UPDATED: Walt Disney Company facing internal pressure over Florida's "don't say gay" bill

extremecoasterdad:

of a sexual nature

The thing that you can't seem to understand is that being non-hetero isn't any more about sex than being hetero. Gay men don't introduce themselves saying, "I'm gay, I have sex with men," any more than you introduce yourself as straight and indicating that you have sex with women.

Your argument is not based on any reality.

Touchdown:

…sexuality is something you are born with and not you choose.

Not to sound like I’m disagreeing, but I don’t think whether or not sexuality is a choice matters, or should matter. A person following the proclivities they were born with vs. a person deliberately pursuing different sexual experiences makes no difference; consenting adults should be free to do whatever they want without government intervention or societal ridicule.

As far as talking to kids is concerned, you should be able to explain what it means to be a romantic couple, regardless of the sexual orientation of the couple, without delving into the juicy details of sex-making.

extremecoasterdad:

Let's see...if I were talking to children ages 6-8 on a playground (or anywhere for that matter) of a sexual nature, you'd be ok with that and not concerned in the least?

Let's just say for a second that your statement is based in reality, and that's what this law is about. You're okay with an adult going up to rando children 6-8 years old on a playground and talking about the joys of vaginal sex?

Because, see, that's creepy no matter what your orientation. But saying "hi, I'm Jake. This is my boyfriend Pete" is not.

I was inferring that a lot of fear from people on the other side is (to use their words, not mine) evil “groomers” “corrupting” their little Todd and Karen from being good little heteros into a “sinful” gay lifestyle.

Of which I was trying to point out that said argument is utterly absurd because no one chooses their sexuality.

If I survived the Batman & Robin relationship as a kid, and didn't get "groomed", then I think there isn't much to worry about. I'm not even going to bring up the weird relationship between Shaggy and Scooby Doo.

That said, if I am ever single again I think the very first pickup line I'm going to try is, "Hi (insert name). I'm a man and I have sex with women." Can't believe I didn't come up with that back in the 80s.

The next time sometime starts talking about "indoctrination," ask them not only when they chose their orientation or identity, but also when they chose their religion.

The grooming thing or that a kid seeing a gay character in a movie is going to make them gay or whatever is really annoying because they don't consider that it certainly doesn't work the other way.

I grew up in the 80s watching tons of horror movies and sex comedies on cable that have not aged so well. Little to no male nudity, tons of female nudity. Only gay characters I can remember were usually nerds or played up for a homophobic punch line.

Yet somehow I didn't get groomed to be straight.

Shades:
Why would you waste time looking him up

I didn’t have to, I was already familiar. I mean what are the chances that I might be subscribed to some of those same amusement-related FB pages, right?

The danger in such a law exists in its refusal to keep conversations from happening. And the conversations aren’t titillating or salacious, they’re educational conversations led by trained professionals who might be spending more of their day with your kids than you do.
These are some questions and concerns that I happen to know arise on a daily basis.
“Why does Susie act more like a boy?”
“The kids make fun of me and call me a girl.”
“The characters in the story got married, but they’re both boys?”
“I think I’d rather be in the boys’ gym class than the girls’.”
“Spencer says he has two moms. How can that be?”
I’m all for referring questions back to parents or family members. But sometimes that doesn’t carry a satisfying outcome, especially for the child that has questions. To refuse to at least approach such topics in the privacy and safety of a school environment and then make the appropriate referrals only leads to the conclusion that there’s something wrong with the questions. Misunderstood and marginalized children have been known to take their own lives.
I get furious with uneducated people who think the only thing gay and allied educators have is something dirty up their sleeve. So-called “groomers” exist on all sides of the fence, btw.
The other day someone said “The only danger to a child at a Drag Queen Story Hour is that some ultra-conservative might show up with a gun.” A well rounded, sane, and sensible person is developed when they’re taught that differences exist amongst people. They learn to accept those people and (well, what do you know?) maybe come to understand things about themselves as well.

Off-topic, but not... This is why I love CoasterBuzz so much. <3

When I was about five years old, a little girl playmate held my hand and asked me to marry her. All the adults in the yard laughed and thought it was cute, but I knew I didn't like her the same way I like the other playmate, a male named Joey.

