A parent in the Acton-Boxborough district has passed on the shocking article reprinted below. It's from the high school student newspaper. Yet another example of the stranglehold homosexual activists have on our schoolchildren!
Things have clearly gone beyond tolerance of homosexuality. Now there's an assumption it's a positive thing, and active efforts to draw others in. (And note the teens' knowledge of pornography alluded to in the third paragraph!) Remember that students as young as 13 and 14 see this at school, and younger siblings will see it at home.
How can the faculty advisors and principal allow such an article to be published? They might answer: "Now that gay marriage is legal in Massachusetts, parents cannot object."
MassResistance trusts you will object. Not only at this school. Check out what's going on in your own district! This is probably representative of high school newspapers across our state.
Acton-Boxborough HS newspaper faculty advisors:
Joan Lenington: jlenington@mail.ab.mec.edu
Erika Blauch: eblauch@mail.ab.mec.edu
AB Regional HS Principal, Stephen Donovan: sdonovan@mail.ab.mec.edu
[The following article is printed in its entirety from The Spectrum, April 2005, the Acton-Boxborough Regional High School newspaper. Paragraph breaks have been added for easier reading.]
Need for Acceptance of Lesbians at AB
From Will and Grace, to Queer Eye For the Straight Guy, American culture has, for the most part, embraced and accepted gay men as a quintessential part of life. The stereotypes promoted by television and other sources do have the ultimate detrimental effect of promoting bigotry and encouraging generalizations, particularly those portraying gay men as all fashion-crazed guys talking with lisps about their new conditioners.
However, they have helped gay men achieve an elevated status over lesbian women. In mainstream culture, it is generally much more acceptable to be gay than lesbian. Whereas gay men in the media are shown as cute and funny, lesbians are often portrayed as unattractive and socially inept. Even the one TV show that portrays lesbian women as cool and attractive is called The “L” Word, as if there is something inherently shameful about being lesbian.
The portrayals of gays and lesbians in the media affect how we view and treat each other. At Acton-Boxborough, there does seem to be a larger number of “out” guys than girls. According to junior [Mr. X], “I think out guys have an easier time expressing themselves than out girls.” Some students feel that pornography is the only medium in which lesbians are positively portrayed.
These discrepancies are deeply rooted in our social structure. Gay guys are traditionally very much accepted by girls because they are seen as non-threatening. Girls do not have to worry about a gay friend making unwanted advances. On the contrary, many guys feel threatened by lesbians because they feel that the amount of available straight women will have decreased. This phenomenon is deeply rooted in the historical male dominance in social relationships.
Moreover, friendships between girls are often more physical than friendships between guys, so girls might feel more apprehensive about coming out to their friends, fearing they would feel very uncomfortable. After finding out that a close friend is lesbian, many girls will react negatively, assuming that it means their friend is interested in them.
In addition, the stereotypes surrounding gay men have increased their acceptance among girls. There is the image of the “gay best friend.” As senior [Mr. Y] explains, “Girls are obsessed with gay guys.” However, lesbian girls, in general, are not as widely accepted by guys, because there is not a popular image that guys find attractive.
The lack of a general stereotype for lesbian women is, in some ways, a positive thing: there is no role that they are expected to fill. However, because society has no expectations of how a lesbian is “supposed” to be, people do not know how to accept them for who they are.
We, at Acton-Boxborough, need to try and get beyond stereotypes for both gay and lesbian students. Students need to stop using “gay” as a common insult or a synonym for feminine guys. Furthermore, we must understand that gay jokes are not an acceptable form of humor. With the stereotypes erased, both lesbians and gays can feel equally accepted.
