Tennessee is passing a bill that would make it so teachers would not be allowed to even acknowledge homosexuality in any shape form or fashion until the 10th grade. You're not allowed to even say the word.
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KalTorakOne way or another, they all end up inthe Undercity.Registered Userregular
Tennessee is passing a bill that would make it so teachers would not be allowed to even acknowledge homosexuality in any shape form or fashion until the 10th grade. You're not allowed to even say the word.
I foresee a new game amongst schoolchildren - a variation on "the penis game," in which you yell the word "GAY" as loudly as you can in a populated area, and then laugh at teachers who have to pretend you said nothing at all.
After some convoluted maneuvers, a Senate committee Wednesday approved a bill that will prohibit teachers from discussing homosexuality in kindergarten through eighth-grade classrooms.
The measure (SB49) is sponsored by Sen. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, who unsuccessfully pushed the same idea - nicknamed the "don't say gay" bill - for six years as a member of the state House before he was elected to the Senate.
As introduced, the bill would have put into law a declaration that it is illegal to discuss any sexual behavior other than heterosexuality prior to the ninth grade.
This really just seems like a way to prosecute teachers who are willing to step in and stop bullying.
I find it sort of funny how it specifically says "other than heterosexuality" because, heterosexual talk itself is just so common in Elementary School classrooms. But then again maybe it is, I went to a private school that was very hush hush on anything outside the church bubble so I guess I wouldn't know.
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ElldrenIs a woman dammitceterum censeoRegistered Userregular
Tennessee is passing a bill that would make it so teachers would not be allowed to even acknowledge homosexuality in any shape form or fashion until the 10th grade. You're not allowed to even say the word.
The goal of the Tennessee thing is to just hide gays from kids. If kids grow up with things, they become familiar with it. If you hide homosexuality from children, it'll be this scary entity that they never really knew about. Combine with the the sexual confusion of that age (at 8th grade), and you basically prime another generation to be bigots.
I find it sort of funny how it specifically says "other than heterosexuality" because, heterosexual talk itself is just so common in Elementary School classrooms. But then again maybe it is, I went to a private school that was very hush hush on anything outside the church bubble so I guess I wouldn't know.
I could see it becoming an issue in history and English classes at the end of the range, as marriage has long been a political tool and many of the classics focus on romance.
The goal of the Tennessee thing is to just hide gays from kids. If kids grow up with things, they become familiar with it. If you hide homosexuality from children, it'll be this scary entity that they never really knew about. Combine with the the sexual confusion of that age (at 8th grade), and you basically prime another generation to be bigots.
Not to mention a pretty thundering institutional condemnation of any kid at those schools who might be gay. So that's awesome.
So this is essentially enforced, school-sanctioned anti-gay bullying legislation.
Well, more state sanctioned 'lalalalalala we can't hear you what's that lalalalalala' legislation, out of terror that their beloved little spawn might come into contact with The Other before they're young enough to know they should hate it.
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21stCenturyCall me Pixel, or Pix for short![They/Them]Registered Userregular
So this is essentially enforced, school-sanctioned anti-gay bullying legislation.
At the risk of being called mean names, how is that sanctioned anti-gay bullying? I don't get how it goes from "Don't talk about gays" to "actively bash gays".
So this is essentially enforced, school-sanctioned anti-gay bullying legislation.
Well, more state sanctioned 'lalalalalala we can't hear you what's that lalalalalala' legislation, out of terror that their beloved little spawn might come into contact with The Other before they're young enough to know they should hate it.
Except the kids know that the Other is among them. It's that kid who can't defend himself, and now can't even go to a teacher for protection.
And now the other kids are being told to pretend that homosexuality doesn't exist. They know it does exist, but they also know it's something that has to be hidden. Therefore it's shameful, and something they can legitimately attack other kids for.
edit: 21st, this pretty much answers your question.
I doubt that this is constitutional. Teachers have a complicated free speech situation, but this seems like a particularly flagrantly attempt to suppress a minority viewpoint through a content-based ban on speech, which is typically a no-no.
Seriously, I hate to break it to the bigot, but some of knew we were gay long before the 9th grade. It's basically the Ostrich defense. If I stick my head in the sand then it must not exist.
We need another Sherman to march and just steamroll the South again. It's just so fucking ridiculous. And people wonder why I've been depressed, suicidal and having anxiety attacks since I was 8. Even with my family, I still remember going to a sunday school thing with a friend and having the teachers tell me, after noticing a news article, that gays were going to hell (of course the jokes on them, since their son is gay, which is something I could have told them long before he went to NY to do Broadway).
