily high probability) everyone on this board, and probably even this nation. Be careful who you scorn. It could come back to haunt you. Phant: Certainly the trailer trash who live welfare paycheck to welfare paycheck hate us because we may "choose" to have or adopt (or try to adopt) kids. Philip: ìTrailer Trashî is the white-focused version of the N word. At any rate, the logic behind hating others because they choose to have or adopt kids escapes me. Iíve never heard anyone say or imply that. Phant: They hate us because we're better educated, have better jobs, make better money, live in better homes, drive better cars. Philip: Ann Coulter undoubtedly fits every one of those criteria. So does Rush Limbaugh (although heís a college dropout, I think he still qualifies as well). Somehow, I donít see the people you allude to hating Ann and Rush. Phant: So, we carve out our own niches, our own communities, our own cities, our own nations, and we trample over the idiots on the way to the bank. Philip: See my original comments about idiot bashing sounding periolously close to Nazi philosophy. Phant: And our policies will be such as to make idiocy a crime. Philip: Bill Clinton certainly wasnít too bright in matters relating to his libidinal self-discipline. Ought he be in jail by your standards? Besides, read the remarks about persecution of the less-than-intelligent sounding a bit too Nazi-like. Phant: Survival of the fittest will dictate the elimination of idiots... or we make them subservient. Beware idiots, for tomorrow we take over the world... starting with the PTA! Philip: Now this DEFINITELY sounds like Fascism, Nazi-version or not. One of the key traits of fascism is that the nation (a group of people, just like ìsmart peopleî) is in a battle of Survival of the Fittest. You are definitely throwing stones at your own roof.

Author

Philip

Date

2005-08-05T16:53:09-06:00

ID

70458

Comment

BTW: I know you said "with economic advantage' and not gas chamber/ethnic cleansing methods. Nevertheless, this type of thinking is precisely what leads to this kind of stuff sooner or later. This attitude is utterly unbecoming of Progressives. You would do better to ask "What do poor whites admire most and how can we use their admiration of X to reach them?" Ask Donna about it some time, she grew up in a trailer -- if I recall correctly.

Author

Philip

Date

2005-08-05T16:57:16-06:00

ID

70459

Comment

I did indeed, Philip, at least through most of my teen years. And you made some very good points. I look forward to seeing the responses.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-08-05T22:20:21-06:00

ID

70460

Comment

So, we should start putting presidentail advertisements on the side of monster trucks?

Author

Lori G

Date

2005-08-06T05:22:48-06:00

ID

70461

Comment

Ali: So, we should start putting presidentail advertisements on the side of monster trucks? I think NASCAR would be more apropos.

Author

Ex

Date

2005-08-06T20:33:48-06:00