"What," asks the teacher, "have Sir Elton John, Alexander the Great, William Shakespeare and Clare Balding got in common?"A real mixed bag (and that's just Pam St Clement!).
Other slides flash up at the front of the class: Sir Ian McKellen, Julius Caesar, Martina Navratilova, Richard the Lionheart, Oscar Wilde and Pam St Clement (EastEnders' Pat Butcher) .
So, anyone hazard a guess?
After some discussion, the answer arrives: they are all gay, lesbian or bisexual – Shakespeare is said to have been bisexual, this class is told – and they all feature in a new drive pioneered at a north London comprehensive which is trying to stamp out homophobic bullying.Well, why not? I'm sure they can fit it in somewhere, after all the anti-obesity and family planning lessons....
"We had noticed that students were using the way 'gay' in the playground and it was seen as a term of abuse," said headteacher Annie Gammon.Far better than trying to teach a bunch of unruly, dim brats that 2 = 2 = 4, eh, Elly?
Elly Barnes, the teacher who devised it, is now training staff from across the country to use the material. She has even had an approach from a school in Perth, western Australia.
The way the programme works at Stoke Newington is that all pupils attend joint assemblies on the issue and then it is fed into the curriculum of different subjects during a month set aside for stressing the contribution of gay, lesbian and bisexual people in history.A month..? A whole month?
Ms Gammon added: "One parent saw homosexuality as a sin and didn't want their child to be part of lessons. We had a discussion and their child participated. We are not a religious school and I feel it is a human rights issue."I feel it isn't for the education system to poke their nose in until they've managed to regain a successful system for churning out anything other than cannon-fodder, Ms Gammon...
The school plans to use the same approach to the subject of disability, using famous role models such as Professor Stephen Hawking.Give me strength!
This is, of course, the inevitable result of allowing groups to self-identify as anything other than people. People with disabilities, people with sexualities, people with cultural backgrounds.
Now, we have groups. The people themselves? They are getting lost in the cacophony of shouted 'rights'....
Yeah, but, yeah dat Shakyspeer is a real gayer wiv dat gay clovinmg, dat spam head an dat tash innit!
ReplyDeleteYo! Yo mum is gay LOL, dat Sir Elton is a batty boy big time an dat blading bird is a gay walker LMFAO LOL
Even if one could prove that Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great and Richard the Lionheart were gay - which I strongly doubt - I can't see how that would persuade anyone on the merits or otherwise of homosexuality. Or do these military men of times past play a role in the popular consciousness unimagined by the likes of me?
ReplyDeleteAre the children from Muslim families required to participate enthusiastically in these gay awareness sessions, I wonder. Only asking, of course.
ReplyDeleteFurther to Cormudgeon's comment, it's more than possible that a passing Muslem would be offended by Annie's surname. I'm amazed that, being the apparently sensitive soul she is, Annie hasn't changed her handle to Burqa - or maybe just Burq.
ReplyDeleteMuslim or Moslem, of course. I hope no-one was offended.
ReplyDeleteAlexander the Great and Richard the Lionheart may have preferred the company of men over women whilst Julius Caesar may not have had a preference but their sexuality does not define who they are.
ReplyDeleteIt is for their leadership and military records that they are be remembered - not whose blankets they occupied (with one notable exception in the case of Caesar).
Homosexuality is not a new phenomenon - unlikely religious based stupidity about it. The sooner we stop defining people which box they tick the better. It may even result in the human race finally starting to grow up.
"Far better than trying to teach a bunch of unruly, dim brats that 2 = 2 = 4, eh, Elly?"
ReplyDelete<cough>
Progressive teaching:
ReplyDeleteEducation; Educaishon; Ejitcayshun.
Richard the Lionheart and Shakespeare are a bit of a stretch, if you'll pardon the expression.
ReplyDeleteNo Ernst Rohm or Edmund Heines?
And I have to say, the big fella never seems to get a mention. You know, fondness for leather outer garments, a keen appreciation of musical theatre and Greta Garbo? Childless, entered a lavender marriage on the last day of his life?
Word mutation
ReplyDeleteI always thought gay meant 'happy' and 'carefree'.
If they're making shit up, why not Churchill, Einstein, Alfred the Great, the Venerable Bede, Robin Hood, Flash Gordon...
ReplyDeleteShakespeare was not gay - but I think his boyfriend was.
ReplyDeleteso the question being does sexual activity have any correlation with professional success?