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21stCenturyCall me Pixel, or Pix for short![They/Them]Registered Userregular
So this is essentially enforced, school-sanctioned anti-gay bullying legislation.
Well, more state sanctioned 'lalalalalala we can't hear you what's that lalalalalala' legislation, out of terror that their beloved little spawn might come into contact with The Other before they're young enough to know they should hate it.
Except the kids know that the Other is among them. It's that kid who can't defend himself, and now can't even go to a teacher for protection.
And now the other kids are being told to pretend that homosexuality doesn't exist. They know it does exist, but they also know it's something that has to be hidden. Therefore it's shameful, and something they can legitimately attack other kids for.
edit: 21st, this pretty much answers your question.
Again, call me naive or whatever, but this law doesn't go "If you see a kid being called "[mean names related to Homosexuality]", don't help him". This law doesn't state that you shouldn't help bullied kids. It also doesn't state you should tell kids "There's not such things as homosexuals"... Does it? It seems like it's a lot more "Let's pretend there are no gays", not "Let's punch people who are gay and pretend we didn't do anything wrong".
i mean, wouldn't telling kids that there's no such thing as gays violate that law?
Edit: Not saying the law is remotely good, just... It doesn't seem as bad as you make it seem.
KalTorakOne way or another, they all end up inthe Undercity.Registered Userregular
edited April 2011
It creates a taboo that teachers aren't allowed to address. That has two effects; first, it implicitly tells gay kids that they are inherently damaged and should be ashamed. Second, it tells the other kids that gay kids are inherently damaged and should be ashamed. So if a kid decides to bully a kid he perceives as gay, instead of the law telling him not to, the law is telling him that yes, that kid is inferior and deserves to be punished.
The fact that teachers can't address it just cements the issue. After a kid has been bullied for being gay, who can he go to? If he tells the teachers he was being bullied and called "faggot," can the teacher even acknowledge that? The teacher sure as shit can't tell him it's OK to be gay.
Enforcing anti-bullying rules is hard enough as it is; putting ridiculous roadblocks on teachers this way just lets more bullies get away with it.
It creates a taboo that teachers aren't allowed to address. That has two effects; first, it implicitly tells gay kids that they are inherently damaged and should be ashamed. Second, it tells the other kids that gay kids are inherently damaged and should be ashamed. So if a kid decides to bully a kid he perceives as gay, instead of the law telling him not to, the law is telling him that yes, that kid is inferior and deserves to be punished.
The fact that teachers can't address it just cements the issue. After a kid has been bullied for being gay, who can he go to? If he tells the teachers he was being bullied and called "faggot," can the teacher even acknowledge that? The teacher sure as shit can't tell him it's OK to be gay.
Enforcing anti-bullying rules is hard enough as it is; putting ridiculous roadblocks on teachers this way just lets more bullies get away with it.
Then couldn't the teacher say "I will address the situation" and then discipline the bully for inappropriate language or whatever the hell else is in the student handbook.
So this is essentially enforced, school-sanctioned anti-gay bullying legislation.
Well, more state sanctioned 'lalalalalala we can't hear you what's that lalalalalala' legislation, out of terror that their beloved little spawn might come into contact with The Other before they're young enough to know they should hate it.
Except the kids know that the Other is among them. It's that kid who can't defend himself, and now can't even go to a teacher for protection.
And now the other kids are being told to pretend that homosexuality doesn't exist. They know it does exist, but they also know it's something that has to be hidden. Therefore it's shameful, and something they can legitimately attack other kids for.
edit: 21st, this pretty much answers your question.
Again, call me naive or whatever, but this law doesn't go "If you see a kid being called "[mean names related to Homosexuality]", don't help him". This law doesn't state that you shouldn't help bullied kids. It also doesn't state you should tell kids "There's not such things as homosexuals"... Does it? It seems like it's a lot more "Let's pretend there are no gays", not "Let's punch people who are gay and pretend we didn't do anything wrong".
i mean, wouldn't telling kids that there's no such thing as gays violate that law?
Edit: Not saying the law is remotely good, just... It doesn't seem as bad as you make it seem.
But now if Billy is being bullied by the other kids and they're calling him "gay" or "fag" or whatever words their little 11 year old brains have picked up that they know are bad but don't have any context for the teacher can't break it up and explain to them that they shouldn't be calling other people bad names.
