Another American "educator" has gone off on the LGBT community in the name of upholding "traditional values." At this late hour it should be surprising, but it isn't.
"It's offensive to us," Diana Medley, an Indiana public high school teacher, replied when a local television interviewer asked her why she's trying to organize an alternative prom at her school that would exclude gays and lesbians. A follow-up question regarding whether LGBT students had "some sort of purpose in life" revealed this gem: "No, I honestly don't. Sorry, but I don't ... A gay person isn't going to come up and make some change unless it's to realize that it was a choice and they're choosing God."
No purpose in life. Let that sit for a minute. No purpose. I wonder how it feels to be a gay teenager today, in a sleepy corner of Indiana, grappling with his orientation?
Diana Medley has now demonstrated her bias against gays and lesbians. And whether it is manifesting through the prism of her religion or simply a bilious nature doesn't really matter. Get your outmoded, vicious, laughable ideas out of my public schools. I'm sure a local church would be willing to host a separatist, gay-free prom for you, free of charge.
What bothers me is the idea that if a bias is rooted in religion, it is to be spared criticism. And unless Diana Medley wants to start banning shrimp eaters and poly-cotton wearers from proms with equal relish, any religious basis at all for her actions seems very weak indeed.
What bothers me is that she's picking on kids she's supposed to be educating, and that's awful.
What bothers me is that the next time a gay teen takes his life in Indiana, it will be mourned as a tragedy, but the day after the funeral, everyone will move on, and the Diana Medleys of the world will again spew venom in the name of their religion.
What bothers me is that shit like this keeps happening, even amid the massive gains toward equality and acceptance that LGBT folks have made in recent years. I'm a prime example of that progress, having been in a same-sex marriage for the past three years and currently awaiting the birth of twins with the help of a surrogate. I'm so lucky.
I'm saddened and brought down and enraged by the ignorance and stupidity we are seeing today. But I'm also glad to be reminded yet again that every place is not New York or Los Angeles, San Francisco or Chicago, and that there's a ton of work to be done.