My opinion falls somewhere between Madison's and Art's. I do believe that the teacher should be allowed to teach if she wants, but at the same time I'd find it difficult to explain to someone about five years old about sex-change operations. I just am not sure if they'd be able to wrap their heads around it.
In terms of accepting them as people, Art hit the nail on the head with his last post. Also, Art, thanks for the Ali EP. I never did get a chance to thank you; it's a regular in the rotation now.
Madison wrote:However, when to explain things to kids is very important. I want my son to know the dangers of alcohol and smoking, but even at 7 years old I'm not handing him a beer or a cigarette. Both age, and maturity level come into play when dealing with things of this nature, and I just don't feel that most 5 year olds are mature enough to be able to understand why their male teacher is now a female.
Mad really hit it on the head here, I'm sure all parents have their own very strong opinions and reasons for when their child is ready to learn things about the world. Just because some people don't mind teaching their 5 year olds anything and everything doesn't give them the right to expose everyone else's child to it to force the issue.
Madison wrote:However, when to explain things to kids is very important. I want my son to know the dangers of alcohol and smoking, but even at 7 years old I'm not handing him a beer or a cigarette. Both age, and maturity level come into play when dealing with things of this nature, and I just don't feel that most 5 year olds are mature enough to be able to understand why their male teacher is now a female.
Mad really hit it on the head here, I'm sure all parents have their own very strong opinions and reasons for when their child is ready to learn things about the world. Just because some people don't mind teaching their 5 year olds anything and everything doesn't give them the right to expose everyone else's child to it to force the issue.
But does the fact that some people don't want to teach their children something give those people the right to deny someone else employment? the way I see it, a person's right to live their life however they desire (as long as they are not causing physical harm to someone else) trumps a parent's right to keep their child sheltered from the reality of life in the 21st century.
I would be against my child being taught by this teacher. I feel that in our society, children choose to be gay or different because they see it as accepted or the other way down the road.
We had a lesbian teacher come so we could talk to her and I found her story very interesting. She lived her whole High School years with boy friends and never even thought for a second she way gay. When she attented college, she realized the Gay Rights Association and read about it. She decided to become a lesbian and is where she stands today. I asked her that if it hadent been for the promotion that "Its ok to be gay" would she have been where she is today. She answered 'no'.
I feel our society or at least my neck of the woods...massachusetts...puts too much into "Its ok to be gay"
Art Vandelay wrote:Also, I see this as a step in the right direction for the rights of other people like this...I mean, look at some of the comments in this thread for example:
Sex changes are weird and make me feel uncomfortable...I mean WTF
She/he's 71 for cryn out loud WTF just creepy and confusing. No way should it be allowed to teach in the same school that it had taught before
LIsten being gay is fine, dressing like a woman fine whatever, turning into a woman! UNCOOL!
That is just sick
I wonder if she(it feels weird saying she when she is a he) lives her parents?
If I had a kid that had a sex change, I'd disown them. That's just me though.
It's one thing to find something like this odd and weird, but quite another to dehumanize someone by calling them "it." It's no surprise though, society as a whole is very intollerant of cases like this.
Lily has decided to be an "it". She/He has disrespected gender. Just because Scientific medicine is capable of this, does not make it right. I won't even get into the issue of him/her teaching children.
Spiegs1106 wrote:I would be against my child being taught by this teacher. I feel that in our society, children choose to be gay or different because they see it as accepted or the other way down the road.
We had a lesbian teacher come so we could talk to her and I found her story very interesting. She lived her whole High School years with boy friends and never even thought for a second she way gay. When she attented college, she realized the Gay Rights Association and read about it. She decided to become a lesbian and is where she stands today. I asked her that if it hadent been for the promotion that "Its ok to be gay" would she have been where she is today. She answered 'no'.
I feel our society or at least my neck of the woods...massachusetts...puts too much into "Its ok to be gay"
It is okay to be gay. It's a lifestyle. It won't harm you if someone else is gay. I think the difference is that without these types of associations, gay people don't believe it's okay to be gay and therefore lead a closet life as a straight man or woman.
If it's their natural instinct to be attracted to the same sex, so be it. Let them do it. I mean, if a gay man comes on to me, I'd decline, as I personally am straight. But that's the same thing as if I hit on a lesbian (which has happened before). It's no big deal, you move on.
Spiegs1106 wrote:I would be against my child being taught by this teacher. I feel that in our society, children choose to be gay or different because they see it as accepted or the other way down the road.
We had a lesbian teacher come so we could talk to her and I found her story very interesting. She lived her whole High School years with boy friends and never even thought for a second she way gay. When she attented college, she realized the Gay Rights Association and read about it. She decided to become a lesbian and is where she stands today. I asked her that if it hadent been for the promotion that "Its ok to be gay" would she have been where she is today. She answered 'no'.
I feel our society or at least my neck of the woods...massachusetts...puts too much into "Its ok to be gay"
But it is ok to be gay. That is where we need to be in our society. People need to be able to comfortable with who or what they really are not feel embarassed about it or feel that they have to supress it. It is ok to be gay. You have a right to.
I agree whole-heartedly with Art here. Sheltering kids from what goes in the world is how we breed intolerance in society. Now I'm not going to take my 5-year-old and sit him/her down out of the blue and say people get sex changes, this is what they are, but to shelter them from it and pretend it doesn't exist is a step in the wrong direction.
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by DK » Tue Feb 28, 2006 9:36 pm 