Because acknowledging that "fag" is a bad word requires the understanding context of homosexuality and its treatment, and this law means they can be prosecuted/lose their job over even acknowledging that context.
And all it takes is one of the little bigots in training to head home and blab to a parent to cost that teacher their position and probably their ability to teach in that state. Because parents/bigots WILL pursue this legally.
So this is essentially enforced, school-sanctioned anti-gay bullying legislation.
Well, more state sanctioned 'lalalalalala we can't hear you what's that lalalalalala' legislation, out of terror that their beloved little spawn might come into contact with The Other before they're young enough to know they should hate it.
Except the kids know that the Other is among them. It's that kid who can't defend himself, and now can't even go to a teacher for protection.
And now the other kids are being told to pretend that homosexuality doesn't exist. They know it does exist, but they also know it's something that has to be hidden. Therefore it's shameful, and something they can legitimately attack other kids for.
edit: 21st, this pretty much answers your question.
Again, call me naive or whatever, but this law doesn't go "If you see a kid being called "[mean names related to Homosexuality]", don't help him". This law doesn't state that you shouldn't help bullied kids. It also doesn't state you should tell kids "There's not such things as homosexuals"... Does it? It seems like it's a lot more "Let's pretend there are no gays", not "Let's punch people who are gay and pretend we didn't do anything wrong".
i mean, wouldn't telling kids that there's no such thing as gays violate that law?
Edit: Not saying the law is remotely good, just... It doesn't seem as bad as you make it seem.
But now if Billy is being bullied by the other kids and they're calling him "gay" or "fag" or whatever words their little 11 year old brains have picked up that they know are bad but don't have any context for the teacher can't break it up and explain to them that they shouldn't be calling other people bad names.
Because acknowledging that "fag" is a bad word requires the understanding context of homosexuality and its treatment, and this law means they can be prosecuted/lose their job over even acknowledging that context.
And all it takes is one of the little bigots in training to head home and blab to a parent to cost that teacher their position and probably their ability to teach in that state. Because parents/bigots WILL pursue this legally.
Or the teacher could just say "Because." You seriously never got that growing up?
So this is essentially enforced, school-sanctioned anti-gay bullying legislation.
Well, more state sanctioned 'lalalalalala we can't hear you what's that lalalalalala' legislation, out of terror that their beloved little spawn might come into contact with The Other before they're young enough to know they should hate it.
Except the kids know that the Other is among them. It's that kid who can't defend himself, and now can't even go to a teacher for protection.
And now the other kids are being told to pretend that homosexuality doesn't exist. They know it does exist, but they also know it's something that has to be hidden. Therefore it's shameful, and something they can legitimately attack other kids for.
edit: 21st, this pretty much answers your question.
Again, call me naive or whatever, but this law doesn't go "If you see a kid being called "[mean names related to Homosexuality]", don't help him". This law doesn't state that you shouldn't help bullied kids. It also doesn't state you should tell kids "There's not such things as homosexuals"... Does it? It seems like it's a lot more "Let's pretend there are no gays", not "Let's punch people who are gay and pretend we didn't do anything wrong".
i mean, wouldn't telling kids that there's no such thing as gays violate that law?
Edit: Not saying the law is remotely good, just... It doesn't seem as bad as you make it seem.
But now if Billy is being bullied by the other kids and they're calling him "gay" or "fag" or whatever words their little 11 year old brains have picked up that they know are bad but don't have any context for the teacher can't break it up and explain to them that they shouldn't be calling other people bad names.
Because acknowledging that "fag" is a bad word requires the understanding context of homosexuality and its treatment, and this law means they can be prosecuted/lose their job over even acknowledging that context.
And all it takes is one of the little bigots in training to head home and blab to a parent to cost that teacher their position and probably their ability to teach in that state. Because parents/bigots WILL pursue this legally.
Or the teacher could just say "Because." You seriously never got that growing up?
Only from shitty teachers who weren't doing their job. Especially at a grade school level.
You can't discipline without context and have it matter, not at that age.
Besides, this law means that treating "fag" as a bad word in the first place is off the table. You can't discipline kids for gay bashing other kids.