Some time later, maybe within the same month, I was watching a prime time sitcom with my family. Eating popcorn in the dark, I was sitting in the floor in front of the TV, like usual, and Mom and Dad were on the couch. The point here is, it's a very vivid memory.

A character on the show said something about another character being gay, and the audience laughed. I swung around and asked Mom, "What does gay mean."

And her answer was amazing. "It's when two men or two women love each other the same way Mommy and Daddy love each other."

I shrugged, and turned back around to watch the rest of the show, but quietly, I was extremely happy to know.

Flash forward maybe ten years later, I befriended a gay couple who owned a costume shop in town. At first, I was kind of scared to tell them I was gay too, but I thought them trustworthy. Because of me, they started a monthly secret GLBTQ meetup for teens and a GLBTQ teen hotline when teens needed someone to listen. (It wasn't called GLBTQ, at the time. It was just Gay and Lesbian.)

They were very supportive, letting me borrow books with stories about gay people and keeping my secret until I was ready to tell the world. Knowing them, and being able to ask them questions helped me gain confidence. They indirectly made me decide to come out in high school, which was one of the best things for my social life that I've ever done.

...And my adult gay friends were never once innaproperate with me or anyone else.

I've lived a lifetime of confidence because of my Mom's answer to the question, "What does gay mean," and later, two men who loved each other the same way Mommy and Daddy loved each other.

RCMAC:

I get furious with uneducated people who think the only thing gay and allied educators have is something dirty up their sleeve.

The only thing I have up my sleeve are some nasty math problems. I don't know of any teachers who I've worked with over the years who are trying to "convert" students to one orientation or another. However, I do know of at least two teachers who have been arrested for sexual contact with students of the opposite gender. So yes, there are definitely straight groomers out there.

Mulfinator:

The only thing I have up my sleeve are some nasty math problems.

Thank you, Travis, for sharing your story. I wish it would be heard by people who need to hear it the most.

Brett, some of us love math. We may be small in number, but we are mighty.

I still think my issue mainly comes down to a few really terrible high school math teachers. It's not that I couldn't do it, I just never had anyone take the time to actually explain it well.

If one could be "groomed" to be gay, I'd be gay. No matter how much time I spent with best friend in elementary and middle school (who made it very clear he was gay) and no matter how much time I spent with my three best friends in high school, I never stopped chasing after girls/women. While I was drawn to many of my Disney entertainment coworkers for friendship, it was nothing more than that. Even as a young professional, a very good friend of mine, knowing I was unavailable, would set me up with my future wife.

And Le Monster makes an excellent point. How did kids growing up in the 70s and 80s...with hetero sex at the forefront of entertainment and pop culture, still end up gay if they were exposed to no other types of relationships?

In the 70s and 80s it was clearly:

I have a friend who is a professional mathematician. I just said to myself “You mean that’s a job?”
And one day I told him I always heard that there’s no such thing in real life as math and he said “No, math is everything and everywhere”.

I’m convinced that all the posturing about nature, God, sports and whatever other excuses there are to “other” LGBTQ folks is just a cover for “different makes me feel icky, therefore it must be wrong.” I try to make lots of reasoned arguments, but I’m not sure that’s for them, since reason doesn’t seem to have much to do with it, as much as it is for me and people listening who may need to hear it.

If your rationale for homophobia is the bible, you better not be eating shellfish or pork, etc. etc.

Edit: I love math and my primary goal as a math teacher is not to train students in specific skills, but to unveil the mystery and beauty, create curiosity, and instill confidence about math. It breaks my heart that third graders come to school in the fall already saying “I’m not good at math.” That’s not even a thing, but especially not in third freakin’ grade.

Re: math

Several weeks ago, I made a post over on pointbuzz where I did some basic math to estimate wear on Dragster's track, and I think I could hear crickets over my computer's speakers. Math is so much a part of my daily life, that I guess I don't realize that its not quite as instinctual for other people as it is for me.

When I was applying to colleges, one of the ones I applied to was Michigan Tech. It is a highly regarded engineering school, in middle of nowhere Michigan. While I was visiting MTU, they had a special guest - Josh Kornbluth. He did a ~90 minute monologue about math. The flyers they had posted all over campus said NOT A LECTURE. Since said school is in the middle of nowhere, I went to the show. I have to say, that was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. So yes, it is very much possible to write a comedy routine about math.