ReplyDeleteprobably depends on whether your a sex worker or advertise your sex life at work in an other profession.
Where do nudists keep their laptop?
Kids round here definitely use gay as an insult. They insult all kinds of deformity, disability and difference, and can be racist. They bully when they can and should rarely be allowed to commune in more than pairs. Amongst this one can detect some hard-liners the schools and cops should be sorting out and don't. I'd approve of feeding Aussies such as this to them as punishment.
ReplyDelete"One parent saw homosexuality as a sin and didn't want their child to be part of lessons."
ReplyDeleteAny teacher who uses the 3rd person plural possessive pronoun to refer to a singular noun should be boiled, as is appropriate for a nice bit of gammon.
Let us hope they bring more respect to left handers - think of 'billy the kid'- a dynamic go getter.
ReplyDeleteany teenager will tell you that their use of the word 'Gay' does not mean homosexual, but effete, pathetic, weak etc.
ReplyDeleteNot sure if the Language Police have cottoned on to that fact yet.
"We had noticed that students were using the way 'gay' in the playground and it was seen as a term of abuse,"
ReplyDeleteHow very cutting edge of them, the 'kids' have been doing this for at least a decade and use 'gay' to slag off inanimate objects (jeans, trainers etc.) as much as each other.
As you say, teachers can barely be trusted to teach them how to read and write so what chance do they have convincing of little Billy that shoving his cock up his mates bum is the way forward?
Celebrate here
http://www.lgbthistorymonth.org.uk
"...I can't see how that would persuade anyone on the merits or otherwise of homosexuality."
ReplyDeletePrecisely! In other lessons, I can see these three being held up as examples of warmongering imperialists!
"I'm amazed that, being the apparently sensitive soul she is, Annie hasn't changed her handle to Burqa - or maybe just Burq."
:D
"...but their sexuality does not define who they are."
Indeed. Yet, to the progressives, it is ALL they are...
""
Ooops! :)
"And I have to say, the big fella never seems to get a mention. You know, fondness for leather outer garments, a keen appreciation of musical theatre and Greta Garbo? Childless, entered a lavender marriage on the last day of his life?"
Freddie Mercury..? ;)
"If they're making shit up..."
ReplyDeletePretty sure there's no 'if' about it!
"so the question being does sexual activity have any correlation with professional success?"
That's not a question that they'd ever wish to find the answer to, I suspect...
"Amongst this one can detect some hard-liners the schools and cops should be sorting out and don't."
If their parents never did, then by school age,. I'd say it's too late...
"Any teacher who uses the 3rd person plural possessive pronoun to refer to a singular noun should be boiled..."
But we've already got a bit of a shortage...
"Let us hope they bring more respect to left handers..."
I'm waiting for 'Famous Gingers Throughout History'...
"Not sure if the Language Police have cottoned on to that fact yet."
Since they only ever preach to their audience, never listen, I rather doubt it.
"How very cutting edge of them..."
I must admit, I'd have thought the popular playground culture would have already moved on to new and even more 'offensive' insults by now!
What gets me about these jerko-PClowns is that they can't stand to watch South Park. Muslims practice homosocial relations Curmudgeon - no doubt its easy for us to make mistakes! I would expect them to insist on Bachi Basa sessions in which the young boys experienced gender issues by dressing as girls and dancing in front of men. Girls would not be allowed, but would attended second-class citizenship classes down the Mosque.
ReplyDeleteElton John is gay?
ReplyDeleteShocker, eh? :)
ReplyDelete""We had noticed that students were using the way 'gay' in the playground and it was seen as a term of abuse," said headteacher Annie Gammon."
ReplyDeleteI actually had this very problem years ago in an adventure game I used to code for.
I got so fed up with the abuse of the word 'gay' by players and the crappy atmosphere it spread, that I coded device that listened to a player and when they ranted enough about 'gay' this and that, they got stripped of all their stuff (deposited with a nice boss monster, up for grabs to the lucky winner who kills it) and put into high heels, stockings, suspenders, baby doll and a frilly apron whilst being made follow other players around the game, goosestepping and waving a feather duster whilst screaming: 'Everything must be hygienic!' (amongst other amusing things, as they say, do not trifle with bored wizards, they may get 'creative'... >-)
I only got to play with this excellent toy for a short time, sadly so, my players quickly decided that 'gay' isn't such a cool word after all, hehehe...
So, you see, meddling can be fun and when done properly, it can work :)