A little background on the dumb ass: http://www.metropulse.com/news/2010/sep/29/what-heck-wrong-stacey-campfield/
But the eye rolls and head shakes and sighs come from the things Campfield has actually done since taking office as a state representative in 2005. He has tried to join the legislative Black Caucus. He has pushed for bills to issue death certificates for aborted fetuses, and to force women to look at fetal ultrasound images before having an abortion. He has lobbied for the right of both faculty and students to bring guns onto college campuses. He has proposed a range of legislation on things like child support, orders of protection, and sexual-abuse allegations, that, as a Nashville Scene blogger put it a few weeks ago, seem to derive from a sense “that women are crazy lying bitches men need protecting from.” He is bothered by the existence of gay-straight student alliances, and he is passionate about a bill that would forbid any discussion of homosexuality in elementary or middle schools. He wants to eliminate the state’s pre-kindergarten education programs.
And, yes, there was that whole thing with the wrestling mask at the UT football game.
In short, he has often seemed more like a performer than a legislator, the political equivalent of a pro wrestler. It’s an impression that was only enhanced earlier this year when he willingly appeared on a segment of the Penn and Teller cable show Bullshit!, which mocked his don’t-say-gay education bill and called Campfield “a professional bully” and “an asshole.” Campfield, apparently convinced he’d gotten the better of the encounter, posted a clip from the episode on his blog.
A few Stacey Campfield facts: He is not from around here. He grew up in Binghamton, N.Y., and went to college further upstate at St. John Fisher College, a small Catholic school in Rochester. His parents still live in New York. Apart from his legislative salary, he makes his living primarily as a landlord, renting out 15 properties around Knoxville.
...Apart from his legislative salary, he makes his living primarily as a landlord, renting out 15 properties around Knoxville.
I'll put a $10 bet down on 'slumlord', and I've got another $10 that says at least one of his tenants gets some kind of tax funded subsidy voucher for their unit.
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21stCenturyCall me Pixel, or Pix for short![They/Them]Registered Userregular
So this is essentially enforced, school-sanctioned anti-gay bullying legislation.
Well, more state sanctioned 'lalalalalala we can't hear you what's that lalalalalala' legislation, out of terror that their beloved little spawn might come into contact with The Other before they're young enough to know they should hate it.
Except the kids know that the Other is among them. It's that kid who can't defend himself, and now can't even go to a teacher for protection.
And now the other kids are being told to pretend that homosexuality doesn't exist. They know it does exist, but they also know it's something that has to be hidden. Therefore it's shameful, and something they can legitimately attack other kids for.
edit: 21st, this pretty much answers your question.
Again, call me naive or whatever, but this law doesn't go "If you see a kid being called "[mean names related to Homosexuality]", don't help him". This law doesn't state that you shouldn't help bullied kids. It also doesn't state you should tell kids "There's not such things as homosexuals"... Does it? It seems like it's a lot more "Let's pretend there are no gays", not "Let's punch people who are gay and pretend we didn't do anything wrong".
i mean, wouldn't telling kids that there's no such thing as gays violate that law?
Edit: Not saying the law is remotely good, just... It doesn't seem as bad as you make it seem.
But now if Billy is being bullied by the other kids and they're calling him "gay" or "fag" or whatever words their little 11 year old brains have picked up that they know are bad but don't have any context for the teacher can't break it up and explain to them that they shouldn't be calling other people bad names.
Because acknowledging that "fag" is a bad word requires the understanding context of homosexuality and its treatment, and this law means they can be prosecuted/lose their job over even acknowledging that context.
And all it takes is one of the little bigots in training to head home and blab to a parent to cost that teacher their position and probably their ability to teach in that state. Because parents/bigots WILL pursue this legally.
Pursue what legally? The right of their kid to bully other kids? I understand that "Don't say gay" facilitates the "othering" of gays, but I kinda fail to see how it inevitably leads to people condoning and practicing gay-bashing in schools.
You're making it sound like a teacher who catches two kids throwing stone at a third kid can't do anything as soon as they say "The G word" or "The F Word", like that law has such a ridiculous loophole.
The way some of you make it seem, that law forces teachers to point at some kids and say "This kid doesn't exist, you can bully him because i can't legally care anymore". The effect that law will have is a lot more insidious, but really a lot more subtle. it's not a "pretend gay people don't exist" (By which i mean, it's not like the law forces teachers to pretend some people don't exist) as much as it's a "don't talk about homosexuality" (Which would imply the teachers pretend a certain behavior doesn't exist.)
I mean, that law is great. It would work really well in letting parents imprint their children with the same prejudice they have about the LGBT community by making it a lot more shocking when they first meet one of those dreaded "gays". I just don't buy the theory that this is a "Enact Gay Bashing in all schools" law.
