In their quest to ramp up the politics of fear and resentment, red state Republicans are busy passing bills to restrict what schools can/can't teach. But even in this day of outright racism, sexism, and homophobia, they're still trying to dog whistle their intentions. So the bill recently signed by Florida Governor DeSantis never uses the word "gay," "homosexual," or "transgender." Here's some of the actual text:
Lines 97-101: Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.
For example, the bill not only bans teaching about homosexuality, but also heterosexuality - because that is also an orientation.
A teacher in Palm Beach, Florida seems to have figured that out.
In 2014, after the Supreme Court ruled that the regular recitation of prayers before town meetings did not violate the First Amendment, provided that towns do not discriminate among religions, the [Satanic] Temple decided to test just how much religious liberty towns allowed. They volunteered to perform a Satanic benediction in an Arizona town where the board had regularly opened with a Christian prayer. In that case, the town preferred to abolish the practice of opening prayers.
The bullies behind these bills/court rulings are going to leave openings like this pretty often for two reasons: (1) they want to hide behind dog whistles, and (2) they assume that white Christian male heterosexuality is the norm to which their their bills/rulings will default.
Most of the time the response to bullies like Ron DeSantis and Florida Republicans has been to expose the racism, sexism, homophobia behind their dog whistles. But I'd say that it is high time to go on the offensive and challenge the "norms" that assume the default will always be white Christian male heterosexuality. Do Satanists get the benefits of "religious freedom?" Should we protect children from being "groomed" by heterosexuals?
That is precisely how you outsmart a bully.
I read lots of "Encyclopedia Brown" as a kid, and Encyclopedia was always outsmarting Bugs Meany and his gang, the Tigers. But none of his logical debunking would have mattered if he didn't have Sally Kimball along as muscle.
ReplyDeleteI guess what I'm getting at is, trapping bullies in logical errors doesn't much matter if the courts aren't sympathetic to logic. I hope they are, but I know there are some judges who are going to take a "you know perfectly well what the law really means" stance.
Well, King, it's good to see your always erudite comments in Nancy's column. I agree that the logic basis of opposition is most often the basis of clear thinking and fair opposition, but with the advent of the 'tramp era', we see that to meet such bully tactics, it's necessary to respond with a similar but 'fair' bully tactic. "Sally Kimball as muscle" is a great analogy, as is the letter quoted in the article, as is the adage: "Beat 'em at their own game."
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