The Quiet Conservative March 5, 2008
At a Loss for Words: Looking Forward to the Day of Silence
A quick peek at both coasts gives you a view to progressive politics in action. In Maryland,
Montgomery County officials passed a law to accommodate transgendered people. The law allowed
them to use the male or female bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice. They wanted
transgendered people to finally feel accepted in their chosen sexual identities. End the discrimination
of gender roles! This made the news on the Internet briefly when it happened, but has resurfaced
recently with complaints of men dressed in women’s clothing walking into female bathrooms and
locker rooms. What seemed hunky dory in theory shocked people when it happened in real life.
Well, why not allow men in women’s clothing into the women’s bathroom? If a man feels like he is a
woman trapped in a man’s body he has every right to dress in frilly women’s clothing and use the
women’s bathroom stall. Montgomery County officials believe in validating his life choices- even if
that restroom is in the restaurant where your six year old daughter is going the bathroom before
dinner. Who are you to be judgmental? So the man identifies that day with dressing like a woman.
If you feel uncomfortable with the man in the restroom alone with your daughter, isn't that really
more an indication of society’s intolerance of diversity than an indictment of his behavior? Oh the
slippery slope to Puritanism! I’m sure you won’t mind your daughter being in there alone with him.
We must be tolerant of other people.
On the West Coast, the other end of the liberal rainbow spectrum, we have the California Appeals
Court striking down home schooling in a state that mandates inclusive teaching. The appellate judges
want all children to be in state schools or approved private schools. This ruling poses quite a
problem to those parents who do not want homosexuality taught to their children. You have to see
the judges’ point though, home schooling might actually allow parents to raise and teach their own
children without input by the state.
California passed a bill, which was signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger, which mandated
the teaching of homosexuality as a normal and healthy lifestyle under the guise of preventing
discrimination. In California there is no need to worry about your moral views. Your children are
being taught homosexuality is just like heterosexuality. There is no difference. The children can
forget whatever morals or religious beliefs their bigoted parents are teaching them at home. The state
is the moral compass in California, not the religious or personal morality of the individual. California
is the very vanguard of progressive thought.
Here in the Midwest, we can thank God, (not on public property of course, or in schools, or in
publicly owned buildings, or out loud), we don’t have to deal with such foolishness. Or, do we? It
seems that all across America tolerance somewhere along the way in our society mutated into
advocacy in the public discourse about homosexuality. The Christian view of hate the sin, but love
and pray for the sinner, has been determined by the left as homophobic. There is no such thing as
sin or morals on the left.
The Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network is sponsoring the Day of Silence event in schools
nationwide. This is an annual day where students in school do not talk to promote “creating safer
schools for all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.”
From the www.dayofsilence.org: “Today - The possibilities are endless Just imagine: tens of
thousands of students, from San Francisco, California to Irmo, South Carolina, united in a visible
silence to create real change in local schools. Whether used to educate classmates on the damaging
effects of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment or to demand passage of a statewide
nondiscriminatory act inclusive of LGBT people, the Day of Silence® is an awesome opportunity to
create more inclusive school environments and make some noise."
"Students will hand out "Speaking Cards" which say: - "Please understand my reasons for not
speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence, a national youth movement protesting the
silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence
echoes that silence, which is caused by harassment, prejudice, and discrimination. I believe that
ending the silence is the first step toward fighting these injustices. Think about the voices you are not
hearing today."
The web site has an up to date organizing manual on getting the day sponsored in your school
district. It has fliers and stickers and how to talk to the media. It has form letters to download to
present to your school administrator. Go to the Day of Silence site and see. It is time to get
progressive here in Kansas.
April 25th is the day this year chosen for The Day of Silence. On the missionamerica.com web site
the following schools in Kansas have students participating or sponsoring this event: BASEHOR-
LINWOOD HIGH SCHOOL
BLUE VALLEY WEST HIGH SCHOOL
CLAY CENTER COMMUNITY HIGH
EAST HIGH SCHOOL
EMPORIA HIGH SCHOOL
GARDNER EDGERTON HIGH SCHOOL
HAYS HIGH SCHOOL
HIGHLAND PARK HIGH SCHOOL
LAWRENCE HIGH SCHOOL
LEAVENWORTH SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
MAIZE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
MANHATTAN HIGH SCHOOL WEST/EAST CAMPUS
NORTHEAST MAGNET/DOWNTOWN CAMPUS
NORTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL
OLATHE EAST SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
PIPER HIGH SCHOOL
SALINA HIGH SCHOOL CENTRAL
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS HIGH SCHOOL
SHAWNEE MISSION EAST HIGH SCHOOL
SHAWNEE MISSION NORTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL
SHAWNEE MISSION WEST HIGH SCHOOL
SOUTH EAST HIGH SCHOOL
TOPEKA HIGH SCHOOL
WASHBURN RURAL HIGH SCHOOL
WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
So how intolerant is Kansas that it requires students from twenty five schools to protest the way
Kansans deal with gays in our state? The only marker that is reliable would be the FBI reporting
statistics on hate crimes. In 2006, the newest completed year of the statistics, there were 109 hate
crime incidents reported in Kansas resulting in 359 criminal charges. Broken down by category there
were 65 hate crime incidents based on race, 20 based on ethnicity, 12 by religion, and 12 by sexual
orientation. This was in a state with a population of 2,135,458. You were as likely to be targeted
because you were Jewish or Catholic as you were because you were gay. It seems doubtful though,
that the public schools will be holding any candlelight vigils for religious freedom any time soon.
While the FBI report doesn't break down the twelve crimes by type on the state level, they do give
the location. So, where is the hotbed of gay intolerance in Kansas? Wichita. They reported 2 hate
crimes based on sexual orientation. Enterprise, Derby, Lawrence, Meade, Merriam, Shawnee, Butler
County, Marten County, Nemaha County and Wyandotte Parks and Rec. all reported one crime
each. I doubt any people involved in the Day of Silence bothered to check to see if there was a need
to have a Day of Silence here. If they did, they would simply shrug off the lack of incidents with the
easy rationalization that there were hundreds, no, thousands, of hate crime incidents that did occur.
The victims were just too afraid to report them. Never let facts get in the way of your
rationalizations or your agenda.
Nationwide there were 7,722 total hate crime incidents with 4,000 based on race, 1,462 based on
religion, and 1,195 based on sexual orientation. This was in a nation of 303 million people. It
seems you are far more likely to be selected as a victim if the offender doesn't like your race or
religion. So, is the Day of Silence about protecting students? No. It is about entrenching in our public
schools, and public school children, the idea that homosexuality is a normal and healthy lifestyle and
homosexuals are under constant assault by hatred and bigotry. This advocacy group, founded by a
gay teacher and the daughter of lesbian parents, just found a very effective way to push that idea
forward.
Tolerance was the stated goal. Accepting people who had a disorder was the charitable and
American thing to do. However, now in a twisted way society has become enablers of that disorder.
We now seek to promote it in our schools. On April 25, 2008, Kansas students will have the
opportunity to see and participate in progressive activism first hand without having to go to either
coast. How long will it be before homosexual advocacy becomes part of the state mandated
curriculum? When it does, what will happen to home schooling here? Finally, who will be in the
bathroom with your daughter at the restaurant or school? Oh, brave inclusive progressive future! To
steal the words of the GLSEN it's "awesome."