So this is essentially enforced, school-sanctioned anti-gay bullying legislation.
At the risk of being called mean names, how is that sanctioned anti-gay bullying? I don't get how it goes from "Don't talk about gays" to "actively bash gays".
It says that teachers can't talk about gays, which could be interpreted as making gays the only group that teachers aren't allowed to discourage the bullying of.
The biggest bullying issue I could see arise from this is that bigoted teachers could use it as an excuse after-the-fact. Well, I would have stopped them from harassing little Billy, but I didn't want to get in trouble for saying "gay" or bring up homosexuality. And similarly it could be applied in the reverse, where a teacher does step in and the bully's family tries to get the teacher removed for saying such words.
And ignoring those things, I'd still say it has a profound affect on bullying. This bill makes being gay to be a bad thing, an unwanted thing and gives tacit approval to victimize them because they're not real people anyways (especially with the direct mention that only heterosexuality be mentioned).
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Is anyone surprised?
More over, the committee that made that decision has a Democratic majority.
Tennessee is passing a bill that would make it so teachers would not be allowed to even acknowledge homosexuality in any shape form or fashion until the 10th grade. You're not allowed to even say the word.
I foresee a new game amongst schoolchildren - a variation on "the penis game," in which you yell the word "GAY" as loudly as you can in a populated area, and then laugh at teachers who have to pretend you said nothing at all.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
I find it sort of funny how it specifically says "other than heterosexuality" because, heterosexual talk itself is just so common in Elementary School classrooms. But then again maybe it is, I went to a private school that was very hush hush on anything outside the church bubble so I guess I wouldn't know.
This is very troubling, personally.
And Ol' McDonnell isn't going to help change things.
Virginia had a vote on gay marriage? Was the vote for a double-ban-with-no-takebacks?
I'd hate to be your mom.
I was right on all accounts. I was trying to be intentionally ridiculous and Virginia managed to out-ridiculous me.
I think it was a vote for a constitutional ban on it, which passed 3-1.
I could see it becoming an issue in history and English classes at the end of the range, as marriage has long been a political tool and many of the classics focus on romance.
Oh god I didn't even think of that...
They will have absolutely no way to stop anti-gay bullying below age 10.
Christ it's a death warrant.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
Not to mention a pretty thundering institutional condemnation of any kid at those schools who might be gay. So that's awesome.
Well, more state sanctioned 'lalalalalala we can't hear you what's that lalalalalala' legislation, out of terror that their beloved little spawn might come into contact with The Other before they're young enough to know they should hate it.
At the risk of being called mean names, how is that sanctioned anti-gay bullying? I don't get how it goes from "Don't talk about gays" to "actively bash gays".
Check out my site, the Bismuth Heart | My Twitter
Except the kids know that the Other is among them. It's that kid who can't defend himself, and now can't even go to a teacher for protection.
And now the other kids are being told to pretend that homosexuality doesn't exist. They know it does exist, but they also know it's something that has to be hidden. Therefore it's shameful, and something they can legitimately attack other kids for.
edit: 21st, this pretty much answers your question.
I doubt that this is constitutional. Teachers have a complicated free speech situation, but this seems like a particularly flagrantly attempt to suppress a minority viewpoint through a content-based ban on speech, which is typically a no-no.
Seriously, I hate to break it to the bigot, but some of knew we were gay long before the 9th grade. It's basically the Ostrich defense. If I stick my head in the sand then it must not exist.
We need another Sherman to march and just steamroll the South again. It's just so fucking ridiculous. And people wonder why I've been depressed, suicidal and having anxiety attacks since I was 8. Even with my family, I still remember going to a sunday school thing with a friend and having the teachers tell me, after noticing a news article, that gays were going to hell (of course the jokes on them, since their son is gay, which is something I could have told them long before he went to NY to do Broadway).
Again, call me naive or whatever, but this law doesn't go "If you see a kid being called "[mean names related to Homosexuality]", don't help him". This law doesn't state that you shouldn't help bullied kids. It also doesn't state you should tell kids "There's not such things as homosexuals"... Does it? It seems like it's a lot more "Let's pretend there are no gays", not "Let's punch people who are gay and pretend we didn't do anything wrong".
i mean, wouldn't telling kids that there's no such thing as gays violate that law?
Edit: Not saying the law is remotely good, just... It doesn't seem as bad as you make it seem.
