The Oregon Citizens Alliance is trying to rip Oregon apart again. The group’s 1992 anti-gay measure, ironically also titled Measure 9, created a firestorm across the state and subjected homosexuals to harassment, death threats and physical abuse. The OCA’s latest Measure 9, despite the propaganda, does not protect children from the “homosexual agenda” and does not improve schools. What it does is far more dangerous to children: It institutionalizes bigotry and silence.
Measure 9 purports to make schools better by limiting what can be taught. The measure’s content holds that “sexual orientation, as it relates to homosexuality and bisexuality, is a divisive subject matter not necessary to the instruction of students in public schools.”
But in order to combat sexually transmitted diseases and provide counseling to students seeking advice from impartial professionals, these subjects need to be allowed in schools. And how would it affect regular curriculum? If a student asked about homosexuality during history class, could a teacher answer?
Measure 9 contains vague wording in order to be confusing. The language of the measure also states “homosexuality and bisexuality shall not be presented in a public school in a manner which encourages, promotes or sanctions such behaviors.” What, exactly, is sanctioning homosexuality? Do those words mean that unless you say homosexuality is unnatural and perverse, you’re breaking the law? That’s only one viewpoint. The measure demands sanctions for grade schools and community colleges if they break the law, but it doesn’t specify what those sanctions are.
No one knows exactly what the ramifications of Measure 9 are, and that’s the OCA’s goal. Make everyone afraid, and they’ll shut their mouths.
This new, improved Measure 9 came about because six teachers in Portland protested the school district’s sexual diversity efforts and argued that the district was neglecting to present the viewpoints of those opposed to homosexuality. Maybe they’re right.
A good teacher, we would hope, would present all of the views of the subject they’re teaching. In a discussion of sexuality, students should be told that some people in society see homosexuality as a natural, acceptable orientation. And students should be told that some people see homosexuality as abnormal and perverse. Reading should include information on “reparative therapy,” which claims to be able to make homosexuals into heterosexuals, as well as essays from the many homosexuals who know that their sexual and romantic attraction has never been a choice.
Education, like journalism, should be about presenting the many sides of an issue. But teachers must be able to present information; it is unacceptable in a public school to create a climate where teachers are afraid to speak out against harassment of homosexual students because they might be accused of “sanctioning” the students’ orientation. That would be uncivil and unfair.
Regardless of one’s opinions about homosexuality, we live in the same society and we must treat other humans with basic dignity. That means that in a government-funded situation, we need to err on the side of tolerance. Lon Mabon is certainly welcome (and philosopher John Stuart Mill argued it was everyone’s public duty) to speak publicly about his feelings that homosexuality is unnatural. He’s free to shun homosexuals and tell his friends to do the same.
There’s a difference, however, when we codify into law any particular group’s controversial position. Ideally, the laws of the United States protect people and property from others. Laws are not supposed to be a forum for carrying out a personal vendetta. The Oregon Citizens Alliance has been trying to do exactly that for years.
Once again, we must all step up and demand that Oregon remain free and open to dialogue. Measure 9 would stifle dialogue, and because of its confusing wording, the law would scare teachers and school counselors into being silent about sexuality. That isn’t education or freedom.
If Measure 9 passes, an editorial such as this one could cause a public school to lose state funding, just for having the audacity to write openly about homosexuality. No newspaper wants to lose that right and the Emerald certainly doesn’t want to see the citizens of Oregon lose that right. Vote no on Measure
9.