Check out my site, the Bismuth Heart | My Twitter
The fact that teachers can't address it just cements the issue. After a kid has been bullied for being gay, who can he go to? If he tells the teachers he was being bullied and called "faggot," can the teacher even acknowledge that? The teacher sure as shit can't tell him it's OK to be gay.
Enforcing anti-bullying rules is hard enough as it is; putting ridiculous roadblocks on teachers this way just lets more bullies get away with it.
Got a long way to go, but that's a step.
Which is pretty fucked up.
Then couldn't the teacher say "I will address the situation" and then discipline the bully for inappropriate language or whatever the hell else is in the student handbook.
Because acknowledging that "fag" is a bad word requires the understanding context of homosexuality and its treatment, and this law means they can be prosecuted/lose their job over even acknowledging that context.
And all it takes is one of the little bigots in training to head home and blab to a parent to cost that teacher their position and probably their ability to teach in that state. Because parents/bigots WILL pursue this legally.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Or the teacher could just say "Because." You seriously never got that growing up?
You can't discipline without context and have it matter, not at that age.
Besides, this law means that treating "fag" as a bad word in the first place is off the table. You can't discipline kids for gay bashing other kids.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Yay inevitability!
Stacey Campfield
sen.stacey.campfield@capitol.tn.gov
Nashville Address
4 Legislative Plaza
Nashville, TN 37243
Phone: (615) 741-1766
Staff Contact: Bryan Dodson
A little background on the dumb ass:
http://www.metropulse.com/news/2010/sep/29/what-heck-wrong-stacey-campfield/
But the eye rolls and head shakes and sighs come from the things Campfield has actually done since taking office as a state representative in 2005. He has tried to join the legislative Black Caucus. He has pushed for bills to issue death certificates for aborted fetuses, and to force women to look at fetal ultrasound images before having an abortion. He has lobbied for the right of both faculty and students to bring guns onto college campuses. He has proposed a range of legislation on things like child support, orders of protection, and sexual-abuse allegations, that, as a Nashville Scene blogger put it a few weeks ago, seem to derive from a sense “that women are crazy lying bitches men need protecting from.” He is bothered by the existence of gay-straight student alliances, and he is passionate about a bill that would forbid any discussion of homosexuality in elementary or middle schools. He wants to eliminate the state’s pre-kindergarten education programs.
And, yes, there was that whole thing with the wrestling mask at the UT football game.
In short, he has often seemed more like a performer than a legislator, the political equivalent of a pro wrestler. It’s an impression that was only enhanced earlier this year when he willingly appeared on a segment of the Penn and Teller cable show Bullshit!, which mocked his don’t-say-gay education bill and called Campfield “a professional bully” and “an asshole.” Campfield, apparently convinced he’d gotten the better of the encounter, posted a clip from the episode on his blog.
A few Stacey Campfield facts: He is not from around here. He grew up in Binghamton, N.Y., and went to college further upstate at St. John Fisher College, a small Catholic school in Rochester. His parents still live in New York. Apart from his legislative salary, he makes his living primarily as a landlord, renting out 15 properties around Knoxville.
Pursue what legally? The right of their kid to bully other kids? I understand that "Don't say gay" facilitates the "othering" of gays, but I kinda fail to see how it inevitably leads to people condoning and practicing gay-bashing in schools.
You're making it sound like a teacher who catches two kids throwing stone at a third kid can't do anything as soon as they say "The G word" or "The F Word", like that law has such a ridiculous loophole.
The way some of you make it seem, that law forces teachers to point at some kids and say "This kid doesn't exist, you can bully him because i can't legally care anymore". The effect that law will have is a lot more insidious, but really a lot more subtle. it's not a "pretend gay people don't exist" (By which i mean, it's not like the law forces teachers to pretend some people don't exist) as much as it's a "don't talk about homosexuality" (Which would imply the teachers pretend a certain behavior doesn't exist.)
I mean, that law is great. It would work really well in letting parents imprint their children with the same prejudice they have about the LGBT community by making it a lot more shocking when they first meet one of those dreaded "gays". I just don't buy the theory that this is a "Enact Gay Bashing in all schools" law.
Check out my site, the Bismuth Heart | My Twitter
It says that teachers can't talk about gays, which could be interpreted as making gays the only group that teachers aren't allowed to discourage the bullying of.
And ignoring those things, I'd still say it has a profound affect on bullying. This bill makes being gay to be a bad thing, an unwanted thing and gives tacit approval to victimize them because they're not real people anyways (especially with the direct mention that only heterosexuality be mentioned).